An "Oz" Christmas question...

Watching something on TV yesterday, it was mentioned that the words to Christmas carols we know in the northern hemisphere are changed to suit in Oz, can someone in Australia or NZ elaborate??? Hugs, Noreen

Reply to
YarnWright
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I spun a FINE 'yarn':

.

Elaborating on my own query, I realize it's SUMMER there!! Noreen

Reply to
YarnWright

Nope. We still sing Jingle Bells, I'm dreaming of a White Xmas, Good King Wenceslas (sp???), Silent Night etc. No change whatsoever.

I was helping a friend to move house today. She is Canadian born and has only had one Xmas in Oz so far and we talked about her thoughts on a midsummer Xmas. She was complaining about the snaowy Christmas carols in the middle of summer and that the food wasn't right. When I asked her what she's eaten last Xmas, she had seafood and salads. I told her that wasn't Xmas at all - one had to cook the turkey and roast vegetables while it was

40degreesC in the kitchen and top that off with the hot Plum Pudding which was brought to the table flaming. And at 3.00pm one collapses into bed to sleep it all off complaining bitterly of having eaten too much rich food and how bloody hot it was.
Reply to
FarmI

I have a knitting friend in Australia, and she spoke of barbecuing the turkey outside along with veggies etc to help keep the kitchen "cooler". She did mention having yet to make her Xmas pudding. The last e-mail she sent spoke of a different meal - paella, Morocan lemon chicken, Italian bread, dips and seafood. She mentioned the forecast for her area was only 23° Celcius, which would be a lot more bearable. She also mentioned they had been getting rain which was sorely needed.

A friend in Nebraska usually has dinner at her mom's, and they have lasagna, salads and such.

We will be travelling west (2 hrs) for the traditional turkey and all the trimmings, with all the nice assorted Christmas baking that goes along with it. Yum. And I don't have to cook. Even better.

Shelagh

Reply to
Shillelagh

Because one member of the family is deathly allergic to chicken and turkey (also eggs, feathers - any bird-connected item), for many years we had seafood for Christmas. It was still Christmas.

I'm happy to hear that. Very good news!

=Tamar

Reply to
Richard Eney

Ah, sounds like Christmas is Christmas no matter where it's celebrated.

As a pagan, this time of year I'm celebrating Yule while my Aussie pagan friends are celebrating Midsummer. If I ever had to relocated to the southern hemisphere I'm not sure I could get my kids to break out of the gift-giving part of Yule/Christmas in December, but they'd still have Hanukkah in December, and with Yule in June they could almost literally have "Christmas in July"

The Other Kim kimagreenfieldatyahoodotcom

Reply to
The Other Kim

Yes, that is often done too. I would imagine she has a Weber BBQ kettle or perhaps one of the big BBQs with a close down lid. We have a Weber but for an important meal like the Christmas bash, I prefer to do the roasting in the oven as the Weber doesn't give as good a result for roasting - the flavour isn't quite as it should be when done in the oven.

She did

Except for the Christmas Pudding, that menu sounds like she might be of Italian origins???????? My neighbour (who is a chef) is married to a gorgeous Italo-Australian chap and she complains bitterly about what he and his family consider to be Christmas fare - "bloody pasta: for Christmas!" is a direct quote from her. As I have no direct experience of Italo-Australian Christmas celebrations, I couldn't comment :-)).

She mentioned the forecast for her area was only 23°

Oh yes! Glorious rain! 7 years of drought here so to see green again is very uplifting - best Christmas present ever, even though I have a mountain of washing that I need to get done and out on the line.

Not my idea of Christmas fare because I can have that any day of the year. Christmas with all the trimmings is a once a year thing (thank God) :-))

I'm with you on that score. I don't have to cook either this year with the exception of the Christmas Pudding and that has been done for at least a month. Just have to make the Brandy butter and hunt out the recipe and ingredients for the Arrowroot sauce and buy the cream.

Reply to
FarmI

Nope. When I was a little girl, we sang the standard Christmas carols. And I remember after we moved to Canada, when I first saw snow, that was when I *KNEW* that there was a Santa Claus. After all, he lived in a land of ice and snow, and I had no experience of that. I have pictures of me, in a summer dress, sitting on Santa's lap. He must have been dreadfully hot, in full Santa costume - beard and all!

Higs, Katherine

Reply to
Katherine

That's my memory of Christmas down under, too. Of course, we used to go to Bondi while the cooking was happening. But we ate the whole thing - including plum pudding!

Higs, Katherine

Reply to
Katherine

Noreen last night it occurred to me that the person that told you that Christamas carols were changed to suit a summer Christams may have heard the (now very old 1960) song "Six White Boomers". The chorus of this song is: "Six white boomers, snow white boomers Racing Santa Claus through the blazing sun Six white boomers, snow white boomers .. On his Aus-tra-lian run"

It was ghastly when it was new and is still ghastly. I haven't heard it for years.

Reply to
FarmI

Well given that most 'Christian' festivals were merely imposed over older pagan celebrations, I can't see any problem with doing that :-)). I'm not a Christian either, but I do enjoy the family get togethers and the celebrations and fun that lie behind the 'Christian' day.

Reply to
FarmI

That's my memory of Christmas down under, too. Of course, we used to go to Bondi while the cooking was happening. But we ate the whole thing - including plum pudding!

:-)) And we didn't even mention the flies! Not that you probably got too many of them if you were withing coo-ee of Bondi. But I'm rural and there are always those blasted flies.

Reply to
FarmI

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