It is summer here in the Land of the Long Cloud. That means kids are out of school, and it is vacation time. And, oh yes, it is also Christmas and New Year’s. Events that the Northern hemisphere spreads out over the year are compressed into two months and, during the two weeks of Christmas, the country shuts down. Take a vacation folks, it is mandatory.
The school year ends in December and starts up again in February. Because of this overlap with the holidays, the Kiwis had to pick—Christmas or vacation. Vacation won out. Families spend time focused on summer vacation with the beach, barbecuing and all of the fun that comes with summer—swimming, biking, and generally goofing off.
The result is that Christmas seems almost like an afterthought. In the U.S. we go all out—lights, trees, blow up snowmen and lighted deer. Enter into the Kiwi equivalent of Home Depot here and you will not find a section full of Christmas decorations. There are Christmas lights for sale, sure, but they are limited to a few shelves. There needs to be room for barbecue grills, outdoor furniture, fire pits and patio umbrellas.
We did not ship our Christmas stuff, the artificial tree and bulbs and assorted trimmings and decorations based on the assumption we could buy it here. We were stunned to learn that finding these baubles was difficult. In the U.S. every store has a Christmas section with tree decorations, wrapping paper, cards and the like. Christmas tree sellers abound. Not here. Here, most department stores had little or no Christmas goods for purchase. We thought we would at least get a fake tree. That was not easy. I had to order it over the internet. I think I saw one place where real Christmas trees were for sale. Nor did we see houses lit up like the Las Vegas Strip. In fact, you are more likely to see outdoor trampolines than Christmas decoartions. (These people are really into trampolines.)
In the U.S, you go into any hotel, restaurant or store and Christmas is everywhere. Here, most shops and commercial establishments were not decorated at all. During the holidays we went on a trip. The hotel we stayed at had one forlorn looking fake tree stuffed in a corner with no decorations on it.
When it comes to food, the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing winter. Food is warm and comforting. Here, the Christmas food is cherries and strawberries. More than one person told me their fondest memories are of cherries on Christmas morning. We have indulged in that tradition in spades. We have been eating cherries and strawberries for the past two months. The Christmas dessert is pavlova with a fresh fruit mix of strawberries, blueberries and cherries. I am not into pavlova. We go with a chocolate dip. And barbecue. Did I mention barbecue?
This is not to say they don’t celebrate Christmas. They do to some extent. It is just that all of the commercialism, all of the excess is not here. Barbecues and the beach are far more important at this time of year and their Christmas memories are wrapped up in summer and vacations. The country helps when most employers require their employees to take off Christmas and New Year’s week, meaning the country more or less shuts down. Matt was required to take time off. We could get nothing done with most companies during the two week holiday. Even the government shuts down.
Here in Te Horo Beach, all of the vacationers showed up for the two weeks. The beach, normally populated by about six people, was a lot busier, with cars and trucks, and folks fishing and swimming. I was kind of annoyed that people were on my beach, but most left after the holidays.
I guess you could say that one way to take the commercialism out of Christmas is to be presented with something else more fun and interesting. If you had a choice between Christmas trees and lights and barbecuing and vacation, which would you choose? To be sure, Christmas lights and decorations help when the weather is cold and dismal. And it is nice to spread out the events of a year rather than forcing everything into a two-month period. Still the lack of excess was refreshing to say the least. And the Kiwis did not seem to mind at all.
A Yank Among the Kiwis 