RMT1980 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 How do spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and have what you do on these days altered much or at all since emigrating to Aus...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag of convenience Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I retire to my tree house and regard the frivolities of the feckless with utter amazement, not to say amusement, from thankfully a great height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Its not altered much for us tbh. Difference is the weather mainly and therefore the type of food you may or may not want to cook/eat. Oh and all husbands family are here so there are masses of them and lots of places to go visit over the festive season. We used to have really low key Christmas before we came here. Often we'd go out hiking for the day across the moors with the dogs. First Christmas here we were on the beach at 9am for a couple of hours before heading off to family for lunch. Was 30C plus then, last year cooler so we had no interest to go there. Last year was cooler, about 23C here and one side of the family pretty much all ended up at our house for Christmas lunch. So what had been a small roast for 7 or so turned into a huge meal for 15 plus. Beers and other drinks went in a huge ice filled esky outside, we ate inside. New Years was different as we spent last year NY eve at the T20 cricket in Adelaide and it was a great night. First year we did fireworks down at the beach but tbh I could have skipped that as didn't really appeal. We plan to go to the cricket again this NY eve. Presents, tree and stuff is still the same, only its an artificial tree all the way here. I'm not a fan of the Christmas pageants that seem to start in the second week of November or so. I've been to a few now and am very underwhelmed by them and having to get there so flipping early for the big one in the city. Its the same stuff each year and honestly, we can skip it for a few years and go again and it will still have the same floats and displays as every other year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Carols by candlelight in the run up to Christmas Xmas Eve - sit outside - hubby cooks or we get takeaway and open a bottle of bubbles Xmas day morning - we set the table outside and have brunch, laze around the pool and hubby cooks dinner .. .more Xmas bubbles at some point in the day We eat dinner about 6pm indoors - Turkey and Ham (the ham being an addition whilst in Aus), my daughter says it's not Christmas without the turkey so that's why we have it. Boxing day we have friends around, they bring leftovers, we have leftovers and usually throw some lamb and fish on the BBQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Ours has been similar for pretty much my whole life. Presents in the morning, family chatting, big formal lunch ham/turkey etc + salads etc, swim in the pool/play with presents etc, recycled dinner, skype overseas family and maybe some sleep over for boxing day to carry on eating... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Christmas Day means an early start - and this year my 9 y.o. has requested pet rabbits from Santa so it could be very early indeed! After the present-frenzy it's time for a cheeky G&T before cooking the turkey. I normally have carols playing whilst I'm in the kitchen and it's mildly disconcerting hearing about Good King Wenceslas freezing his festive nuts off when the temperature outside is in the 30's! After a booze-fuelled lunch we'll normally have some of the missus's friends round for drinks. The temptation at this stage is to slip into a food coma, so I normally seek to avoid that by calling Harpodom. He tends to spend most of Chrimbo Day hiding in his en-suite bathroom avoiding his in-laws, so a call from me gives him the opportunity to reassure his family that he hasn't died of food poisoning and to forage for that bottle of Sancerre he's been chilling in the fridge since Halloween! Then, late on, comes the challenging part of the day - working out how to SKYPE home whilst abysmally sh*tfaced. Now I use SKYPE most weekends, but for some reason, the combination of all that Christmas excitement, along with enough booze to float a battleship somehow sees me forget how to press buttons on my computer. After finally getting through, it's like the job interview from hell. The screen is crowded with the smiling faces of relatively sober relatives back home. Can I remember their names?, well, some of them. Can I say their names?, well that's trickier. When you crack a joke you're never sure it was because it was actually funny or because what they heard was "I luv yezz, yer me family, gizz a big hug..." before listing towards to screen like a Zombie who's drunk his own body-weight in Shiraz. That normally brings the conversation to a close though, and I can retire, farting, to the sofa, where I will proceed to sleep soundly through 'It's A Wonderful Life.' God I love Christmas! :xmas18: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amibovered Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 When in Melbourne, it's always lunch at one of my in-laws, eat vast quantities of turkey and roast veggies, followed by pudding, cake and a couple of drinks, then head home and do it all again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 We go out Xmas eve to look at the Xmas lights and listen to the carols. Xmas day we spend home and i cook the Ham and Turkey for Dinner and Boxing Day is normally another lazy day around the pool as a family. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 We've had 3 lovely Xmases here. We've always hit the beach first, so a lovely atmosphere. Year 1 and three, we have come home and set up for the traditional UK Xmas lunch, but tbh I just preferred the barbie on the beach day. nice thing for us was as a family arriving and knowing no one in the August, but having 14 for Xmas lunch, new friends. And its just grown. Learn from the Aussies, treat it as a day to enjoy:jiggy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 A few things are guaranteed: 1. My dad won't remember how to Skype. 2. I will feign dysentery so I can sit in the bog for as long as possible and therefore minimise contact with the in laws 3. The puppy will **** on the carpet 4. We will have bought too much Lego 5. I will cook a BBQ, basically an excuse to stand with a beer, mindlessly rotating snags til they're black on the outside, frozen on the inside 6. My SIL will buy me a Dan Brown book (usually a second from a reject shop) 7. My BIL will have a face like a slapped arse all day 8. My MIL will talk ad nauseam about crocquet club 'politics' 9. My FIL will bring some reading material he thinks I'll be interested in, such as a leaflet from church, or an article from the 'Addie', which I will politely accept before chucking straight in the recycling 10. I will chat to EW and marvel at how much thought and preparation he and his family have put into Xmas dinner (whilst I stand with a beer, mindlessly rotating snags til they're black on the outside, frozen on the inside)...bloody S Yarra poofters. 10. When I do finally make contact with my family in England, they will all be pissed (even the 9 year old niece) cos it's now Boxing Day here, Xmas night there, and I'll feel a tinge of homesickness 11. Because it's Boxing Day, I can say 'thank **** that's all over' and go for a run. 12. Later that day, I'll crack open that Sancerre and have a massive bag of crisps, safe in the knowledge the wife prefers red, and is on a diet. 13. The following day, we'll probably go to our favourite beach and I'll have a swim in the sea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 A few things are guaranteed: 1. My dad won't remember how to Skype. 2. I will feign dysentery so I can sit in the bog for as long as possible and therefore minimise contact with the in laws 3. The puppy will **** on the carpet 4. We will have bought too much Lego 5. I will cook a BBQ, basically an excuse to stand with a beer, mindlessly rotating snags til they're black on the outside, frozen on the inside 6. My SIL will buy me a Dan Brown book (usually a second from a reject shop) 7. My BIL will have a face like a slapped arse all day 8. My MIL will talk ad nauseam about crocquet club 'politics' 9. My FIL will bring some reading material he thinks I'll be interested in, such as a leaflet from church, or an article from the 'Addie', which I will politely accept before chucking straight in the recycling 10. I will chat to EW and marvel at how much thought and preparation he and his family have put into Xmas dinner (whilst I stand with a beer, mindlessly rotating snags til they're black on the outside, frozen on the inside)...bloody S Yarra poofters. 10. When I do finally make contact with my family in England, they will all be pissed (even the 9 year old niece) cos it's now Boxing Day here, Xmas night there, and I'll feel a tinge of homesickness 11. Because it's Boxing Day, I can say 'thank **** that's all over' and go for a run. 12. Later that day, I'll crack open that Sancerre and have a massive bag of crisps, safe in the knowledge the wife prefers red, and is on a diet. 13. The following day, we'll probably go to our favourite beach and I'll have a swim in the sea :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 A few things are guaranteed: 1. My dad won't remember how to Skype. 2. I will feign dysentery so I can sit in the bog for as long as possible and therefore minimise contact with the in laws 3. The puppy will **** on the carpet 4. We will have bought too much Lego 5. I will cook a BBQ, basically an excuse to stand with a beer, mindlessly rotating snags til they're black on the outside, frozen on the inside 6. My SIL will buy me a Dan Brown book (usually a second from a reject shop) 7. My BIL will have a face like a slapped arse all day 8. My MIL will talk ad nauseam about crocquet club 'politics' 9. My FIL will bring some reading material he thinks I'll be interested in, such as a leaflet from church, or an article from the 'Addie', which I will politely accept before chucking straight in the recycling 10. I will chat to EW and marvel at how much thought and preparation he and his family have put into Xmas dinner (whilst I stand with a beer, mindlessly rotating snags til they're black on the outside, frozen on the inside)...bloody S Yarra poofters. 10. When I do finally make contact with my family in England, they will all be pissed (even the 9 year old niece) cos it's now Boxing Day here, Xmas night there, and I'll feel a tinge of homesickness 11. Because it's Boxing Day, I can say 'thank **** that's all over' and go for a run. 12. Later that day, I'll crack open that Sancerre and have a massive bag of crisps, safe in the knowledge the wife prefers red, and is on a diet. 13. The following day, we'll probably go to our favourite beach and I'll have a swim in the sea I've got this year's turkey wandering around the kitchen as I type. I bought her back in June and have been feeding her Mrs Macs pies and Burger Rings (well, they fatten me up) since then. She's like one of the family now, although christmas for her is going to be a lot less fun than it will be for us.....:evilface_frowning_s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I've got this year's turkey wandering around the kitchen as I type. I bought her back in June and have been feeding her Mrs Macs pies and Burger Rings (well, they fatten me up) since then. She's like one of the family now, although christmas for her is going to be a lot less fun than it will be for us.....:evilface_frowning_s I suppose you've been personally 'dilating' her, in preparation for the stuffing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speakeasy Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I've got this year's turkey wandering around the kitchen as I type. I bought her back in June and have been feeding her Mrs Macs pies and Burger Rings (well, they fatten me up) since then. She's like one of the family now, although christmas for her is going to be a lot less fun than it will be for us.....:evilface_frowning_s Well why shouldn't she sit down to a nice Christmas dinner like everyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speakeasy Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I think for us - nut roast and meatloaf (both sides of the story) and a bit of volunteering on the lead up wrapping pressies or serving meals. Looks like I'm working the few days leading up to Christmas - so that will take care of all the pre Christmas food shopping - i'll just shop online and get it delivered. I'd like to go to mass - I'm atheist but let's hear what they have to say. Then depending on the weather (which in Adelaide can be hot or cold late December) we'll hit the pool or beach for a dip. Unfortunately can't visit the relies in Sydney. So there'll be phone chatting in 3 languages taking up most of the evening. When to do the tree? Soon I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speakeasy Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 A few things are guaranteed: 1. My dad won't remember how to Skype. 2. I will feign dysentery so I can sit in the bog for as long as possible and therefore minimise contact with the in laws 3. The puppy will **** on the carpet 4. We will have bought too much Lego 5. I will cook a BBQ, basically an excuse to stand with a beer, mindlessly rotating snags til they're black on the outside, frozen on the inside 6. My SIL will buy me a Dan Brown book (usually a second from a reject shop) 7. My BIL will have a face like a slapped arse all day 8. My MIL will talk ad nauseam about crocquet club 'politics' 9. My FIL will bring some reading material he thinks I'll be interested in, such as a leaflet from church, or an article from the 'Addie', which I will politely accept before chucking straight in the recycling 10. I will chat to EW and marvel at how much thought and preparation he and his family have put into Xmas dinner (whilst I stand with a beer, mindlessly rotating snags til they're black on the outside, frozen on the inside)...bloody S Yarra poofters. 10. When I do finally make contact with my family in England, they will all be pissed (even the 9 year old niece) cos it's now Boxing Day here, Xmas night there, and I'll feel a tinge of homesickness 11. Because it's Boxing Day, I can say 'thank **** that's all over' and go for a run. 12. Later that day, I'll crack open that Sancerre and have a massive bag of crisps, safe in the knowledge the wife prefers red, and is on a diet. 13. The following day, we'll probably go to our favourite beach and I'll have a swim in the sea Have you ever considered becoming a writer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Have you ever considered becoming a writer? I did have a deluded phase a couple of years ago, but found I had F**K all worth writing about, so I gave up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Just me, hubby and meow features this year, same as last year. We'll have a full roast dinner on the deck unless it's too hot (was fine last year), then drinks and tunes in the pool. Cat will get a bowl of whatever we eat, so he can eat with us. Ace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 How do spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and have what you do on these days altered much or at all since emigrating to Aus...? Well my first Christmas here I tried to do the meal as "English with all the trimmings". And I learned my lesson and have never done it since. Honestly just imagine trying to roast a turkey and lighting the plum pudding in 40C heat. Christmas Day in the UK normally involved eating lots of rich stodgy food, getting tipsy, arguing with relations, shivering from snow (although usually just rain or slush by then), opening presents and watching repeats like The Wizard of Oz on telly. Boxing Day was spent recovering or visiting yet more relations for yet more turkey sandwiches. Christmas Day here normally involves a BBQ or picnic outside somewhere like a beach or national park. Avoid the turkey and have something more weather suitable like prawns, lobster and salads. And Boxing Day often out and about in the sun. Maybe go to the harbour to see the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Or go for a bush walk and walk off all those prawns and champagne. To be honest, Christmas has lost its appeal to me. Loved it as a child. Now just too commercial for me. Quite a few 25ths I have actually opted to work that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speakeasy Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I did have a deluded phase a couple of years ago, but found I had F**K all worth writing about, so I gave up! Hey, nothing is something? Beats politics! Why aren't there more ex-pat writers? Simply your take on life on this great brown land and all its suburban trimmings observed with a keen wit, would have some readership. My Dad writes short stories. That might be more your cup of tea. Maybe your books - replete with all those asterisks - would be a welcome addition to all those travelogues! :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speakeasy Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Well my first Christmas here I tried to do the meal as "English with all the trimmings". And I learned my lesson and have never done it since. Honestly just imagine trying to roast a turkey and lighting the plum pudding in 40C heat. Christmas Day in the UK normally involved eating lots of rich stodgy food, getting tipsy, arguing with relations, shivering from snow (although usually just rain or slush by then), opening presents and watching repeats like The Wizard of Oz on telly. Boxing Day was spent recovering or visiting yet more relations for yet more turkey sandwiches. Christmas Day here normally involves a BBQ or picnic outside somewhere like a beach or national park. Avoid the turkey and have something more weather suitable like prawns, lobster and salads. And Boxing Day often out and about in the sun. Maybe go to the harbour to see the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Or go for a bush walk and walk off all those prawns and champagne. To be honest, Christmas has lost its appeal to me. Loved it as a child. Now just too commercial for me. Quite a few 25ths I have actually opted to work that day. My mum did this for about three years (she's from Hamburg), and then figured out that she was totally knackered by the end of it. After that it was cold meats and salads cooked the night before. I think she adapted pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Well my first Christmas here I tried to do the meal as "English with all the trimmings". And I learned my lesson and have never done it since. Honestly just imagine trying to roast a turkey and lighting the plum pudding in 40C heat. Christmas Day in the UK normally involved eating lots of rich stodgy food, getting tipsy, arguing with relations, shivering from snow (although usually just rain or slush by then), opening presents and watching repeats like The Wizard of Oz on telly. Boxing Day was spent recovering or visiting yet more relations for yet more turkey sandwiches. Christmas Day here normally involves a BBQ or picnic outside somewhere like a beach or national park. Avoid the turkey and have something more weather suitable like prawns, lobster and salads. And Boxing Day often out and about in the sun. Maybe go to the harbour to see the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Or go for a bush walk and walk off all those prawns and champagne. To be honest, Christmas has lost its appeal to me. Loved it as a child. Now just too commercial for me. Quite a few 25ths I have actually opted to work that day. We always have the full traditional dinner no matter what the temperature and after all it is only the once in a year, air con helps though, turkey cooked outside in the webber kettle along with some of the veg's. The commercialism does tend to be a bit much these days but one could ignore that and not let it get in the way of having fun times, life's a little too serious the rest of the year these days. Ho Ho Ho! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I will be doing the traditional Christmas dinner. Though going for goose this year instead of turkey. It will be cooked in the traditional way. We did do the seafood thing one year and I hated it. I love seafood, but it just did not feel like Christmas and it is bad enough that it doesn't in many ways at the best of times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 My mum did this for about three years (she's from Hamburg), and then figured out that she was totally knackered by the end of it. After that it was cold meats and salads cooked the night before. I think she adapted pretty well. I know of some poms who insist on doing the full spread every year. Including crackers with paper hats, tinsel and all the trimmings. Death by sweating! Eating plum pudding with brandy butter and custard when it is 43C (109F) outside is not ideal in my opinion. Then again I suppose you can just crank up the air-con to almost freezing. Last few years we have have not even bothered peeling prawns and making salads night before; just gone out to a restaurant. The new "trend" in our area in recent years for Christmas meat is an American invention called a Turducken. Which is a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck stuffed into a deboned turkey :shocked: often glazed with coke! My goodness the look of it is enough to turn anyone vegan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 We never did the traditional back in England. Daughter not a fan of formal dining and a big meal with all the trimmings and for 3 people who are not big eaters was always pointless. Ended up with an array of finger food and we 'grazed', played games and watched movies interspersed with opening presents which our daughter enjoyed spreading out over the whole day rather than all at once in the morning. Managed a couple of Asian Christmases (Malaysia and Thailand) which we enjoyed too. We have already had a kind invite for Christmas despite only being here a short while. We are having these new friends over next weekend so expect to accept their offer. Something that we would never get in England as we found everyone comes over all insular and parochial at Christmas there and sees New Year as a time to see or speak with friends. Christmas was strictly families only which is fine I suppose if you like spending time with family......we didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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