An Upside Down Christmas
No offense to anyone living south of Mexico, but here it is: To me, Christmas = Winter. Christmas is at best, snow, and at the very worst, ugly brown grey slush and frost. Christmas is cold. Christmas is NOT flippin’ rhododendrons blooming and frangipanis flowering and fresh cranberries with the turkey.
It would be better, thought, if Hong Kong and New Zealand (where I spent the last two Christmases) could claim their own kind of Christmas, but they have transplanted the Winter Christmas to a summer climate. And it’s jarring to see shop fronts decorated with snow tinsel, and windows floating with snowflakes, and icicle lights hanging from roofs. It doesn’t work here; no wonder they don’t buy into it.
But wouldn’t it be amazing if they didn’t have to, or choose to, adopt the Northern Hemisphere Christmas, and evolved their own customs? Where Christmas is wholly associated with a family outing to the beach, or decorating the porch with pohutukawa blossoms instead of holly?
Do you know of any warm places that have successively created their own Christmas?
– Jean AAR
