My Christmas memories of sights, smells, etc. are stored on one side of my brain. Memories of tropical environments are stored on the other. They are trying very hard to link up...hasn't happened yet! We are trying...went for a drive after dark last night and saw some pretty cool displays of Christmas lights. There is Christmas spirit here, just WARMER spirit than we are accustomed. I saw a house last week that had some white fluffy material stragetically put around the yard to make it look like snow had gathered there. Cool idea! We're not alone! Our new friend Tracy, from Pennsylvania, was telling me that she cranks up the air conditioning in her apartment before she plays Christmas carols. Another great idea!
I can't believe there are only 2 weeks left before Christmas. Paul and I haven't bought a thing. I am refusing to get worked up about it this year. We will soon have to do a little SOMETHING, though. We do have 3 little kids. The kids and I have put up some Christmas decorations, including a little tree. We have also been playing Christmas carols. It's just funny to be driving around tropical land, signing songs of snow, cold and fireplaces.
The Christmas food and weather might be different here, but the general principals are still the same....getting together with family and good friends, eating a lot, giving presents and Santa Claus. We've been asking around, especially to the locals, to find out what Christmas looks like here and it's not that different. My hairdresser (who did an amazing job, BTW) was born and raised here. Her Christmas is a mix of local and German traditions because her boyfriend's family is from Germany. That is one thing that makes Darwin interesting - a wonderful mix of people.
In general, Darwin is a good amount of different...you don't have to worry about the water, lack of english speaking (although the accent is still difficult to understand), or the lack of western medicine. The sanitation standards are the same. There are similar holidays and traditions. But it is enough different to really broaden all of our horizons.
The language intrigues me. It's not just the accent, which I love. Its like everyone speaks like a teenager. But they ARE cool, not just trying to be. There is this "everyone is the same, its all good, mate" kind of atmosphere. My hairdresser this morning, said (on more than one occasion) "No drama" in place of saying something like "Cool". And its all the abbreviations. Our friend, Nancy (also from the US) got a message, "Going to Brissie for a Chrissy vacay." Indeed, the abbreviations are so common they have even made a grammer rule...
If the word is more than 2 syllables long, find a way to shorten it.
This is often done by taking the first syllable and adding an "o" at the end. You will even hear these words on the radio or see them on signs. "Aboriginals" becomes "Abos", “present” is “pressie”, “ambulance” is “ambo”, "Salvation Army" is "Salvos". More efficient? Depends if you are saying it or you've just arrived and are trying to understand someone else saying it. Either way, it's interesting for sure.
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