Aussiehalley - Halley Down Under

Christmas in July...in December...well, in the summer

Oh gawd, there is an awful commercial here where this perky, obnoxious woman says, "Wouldn't it be great if all you had to worry about were the prezzies?" PREZZIES!? Remember on Pee Wee's Playhouse when someone said the secret word of the day, everyone screamed? It's kinda like that here whenever this commericial comes on.

Now, it's common for the Aussies to abreviate words. Breakfast becomes brekky. Tasmania becomes Tassie (pronounced with 'z's). Biscuits become bikkies - though I'm not sure why they ignore the 's'). The Salvation Army is the Salvo. So okay, they shorten words. Fine. That's fun. But "prezzies" is not okay. It just grates on your nerves like hearing the perky kids singing Barney songs on tv. And it's not like it shortens the number of syllables you have to say.

So anyway, without Thanksgiving here to slow the onslaught of Christmas advertising, our summer Christmas season is gearing up. There are stars and banners hanging across downtown shopping area streets. There are window displays and appliance sales. There are commercials for the perfect Christmas gift: flip-flops and beach wear. Why not have a Christmas backyard barbeque? And yet, Santa is still all bundled up in his usual garb - though I'd bet money that I see a Santa in sandals before the season is over.

Yesterday at dinner (White Lotus - vegetarian asian cuisine), May was telling us how her mother has grown a Christmas tree in the backyard, a little pine tree that only comes up a few feet. So she said how they put the presents out under the tree. Later, Christine, Sarah, and I were talking about it, and realized we were having the same thought: Outside? But don't they get all wet and soggy? - And the answer is no, they don't. Because Christmas is in the summer here, which we eventually remembered. Break out the yuletide sunscreen.

posted by Halley @ 12:01 AM