Since Martin and I decided to travel, we had the opportunity to celebrate Christmas time in Asia (Malaysia) in 2017, last year we stayed till 22nd December in Cambodia, then we arrived to the Czech Republic and arrived home for Christmas Eve dinner, and this year we are in the Southern Hemisphere in New Zealand. What can I tell you …. when you have beautiful weather and around 25 ° C, you do not have a taste for hot wine or cocoa. On the contrary, the big advantage is the fact that when you go shopping in summer clothes, you are not so sweaty when you have 3 layers and go-to cold weather and heated shopping centers: D
If I can outline what it looked like in Auckland before Christmas, shops with Christmas decorations have been seen since the beginning of December. We thought that we will buy something for a little decoration around the 20th of December, but everything was gone and we were unlucky … fortunately, there is a shop for the party, near our hostel and we found something there for Christmas. On the contrary, in supermarkets, we had to wait for Christmas goods until about mid-December.
The last word: I was glad that we did not see any advertising for the best gifts, Christmas outfit, etc. on every corner. And that’s the way it should be! 🙂
Franklin Road Lights
It seemed funny to us Europeans to go and see the enlightened houses on one street in Auckland when we have lights in all towns and villages. But different regions, different habits… Even the small change, that we had to wait until 10 pm for the dark and we could finally see something! : D Not only that in some cases there was as much as in the Christmas movie GRINCH (where there was a competition for the most beautiful lights of the house), but also passing cars and all the people in the street sucked up the Christmas atmosphere ….. We could hear Christmas songs everywhere, people went out with Christmas hats and they were eating ice cream and wore shorts with tank tops. Here, the more contrasts, the better: D
AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE!!!
This year’s Christmas Challenge
Sending postcards before Christmas is a habit in our home. Some may find it as old-school and unnecessary to spending money for postcards where basically you can´t write almost anything and in the meantime, you are more connected via social networks. This is true, but the fact that postcards travel across the world to addressees in the Czech Republic meant a lot to me. I sent the postcards to everyone on the same day (except for our parents: D), and it turned out that someone was lucky enough to get a postcard before Christmas and someone had to wait for it. Most importantly, postcards came to everyone! 🙂
And reactions from the other side? What can I tell you, someone´s reaction was with tears…
Czech Christmas abroad
During Christmas time, I like baking Christmas cookies. I missed this habit in Asia because most of the ingredients were not available. Fortunately, this is not the same case here. The only thing I could not buy was the baby’s biscuits, so I baked them at home. When I baked Christmas cookies, other guests were shaking their heads in disbelief, what habits are in the Czech Republic and if it’s normal …. to bake it all, hide it and wait for eating cookies till Christmas day : D It is normal, of course, but Martin and I like eating Christmas cookies before Christmas day, so we ate it all and there was nothing left on Christmas Eve. But we weren´t sad, because I made Christmas bread on Christmas Eve.
PS: New Zealand celebrates Christmas 25.12. and 26.12. is Boxing Day. But we had Christmas Eve dinner just like at home in the Czech Republic 24.12.
The 12-hour difference was great because when I was calling home on 25.12. during Christmas breakfast, my family unwrapped gifts at home.
We had to buy gifts in advance. Our phones betrayed us in November and we couldn’t wait until December. And on Christmas Eve, we got only something small….new underwear made us happy this year. (I remember the times when this kind of present was just ok from my parents….but nothing special) : D: D: D Now I’m glad because a few pieces of my underwear were ripped in the washing machine.
Christmas “holidays”?
How for whom … Martin was lucky he didn’t work over Public Holidays. But because I was alone for cleaning and night duties at the hostel, I did not avoid work. After all, there were fewer guests and so the cleaning and evening services were much quieter. In addition, I received surcharges for the holidays, which is of course useful 🙂
New Year celebrations
As for New Year’s Eve, we don’t need to celebrate it so much. We were both at work, talking to my family in the evening, listening to Zdeněk Izer’s jokes for a while, and going to Ponsonby Road before midnight to see the Sky Tower fireworks. And in order to have a change after Christmas cookies, potato salad, and chicken nuggets, we chose sushi as a treat. And because we do not drink too much alcohol, 4 small drinks (gin and tonic) were enough. For the toast, we drank Roses Lemonade (moreover, we did not want to risk outside ….. there is a prohibition all over Zealand and alcohol is not allowed to drink outside).
In conclusion, I can summarize New Year’s Eve:
We may enjoy the fact that we had the opportunity to celebrate it as the second in the world, but it is not exactly something special. We thought that for the next New Year’s Eve celebration, we could fly to Samoa island, where it celebrates the first, and then fly to the Cook Islands, which are the last. Theoretically, it is possible, so why not take it as an interesting CHALLENGE ?
Who knows ….. never say never and with us, most people do not know what comes to mind: D
Happy New Year 2020 to everyone !!!
