2. Geography
The continent/country of Australia is located in the
Southern Hemisphere. This results in Summer in
December-January and Winter in June-July.
4. Traditions: Customs
In Australia, Christmas comes in the middle of the
summer holidays! Children have their summer
holidays from early to mid December to early February,
so some people might even be camping at Christmas!
The words to the Carols about snow and the cold
winter are sometimes changed to special Australian
words! There are also some original Australian Carols.
5. Traditions: Customs
Australians love to go to the beach. Since Christmas
falls in summer in Australia, some people celebrate it
on the beach in their beachwear.
9. Traditions: Clothing
Like the USA, Australia is a country of immigrants.
They wear traditional clothes during their cultural /
religious ceremonies, but otherwise wear clothes
similar to the rest of the industrialized world.
12. Traditions: Decorations
Some Christmas decorations have a
definite Australian flair.
The Koala Bear and Kangaroo are
found only in Australia.
13. Food
December is one of the hottest months in Australia so
outdoors sports like swimming, surfing and fishing are
common and easy cold meat & salad dominates most
meals.
Most families try to be home together for Christmas
and the main meal is eaten at lunch time. Most people
now have a cold Christmas dinner, or a barbecue with
seafood such as prawns and lobsters.
15. Language
Australians say “Merry Christmas” just like we do.
In some cases, they say it with a little bit of a
difference. On Christmas Day the people who live in
the outback (far away from cities) send Christmas
greetings to each other over the radio network.