All About Australian Christmas Traditions
Australian Christmas traditions aren't just limited to a extra shrimp on the bar-bee and an ice cold Foster's…though those do have their place
To understand Australian Christmas traditions, you have to understand that Aussies are upside-down, seasonally, in comparison to us Americans. If that's difficult to process, just imagine going to the beach on Christmas Day.
So, yeah. Maybe things are a little different from what most of us would suspect. They definitely don't sing "White Christmas" down there, mate!
Upside down Christmas
To Australians, Christmas occurs in the height of summer. Imagine celebrating Christmas on the Fourth of July, and understand it. Barbecues and all -- except that December in Australia is generally much hotter than July could ever be in the U.S.A.
Unsurprisingly, Australian Christmas food traditions match the Christmas food traditions of the Englishmen who colonized the continent back in the 1700s and 1800s, so there's the occasional turkey and goose. But who likes to eat piping hot food in piping hot weather?
Modern Aussie Christmas food includes potato salad, pasta, cold snacks, and seafood. Oh, and most people celebrate Christmas lunch rather than Christmas dinner.
Sand, sun and Christmas fun
In the U.S., the very thought of going to the beach on Christmas Day would be met with shivers. Well, it's an Australian Christmas tradition, because it's not very bloody cold down there in December, is it? Traditionally, many families take their Christmas lunch to the beach and eat it there, staying from noon to sunset.
Not only does it beat the heck out of kiviak (the rotten auk-and-seal-blubber dish traditionally eaten at Christmas in Iceland), you swim, surf, tan, and watch other people do the same.
Boxing Day
No, December 26 is not a day when folks get together and fist-fight using the Queensbury rules. Is it when they put things back in their boxes, or throw boxes away? No one is entirely sure why its called Boxing Day, but certain traditions abound for Boxing Day 'round the English-speaking world.
In Australia, they have the Test Match, which is a kind of cricket game; as you may know, cricket is a kind of bat-and-ball game that can last much longer (and be much more boring and confusing) than baseball.
Of course, if they're looking for a more exciting sport, Aussies watch the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
Both events are televised, and both are long since traditional. But with Australian Christmas traditions like these, it's easy to see why many Australians prefer to go out in the backyard and play their own form of cricket using tennis balls!