Carrie's Christmas

This is the first time since Christmas Eve that I've had much internet access, so you'll just have to relive Christmas with me in January.

Since Matt was still stateside, I spent Christmas Eve and Day with Kerry and her family. Her parents have a dairy farm about an hour from Tokoroa. On Christmas Eve we had dinner with Kerry's family and some family friends. We also sang Christmas carols around the piano which really helped get me in the spirit and reminded me of my own extended family celebrations. I also baked two pumpkin pies to share with Kerry's family on Christmas Day.



On Christmas morning I opened presents with Kerry, her mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law. Then we all drove to Waihi Beach. Kerry's maternal grandparents have a bach (bachelor pad= beach house) at Waihi Beach and the extended family gathered there to celebrate Christmas.


The Bach

I think there were 22 people at the bach including me. Kerry has 11 cousins and most of them and their parents were there. This year they had a Thieves' Christmas for the first time instead of having a secret santa-type gift exchange. I had a great time watching Kerry's family steal gifts from each other! I had an excellent time hanging out with Kerry's family. They were a friendly, interesting group of people. I'm so glad they invited me to share a traditional Kiwi Christmas at the beach! And I shared my pumpkin pie.

There was much meterological speculation leading up to Christmas. Just as the northern hemispherians wish for a white Christmas, the Kiwis are hoping for warm, sunny beach weather. Christmas at Waihi Beach wasn't very sunny, but it was warm enough and the rain held off. So of course, I couldn't pass up a Christmas swim. It was chilly, but I went swimming in Dunedin with Elizabeth in October, so I knew I could handle Waihi Beach in December.


Christmas at the beach!

We drove past a few houses that were all decked out in Christmas lights on our way back to Kerry's family farm at the end of the day. It's a newer and less common phenomenon in New Zealand but there are a few people who really get into it. Thankfully they seem to use fewer tacky illuminated plastic figures than in the U.S.

For me, Christmas in the summer just doesn't feel right. It hardly seemed like Christmas to me with the long days and (kind of) warm weather! Even so, they still decorate with snowflakes and evergreens. There are a few Santas with surfboards, but for the most part they just use the northern hemisphere Christmas icons. I wholeheartedly support the widespread use of southern hemisphere Christmas icons instead of the winter-themed imports.

With my family, Christmas always extends past Christmas Day until December 27 or 28 depending on when we celebrate with the extended family on my dad's side. This year, although the circumstances were quite different, was the same. I celebrated Christmas again with Matt on December 28 after he returned to New Zealand. But this is all I can write about for now. More later.

Carrie