Australian Christmas questions

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Sorry if this makes me sound stupid or ignorant I just was suddenly curious about Christmas and thought this would be the best place to get some genuine answers

Edit: thank you for all the responses, I’m sorry my questions are so dumb

Here are my questions:

What’s an average Christmas day look like?

Do you partake in any kinda of Christmas things during winter?

Do you still have a Christmas tree and do you decorate for Christmas the same way or do you have like special summer Christmas decorations?

Do you still watch Christmas movies and is it weird for you that they’re all snowy/set in winter?

Do you celebrate Halloween the same?

Does the sun make you feel Christmassy?

Could Northen hemisphere Christmas culture influence you enough to make you feel Christmassy during the winter?

I’ve heard that people go to the beach on Christmas, does it not get super crowded?

Edit:
One more question is: are your summer holidays longer than winter holidays in terms of like the school holidays and does that mean that there’s less of a gap in between school years?

2

What’s an average Christmas day look like?

-sleep in, food prep, family, food, booze presents, more food, more booze.

Do you partake in any kinda of Christmas things during winter?

-No because Christmas is not in winter. Corporate tries to push some BS Xmas in July, but it’s a sham.

Do you still have a Christmas tree and do you decorate for Christmas the same way or do you have like special summer Christmas decorations?

-Exactly the same, except a lot of outdoor decorations are solar powered.

Do you still watch Christmas movies and is it weird for you that they’re all snowy/set in winter?

-It’s not weird, we just realised we live in another hemisphere where it’s warm.

Is it weird for you when it feels like the Internet is celebrating something such as a brat summer or smth during the winter?

-No. Never thought that deeply on it.

Do you celebrate Halloween the same?

-Nope.

Does the sun make you feel Christmassy?

-It doesn’t make me feel Christmassy or not Christmassy it’s just the sun.

Could Western culture influence you enough to make you feel Christmassy during the winter?

-No, because it’s not Christmas.

I’ve heard that people go to the beach on Christmas, does it not get super crowded?

-Depends where you go, we have several beaches across the country. Also not really more crowded than any other day where it’s hot.

3

Go on Disney Plus or YouTube and search for the Bluey episode called Xmas Swim.

It will answer most of your questions.

4

We celebrate Christmas the same way everyone else does, just without snow men and without being crammed inside. Usually the same Christmas lunch or dinner that is the same in most of the western world except a lot of us do lunch outside by the pool or whatever.

There was just another thread somewhere on here asking about if people would prefer to celebrate in winter and my answer is fuck no! A lot of us take our 4 or 5 weeks annual leave in the Christmas break and no way would I want to waste that paid time off in winter. Yuk.

5

We still tend to celebrate the English traditions ie, presents under the decorated tree, big lunch with the family that includes turkey, ham, and some sort of pudding, but we might add salads and cold desserts rather than hot veges. We open presents Christmas morning. I show Christmas movies to my students in the week leading up to the holidays. We totally accept the snow aspect because we understand that other countries and climates exist outside our bubble. We don’t see it as weird at all.

Celebrations that haven’t really gained traction include carol singing and the Queen’s/King’s speech.

Yes, the beach, pools, and sun feature in our day, because it’s hot.

Edited to add: I have no idea what a brat summer is. Despite some workplaces having a “Christmas in July” it’s not the norm. We just accept that our Christmas is in summer and embrace it as such.

6

There isn’t really an average christmas day because we are so multicultural. I guess traditionally it was wake up and open presents. Baked dinner with turkey for lunch. Play with toys/hang out with the family in the afternoon.

7

To answer your last question about schools- the school year runs by calendar year rather than starting aug/sept like in the northern hemisphere. the summer holidays start the week or so before Christmas and then go till late January. Usually the kids go back the week after Australia Day. Then it’s 4 x 10 week terms , with a 2 week break between each. Our ‘winter holiday’ is in July and is 2 weeks long. The December /January school holiday is the long summer break

8

What’s an average Christmas day look like?

Cinnamon rolls in the oven while kiddo opens presents, watch santa go round in the fire truck, breakfast and then a day of movies and chill with a Christmas roast lunch later

Do you partake in any kinda of Christmas things during winter?

Not usually, but we have done Christmas in July a few times.

Do you still have a Christmas tree and do you decorate for Christmas the same way or do you have like special summer Christmas decorations?

-Exactly the same, we currently have 2 trees, fake plastic trees being the big difference.

Do you still watch Christmas movies and is it weird for you that they’re all snowy/set in winter?

Always! I just live vicariously through them

Is it weird for you when it feels like the Internet is celebrating something such as a brat summer or smth during the winter?

-No, but jealous of the white Christmases

Do you celebrate Halloween the same?

We have trick or treating and costumes but not on the same scale I’ve seen from ameri an friends

Does the sun make you feel Christmassy?

-It really just makes me sad. I hate the summer

Could Western culture influence you enough to make you feel Christmassy during the winter?

-No, because it’s not Christmas

I’ve heard that people go to the beach on Christmas, does it not get super crowded?

They do, I don’t, it’s too hot and too crowded.

9

For the most part, Australian Christmas is a transplant from the UK/European Christmas, but with a twist.

Christmas trees, movies and Christmas cards with a winter theme are all common. It’s not weird to us because we’ve grown up with it being like that.

Turkey is considered traditional but seafood and hams are increasingly common. We’d generally keep an eye on the weather forecast and adjust depending on whether it’s going to be blazing hot or rainy and cool on Christmas Day (both happen in my part of the country).

I’ve never been to the beach on Christmas Day so I can’t tell you how common it is. My guess is it’s a bit of a myth, and Bondi beach on Christmas Day would be full of foreign tourists, not locals.

10

Everybody isn’t the same, so my answers may not be typical, but I’ll try to answer.

  1. No different to anybody else I think. A tree. Presents under it. Kids get up at 0500. Roast chicken and Roast Pork for lunch, even if it is very hot. Leftovers for dinner.

  2. Nothing in winter. Christmas is in December.

  3. Standard decorations.

  4. I’ve never watched Xmas movies, but the climate is irrelevant.

  5. Halloween is a minor event that many Australians do not celebrate at all, and just as many decry as a cash grab commercialised event that has no meaning. We do not have Halloween themed dress up parties.

6 and 7. No.

  1. English tourists go to Sydney beaches and throw parties at the beach. Then leave an almighty mess for the garbage people to clean up. Most of us stay at home and talk to the family and/or drink, then sleep off lunch.
11

I’m not huge on Christmas fuss so there will be many other people with more to say!

There are many average Christmases - dependant on where you live. If you live near the beach, you may go. If you live 1000km inland, you may play cricket instead. Christmas means family, seafood, salad, ice cream, lazing around, watching the kids, cricket, paper cracker hats, pudding.

If you live in a colder climate (with frost in winter), there may be christmas in July promotions from a tourist perspective.

Most people do trees and have loads of fun just like everyone else.

We like Christmas movies too. (I like to tease/razz my friends by insisting that Bruce Willis’ movie, Die Hard is definately a great Christmas movie! lol) It’s not weird to see snow in a movie. Don’t forget that generally Australia is very multicultural and also school is free and manditory until late high school so we all know someone or have been well enough educated to understand that climate and seasons are very different in other countries. Aussies also love to travel and many of us have been overseas and participated in other cultures.

Halloween is getting bigger in Australia. It’s super commericalised. Many of us don’t like it or participate in it as it is totally irrelevant to our culture and it seems like an invasion of celebrations merely for commerical purposes.

The sun makes us feel hot not so much ‘Christmassy’. Heat makes us think about summer holidays (6 weeks for school), swimming, feeling full of Christmas food and Dec 25th and sitting near an air conditioner. Don’t forget that at the peak of summer/Christmas day, the temperature is often quite hot (approx 100F in your temperature scale)

Nope, cold does not in anyway make us feel Christmassy. sorry. )

Yep, lots of us go to the beach. It’s only crowded if you go to a busy beach near the city. Don’t forget our coastlines are HUGE and there are innumerable gorgeous beaches. We just spread out a little. :slight_smile:

Enjoy your Christmas and come visit one day!

12

In Qld it will be fucking hot, so apparently a roast lunch is the best option for some unknown reason.

13

Australia is the same amount of ‘western culture’ that England and America are :thinking:

Our Christmas is the exact same as you’d see on any American Christmas movie, just replace snow, skiing and snowmen with heat, pools and beaches. And for some people include seafood either as well as or instead of a hot bird in the main meals

As for the edit: our school year starts at the end of January like any normal country. Starting in a random month like September or whatever is weird as hell. So our long break is over Christmas and is also in between school years. Starting at some point in December and going through all of January

14

What’s an average Christmas day look like?

We’ll be waking up, doing a very light breakfast and some presents at home with our toddler. Then we drive to my in-laws’ for a big family lunch thing, probably with a swim. Then we drive to my parents’ for a relaxed dinner, definitely with a swim. Then home to sleeeeeep.

Do you partake in any kinda of Christmas things during winter?

No? I think commercially they try to push a Christmas in July thing but I’ve never celebrated.

Do you still have a Christmas tree and do you decorate for Christmas the same way or do you have like special summer Christmas decorations?

Definitely still have a Christmas tree. Have all the usual baubles. Other decorations include reindeer, snowflakes, etc. Also most of my decorations are cat-themed but that’s not an Aussie thing, that’s just a crazy cat lady thing.

Do you still watch Christmas movies and is it weird for you that they’re all snowy/set in winter?

I love a Christmas movie. It’s not weird because I know how hemispheres and seasons work.

Do you celebrate Halloween the same?

Halloween is getting bigger (more American) here now but in the past it hasn’t really been a thing. I’ve never celebrated and don’t really intend to start.

Does the sun make you feel Christmassy?

Personally no, it just makes me feel hot.

Could Western culture influence you enough to make you feel Christmassy during the winter?

No.

I’ve heard that people go to the beach on Christmas, does it not get super crowded?

Yes.

Edit: One more question is: are your summer holidays longer than winter holidays in terms of like the school holidays and does that mean that there’s less of a gap in between school years?

I don’t think there’s very much less of a gap between school years. The way our school year works is: 4x 10-week terms, 3x 2-week breaks between them (April, June, October) and then 6-weeks off over Summer.

15

What’s an average Christmas day look like?
Sleep in unless there’s kids young enough that can’t wait to open their presents later. After that, food, booze and board/card games.

Do you partake in any kinda of Christmas things during winter?
Kinda, we have something called Christmas in July but it’s not like we get a tree out or wear Christmas clothes or anything. In my friend group (and it’s generally a friend group thing), it’s just an excuse to eat a bunch of warm, hearty things.

Do you still have a Christmas tree and do you decorate for Christmas the same way or do you have like special summer Christmas decorations?
We had a tree (that we always stole from a local pine plantation - the plantation itself was meant for wood/paper) but nothing special on that tree except maybe some very Australiana things, like a koala or kangaroo ornament.

Do you still watch Christmas movies and is it weird for you that they’re all snowy/set in winter?
Not weird. The world is (unfortunately) very Northern hemisphere oriented so we’re used to it.

Do you celebrate Halloween the same?
It’s not as big, but it’s definitely growing here. Redditors seem particularly pissy about that fact, but the kids have fun so what do I care?

Does the sun make you feel Christmassy?
Yes

Could Western culture influence you enough to make you feel Christmassy during the winter?
Not to be pedantic, but Australia is Western. It’s more of a Northern/Southern hemispthere thing. We just feel cold in the winter, not particuarly Christmassy.

I’ve heard that people go to the beach on Christmas, does it not get super crowded?
Yes, we do, and yes it does.

16

Do people in Florida celebrate Christmas?
Do they feel sad watching snow movies and missing out?

It’s awesome, it’s the first day of our summer holidays. Sooo when you’re a kiss you get your summer toys and sport stuff. The beach is packed and it’s a tradition to go for a dip in my family. But it’s not universal because everyone is visiting family. The school year starts in Feb or March depending on high school, University etc

17

The Summer sun and dusty north wind and the cicadas going nuts all feel like Christmas to me, in much the same way I imagine snow does to northern people

Summer is mangoes and cherries and peaches and watermelon and cold ham salad and prawn sandwiches and chilled beer. It smells like sunscreen, zinc cream and reef oil and feels uncomfortably like getting dumped by a wave and beach sand filling your swimmers. It’s that little accidental sunburn that you don’t even notice till your shoulders start to peel. It’s going barefoot everywhere then having to scrub melted bitumen off your feet. It’s dozing all day with the test cricket on the telly and only really waking up at night when it’s a little cooler.

The snow based Christmas movies are nice because I like seeing other people’s traditions, but they are exotic and ultimately not always easy to relate to.

Our school year is a similar duration to the north, it just starts in February and ends in December so we are super lucky that our long summer break also covers the end of calendar year celebrations.

18

There’s a lot of questions here!

Average Christmas day looks different for everyone I guess. My Christmas is super chill. Presents, fruit mince pies, fruit cake, cold platter and wine. Put on a movie, make a roast. Most people have big family gatherings and do a Christmas lunch over a dinner.

No because it’s winter and nowhere near Christmas so why would we?

Yes we have traditional Christmas trees decorated pretty traditionally with ornaments, fairy lights, baubles etc we probably use less snow based things like Snow men however.

Yes we still watch Christmas movies and its not weird they have snow but I’m sure all of us at one point dreamt of what it would be like to have a ‘white Christmas’

Its not weird because it’s just common knowledge that people in other countries have their seasons are different times of the year than us.

We don’t celebrate Halloween pretty much at all, in recent years they have been trying to commercially push Halloween but the average Australian doesn’t care or even think about it.

I wouldn’t say the sun makes it feel Chistmassy, I guess just the decorations and vibes.

I definitely felt more Christmassy when I visited the UK during that time. They go full out over there with decorations, music, stalls, selling mulled wine in the streets etc Sadly didn’t see snow though!

I guess some people might go to the beach on Christmas, but I would say it wouldn’t be super busy as most people would spend Christmas at their house or a relatives house over going to the beach unless its like 40c or something people may go down in the evening.

19

So I grew up in the UK but now live in Aus, so I’ve had both northern and southern hemisphere Christmases.

Average Christmas Day? Well, it’s likely going to be hot because it’s summer. Probably going to be sunny but that depends on where you are, we’ve had a few rainy rainy ones in Sydney.

You get the Kings Speech on TV at 3pm. People have Christmas dinner, but that varies from family to family, some do a roast turkey/chicken, others have a barbie in their garden or at the beach or a park even, some have a seafood buffet, you get the idea. You get presents and open them and you probably have a few drinks.

Backyard cricket is popular too.

Winter Christmas? Some people have ‘Christmas in July’ but I’ve never done it just know it’s a thing.

Christmas Trees are popular. Cities put up big ones in public places, shopping centres have them. There’ll be decorations, the usual stuff and tinsel and lights but it can have an Aussie twist with koalas or kangaroos in santa hats type thing.

Christmas movies are the usual ones that everyone watches, it’s not really weird I suppose to see snow in them, everyone knows it’s winter in the NH Christmas and that movies made there reflect that.

I don’t find it weird that NH seasons are seen as default in western media, it is what it is and the internet does as it does. You get used to celebrations being in the ‘wrong’ season or celebrated on the wrong day due to time zone differences (Aus can be 19hrs ahead of the US so we’ve already done Christmas by the time they do)

Halloween isn’t as big here as it is in the US but kids dress up and go out Trick or Treating and shops put decorations up and sell stuff for it.

The sun usually just makes me feel hot! I like Christmas in the sun, it’s better than the rain and grey skies I remember from my UK Christmases.

20

Everyone does things a bit differently. My Christmas day looks much like any other day except with presents and a family lunch. I generally serve cold meats and salads, but a lot of people do the whole Christmas dinner thing.
I don’t really know what you mean by “do Christmas things in winter”, it’s summer here. Some people do a mini “Christmas in July” dinner with their family/friends but I don’t think it’s super common.
Yes, we do Christmas trees, we decorate them with lights and stars and baubles and tinsel etc. Probably much the same as anywhere else.
Yes, Christmas movies are watched, no it’s not weird, it’s normal. Same answer for the next question, it’s normal for us. We know that it’s winter in the northern hemisphere, it’s not a big deal.
Halloween isn’t huge here, although it’s getting more popular.
The sun doesn’t make me feel Christmas’s, it’s just summer. I don’t know how a winter Christmas would make me feel, I’ve never had one. And yes, we do sometimes go to the beach, weather permitting. It’s summer. And, yes, sometimes they do get crowded.