Santa Claus is Coming to Town. . .

There are a number of notable differences between Christmas in Australia and Christmas in the US.  Here are a few examples:
1.  Santa Claus doesn't come to town.  Father Christmas does. (but you can still visit him at the mall as you can see from the photo!) 
2.  The most common greeting:  "Happy Christmas"
3.  Christmas pudding and mince pies.  I really didn't want to buy either but could tell that it would upset my MIL if I didn't so I gave in.  I also bought a bottle of brandy as it seems "brandy butter" (homemade, not store bought) is equally essential. 
4.  Weather.  This one is pretty obvious but definitely worth mentioning.  Despite the fact that Sydney is experiencing the coldest and wettest December in 51 years, the kids have been swimming nearly every day and the forecast for Christmas Day is sunny and 23 degrees (that's mid-70s).  Perhaps we'll hit the beach?  Now that's a tradition I could get used to. 
5.  Christmas Eve dinner.  Now I know that every family is different, but mine tends to eat Italian on Christmas Eve (lasagna is popular because it feeds a lot of people!)  But this Christmas Eve we will be eating: meat pie.  A burgundy beef meat pie to be exact.  Pies are very popular here but they are almost always savory.  There is little chance of finding a pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie or, my personal favorite, a chocolate silk pie but you can find meat pies on nearly every street corner (both here and in NZ.)  This is no doubt why Andy loved going to Boomerangs  in Austin. 

Of course there are a lot of things that are universal and key among them are the thoughts of friends and family - near and far.  Thinking of you and wishing you all a very happy christmas!