Tradition

Traditions keep us grounded, connecting us to happy memories and people we love. The holiday season is normally filled with customs. This year being across the the world means none of my normal traditions have happened. As I plan to stay in Australia for at least another couple of years, it will be interesting to see if some of the things I've done this year will become my new holiday traditions.

New Years: As a teenager I always went to my friend LC's house with another friend AC (now AVB). New Years was a special time where we could catch up, hang out in the hot tub even in the snow, eat raw brownie mix and frosting, and dance around to 'You Don't Own Me'. We did the same thing for nine years. Like all good traditions, it was a way to create the familiar no matter what else was happening in our lives. Boys changed, what we did earlier in the night changed, schools changed, our relationship with our family changed, we were teenagers after all, but New Years was our night. Eventually, we changed. AC got married and the three of us moved to different cities. I never found a New Years Eve tradition to replace those times with the girls. Every year since then has been something and somewhere different. This year I will be with my family is Hawaii, almost the last place in the world to hit midnight.

Easter: I always found Easter to be a more relaxed holiday, maybe because I never did the cooking. In the morning we would look for our Easter baskets, which I still do if I am visiting my family. We would dye eggs making way too many. We would attend church and then have a bunch of people over to eat at our house, including some international students whom my mom invited over to experience a typical American holiday. The younger children would search for Easter eggs hidden in the yard that were filled with candy and money. I do not know what I will do this year.

July 4th: As children, we would go to my grandparent's plot of land. All of the extended family would be there plus family friends and people I had never met before. When we were little we used to take rides in the back of the lawnmover and destroy multiple kickballs when they were kicked into the rose bushes. As we got older we participated in volleyball, crochet, bean bag toss, lawn golf, and horseshoes. I'm sure it will come as no surprise I come from a fairly competitive family. At night we would watch fireworks singing patriotic songs. This year I ran around Sydney chasing a person in a duck costume.

Halloween: I didn't celebrate Halloween as a child. I went trick or treating once as an adult as a pirate although nobody could tell under all the winter gear I had to wear in Buffalo. Anytime I need a quick costume I tend to be a pirate. When I lived in NYC I would go to my friends M+K's house for a murder mystery night. Last year I got killed off three times. This year I went to a Halloween party again as a pirate.

Thanksgiving: For a few years after my family moved to New York, we would travel back to Ohio to see the extended family. We would have a huge thanksgiving dinner and play a lot of games. The next morning my uncles would cook breakfast and we would celebrate Christmas, exchanging gifts while the whole family was in town. We stopped going back to Ohio as we grew older and schedules got more difficult to arrange. Instead we went to a Thanksgiving Eve service and then my group of friends would go out to eat or dancing. On Thanksgiving my mom would host a large group of family friends. The next morning mom and I would head out in the early hours of the morning to take advantage of Black Friday sales. While I lived in NYC, I got to host Thanksgiving and we went to see the Macy's day parade. This year I went out to dinner with friends who were gracious enough to humor me when I asked them to go around the table and say something they were thankful for. The next morning I skyped my family and was a floating head in a laptop at the table. On Black Friday, I went to the American expat pot luck under the Harbour Bridge.

Christmas: Growing up I never believed in Santa Claus, a fact I used as a bragging point in grade school. On Christmas Eve my brother and I would go last minute Christmas shopping and out to eat. While I usually had almost all of my gifts, I would purposely leave at least one more to get to have the chance to hang out just the two of us. There was a Christmas Eve candlelight service at church where after the carols were sung my family would cause trouble by trying to blow each others candles out in a 'King of the Mountain' type face off. We would watch a couple of Christmas movies and head to bed. In the early hours of Christmas morning, 4:30am one year, my sister and I would sneak downstairs and exchange our gifts to each other by the light of the tree. My brother would join us and we would empty our stockings and watch 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'. We would wait until the required time of 7:30 before waking our parents in creative although usually obnoxious ways. Now that I am older I realize they were already awake but did their bit to keep the tradition by not coming out of their room until we 'woke' them. We would open presents and mom would cook us breakfast, getting too little appreciation for the full buffet she presented. Dad would go through all the wrapping paper to make sure any little pieces were not lost. We would play with our toys, even toys we got as adults. This year I will spend Christmas on the beach with other holiday orphans then fly over to Hawaii to see my family for the first time in six months. By crossing the international date line, I get 48 hours of Christmas on the beach with family and friends.

While the actual event has changed throughout the year, as have the participants, the true traditions, and the purpose behind them, is to connect with those whom you love and who love you.

I wish you a Christmas filled with wonderful traditions and the creation of new memories.

Full-on

October and November have been full on, a grateful change from August where I was just working as a waitress every night. The weather is leading into summer but still ranges from 18 to the perfect 26 to 34 degrees. Yes, I talk in Celsius now. And kg. Although I still mix up writing dates, looking the right way before crossing the street, and understanding km and cm conversions. Some of the best moments:

1) NaNoWriMo- I finished a 50K book. Granted, nobody will be allowed to read it... possibly ever. It is tragically bad but there are some glimmers of purpose and promise starting to show. I have a greater understanding of what it takes to write a book and a much higher respect for authors, even authors with crap books. It is tough!

2) TESOL- I have started taking an online TESOL certification course. I have no idea where it will lead. So far I have learned what it means to be a good teacher and that, like most Americans, I have no idea about proper English grammar.

3) Sculpture by the Sea- Over 100 sculptures were placed along the cliffs between Bondi and Coodiee beach. It made for a gorgeous backgroup to some beautiful pieces.

4) The Races- Went to see the horses race at Ranwick Race Course. Won once. I felt sophisticated and European in my fascinator and couldn't help thinking of My Fair Lady throughout the day.

5) One of my friends works at the Sydney Opera House and she has given me tickets to a couple of shows. One had an intense story line, one was a classical opera, and one was based on "Of Mice and Men" I learned that I prefer the more classical Italian operas.

6) Thanksgiving- The American Expat group hosted a pot luck Thanksgiving dinner, under the Harbour Bridge, in the rain. An interesting side note: Most Aussies I have talked to think Thanksgiving is a bigger holiday than Christmas in America. I can say that in my brief pole of fellow Americans no one has agreed with this. Interesting how cultural mentalities are misunderstood. However, when I watch tv (where most ideas of America are grounded) every sitcom has a Thanksgiving episode and far fewer have Christmas episodes so it is understandable.

This is the longest that I have been away from my family and I miss them terribly. I always went home for Thanksgiving and Christmas and it has been a tradition for years to go shopping with my mom on Black Friday. My little sister is now engaged, my little brother is getting ready to graduate college. In exactly 19 days (maybe 18 since I cross the international date line) I will get to see my family. :D That smile isn't big enough.

7) Organized a hike to the "Grand Canyons" of Australia, the Blue Mountains with 44 people. I miss the Fall with the leaves changing color, the pumpkin carving, and the corn mazes, but at least there is still hiking here.

8) Went Paddleboarding. At first our legs were shaking but almost everyone got the hang of it by the end. There were surprisingly few oar fights.

9) Organized a scavenger hunt around Sydney. I got to wander around the city looking for places for the teams to find. I enjoyed creating the event and working out all the details. There were 39 contestants and even in the rain it seemed like the teams had fun. Plus as judges we got to make them do funny things wheelbarrow races in a very public place.

10) Moved Apartments. I was living with 9 other people in a 2 bedroom flat. We had nationalities from all over the globe. Even with my extroverted nature I am surprised I lasted as long as I did. That makes 4 jobs and 3 apartments in 5 months for those keeping track.

11) Met with some people about sponsored jobs. There isn't a lot more to say about that yet because I am still trying to figure out this part of the transition.

December is already filling up with Chrissy parties, optimistically more stability, and Hawaii with my family!