Dudes, I was remiss about Christmas!

It's been DAYS AND WEEKS since I last posted. I am a terrible blogger. But that's OK, because while not posting I had lots of fun, and fun is good. I spent the week before Christmas doing lots of work, and I also went out dancing a few times, hit the beach, and learned about cricket from my cousin. (Yes, I listened to the rules of cricket for TWO OR THREE HOURS.)

So here's my take on Christmas traditions at home and abroad--and hereby I promise myself that as 2009 rolls along, I'll be a more responsible Albatross.

Of course, the biggest difference between Christmas in Australia and in Canada is the weather--and the difference between summer and winter then spreads out to change a whole variety of traditions. Swimming not skating, barbecue not turkey (or AND turkey), fresh mangos (mmmm) not mandarin oranges from afar... the list goes on.

Some popular Christmas things I've noticed here are outdoor markets, big carol sings--in parks or on beaches--and going to the beach for Christmas/summer holidays. But overall, Christmas isn't as big a deal here. Outdoor decorations on houses are much more rare. I think it's because Christmas isn't alone--in Canada, Christmas vacation is the only thing to be excited about in the cold weather of December. Here, you can totally ignore Christmas and still be excited about summer.

Whether it's because this is my first Christmas as a working person rather than a student, which is to say the first time I've worked right up until December 24th, or because of the different weather and traditions, I totally didn't see Christmas coming. It was just like WHAM. I spent the holidays with my aunt, uncle, and cousins--it was interesting because their family and my own have kindof similar Christmas things in some spots, inherited from my aunt's and mother's family, but it's all inflected by the climate/national traditions. So while I missed the home ways, I also enjoyed the Australian versions.

After Christmas, we all went to the coast, to Jervis Bay, for 4-5ish days. I'll tell you more about that later, with PICTURES. But let me just say there was a lot of ocean.

"Seasons greetings" to all, and I hope your holidays have been as radtacular as mine!

Katsurahama

One last shot of Japan. I took some photos of Kochi's most famous beach with a disposable camera in mid September, and while they aren't AWESOME SHOTS, I love the film-y quality of them.

Wedding at Meiji Temple in Tokyo

A huge crowd of tourists watched this wedding procession. I felt bad for the couple at first, but then I realized that if they hadn't wanted a huge audience of foreigners, they wouldn't have gotten married at a huge, famous temple in Yoyogi Park on a Sunday.

Kyoto Tower

A man in a suit looks out from Kyoto Tower.

Temple Workers in Kyoto

In Kyoto I took a bunch of photos of people cleaning and working at temples. I just put the whole batch on flickr.

(Now there's just Tokyo, and I'll be up to Australia!)