Tis the Season

Christmas was beautiful in Perth. Filled with fun, giggles, pounds of Christmas pudding with custard (for those who don't know, Christmas pudding, isn't pudding, it's like a cake), dozens of fruit mince pies, shortbread and pavlova and strawberries. Haha, I think it's time to go back to loosing weight. 

But it was genuinely great. Up-to Christmas Liz and I would drive to different spots that have lights up after we both had gotten home from work. Lights are interesting here, because very few homes actually decorate for the holidays (at least not the way that we do in the States), however ... when they do decorate ... they go ALL OUT, so while there aren't very many homes to look at (and you have to drive all over the metropolitan area to find them) the ones you do find are elaborately decorated. 

The first time that we saw a decked out house, it was 10pm and Liz did a quick u-turn to take a look, and I assumed we would just drive by really slowly ... the way we look at lights in the States. Instead ... Liz parked in the driveway (of the stranger's house), got out, and proceeded to walk towards the house and into their front yard. I just stood there not sure what to do. Especially since I saw the owner out of the corner of my eye, outside stringing up the last little sets of lights, and Liz was making a beeline for her window to take a peak inside her house! This definitely isn't how we do things in the States, where we stick to the street and footpath (sidewalk), and stay clear of people's actual homes. So I just stood there by the car not sure what to do ... or how to handle the inevitable fight that I was sure was going to happen. 

The owner, a woman, spotted Liz, approached her, and instead of coming to fisticuffs for the invasion of privacy ... stood and seemed to be having a friendly little chat with Liz.  After a few moments, I finally decided that I should join them. The exterior of her home and her tiered front garden were covered, and I mean every inch was covered in fairy lights (twinkle lights).  It was beautiful. As I approached the two women, Liz was asking if she could go inside the house, and I could hear Christmas music playing loudly, as the front door opened. 

Definitely not how I am used to doing things. 

Within a few minutes I found myself in a strangers home at 10pm, Fleiz Navidad playing out of two large speakers by the front door. And I was absolutely breathless. You might assume that I was that way because I was nervous about how odd it was to invite yourself into a stranger's home at 10pm, but I was absolutely breathless because I could not believe what I saw. The owner's parlor had been completely transformed from a room with two couches and a TV to a different world. The TV was covered up because a large flat high surface (maybe specifically constructed) mostly covered it as well as most of the room except for a small path leading to the rest of the house. And every centimeter of that surface was covered in small little Christmas snow themed ceramics depicting a beautiful and detailed little European Christmas glittering town. It looked like a small scale model for a claymation movie. It was a beautiful little set up complete with fake snow, and even moving parts. I felt like a small child oooh and aaahhing over it. Noticing ever small little detail. It was intricate and beautiful, and I genuinely wonder where they store it for the rest of the year. 

The woman chatted with us, and offered up her lolly jar that came complete with little candy canes. She spoke with a thick accent that I couldn't quite place, but I think that she might be Italian, or maybe Portuguese.  We left to go home after a good 15 minute chat. 

Definitely not how we do things in the States, but I LOVED it. 

On Christmas day itself, we went to church in the morning, and then afterwards we went to Blair and Naomi Major's home for the rest of the day (seriously we were there for 12 hours). We laughed, we cooked (I blanched beans for the first time ... I didn't even know what it meant), and had turkey AND ham AND fish, and all sorts of treats in between. My contribution for the Christmas meal that I had brought from home was a quinoa, pecan, cranberry, and dill salad ... which was phenomenal, if I do say so myself! ;) At their home, I met Blair's parents who within a few hours of meeting me, invited me down to Bunburry, where they said they'd put me in a queen sized bed and show me around town! (and I'm going to take them up on their offer, Bunburry is two hours south of Perth ... and coincidentally, still a part of my Stake). 

All in all, Christmas was pretty great. 

I don't know how well you can see it ... because my flash
didn't work, but this is CLASSIC Aussie Christmas garb
shorts, singlet (wife beater), flannel, and Santa hat

The welcome sign has a donation 'wishing well' where people
throw in a few coins when they go through, a lot of homes
do this, and all proceeds got to Princess Margaret Hospital
(the children's hospital in Perth)

Again. Classic. This is a bunch of Aussie kids strolling down the street
wearing classic Christmas hats (that you get from those little pully things)
and walking around barefoot (a very Aussie thing)
and definitely dressed for the summer season! ;) (they posed for this pic)

This isn't the same house as the one I talked about in my post,
BUT this gives you an idea of what I was talking about
that's Liz in the foreground.

Liz and fake snow. Did I saw they go all out?

The kids I get to spend Christmas with!!!

Sequence, looks like ... fun while they were doing this ... I was ...

doing this. Haha. Christmas tuckered me out. But it was tons of fun