Plain Can Be Lovely

I didn’t mean for so much time to go between this post and my last one. Hopefully in 2015 I’ll get better at posting regularly! It’s Christmas Eve and I’ve been thinking about past Christmases. My family isn’t very big on Christmas. We did the presents and everything when we were kids but as we grew older Christmas turned into movie day. I distinctly remember seeing Tomorrow Never Dies in theatres with my dad one year, while my brother and mom opted to see As Good As It Gets. I’ve mentioned before that I went to grad school in Australia so I thought it would be fun to recap my Christmas there.

A Christmas tree in Sydney.

It was Christmas day 2006 in Sydney, Australia. Dec. 1 marks the first day of summer in Australia, so while the decorations and feeling of merriment were all the same (Santa, trees, stockings, snow scenes) it wasn’t the type of Christmas that I’m used to. It was hot instead of cold, sunny instead of grey, BBQs instead of turkey dinners and there was no snow (not that there’s always snow in Toronto on Christmas day).

Louise and I on the bus to Bondi Beach. We met in Fiji and kept in touch in Australia.

My friends and I headed down to Bondi Beach to spend Christmas day there. People were dressed in Santa hats, lazing in the sun and playing frisbee, volleyball and other beachy sports. For the first time in my life I got to stand in the ocean on Christmas day and feel comfortable. It was beautiful. For lunch we had shawarmas and they were delicious. I’ve had a love for shawarma ever since.

We didn’t get food here but I loved their Christmas sign.

Our lunches to go. We ate them on the beach.

The girls on the beach.

Loving Christmas on the beach.

Santas on the beach.

Bondi Beach. I love this place. I also spent time here on my last day in Australia.

Me enjoying Christmas on the beach. I didn’t start running until 2010 so this is my pre-running (aka no muscle) body.

While I wasn’t able to spend Christmas with my family I still spent the day surrounded by peace and happiness. It was one of the most relaxing and memorable Christmases that I’ve ever had. I’m glad that I got to spend Christmas day in Sydney.