• 3-minute read
• 23rd December 2016

An Aussie Christmas Explained for Brits

In Australia, we love Christmas just as much as our British and American cousins. But while we’ve seen plenty of their Christmases on TV, the same isn’t necessarily true of the reverse.

And there are a few differences to Xmas Down Under that the most non-Australians don’t get. As such, we’ve prepared this quick guide to share with your British and American mates.

1. The Weather

In the northern hemisphere, Christmas is a winter celebration associated with cold, ice and snow (even if the UK hasn’t had a proper ‘white Christmas’ since 2010). But in Australia, Christmas falls during the beginning of summer, so snow has never been likely!

Our festive clothing differs accordingly: while we’re comfortable in shorts and t-shirts for Christmas, in Britain and America, everyone has to wrap up in ridiculous sweaters.

2. The Food

The seasonal difference between the northern and southern hemisphere is also reflected in our Christmas menus. Most Brits have never enjoyed a refreshing Christmas pav, for example, since they have stodgy fruit cakes instead.

Likewise, you won’t find many in Britain or America who have seafood at Christmas. Instead, they like to stuff a chicken into a duck and pop that inside a turkey. Not exactly health food.

3. Six White Boomers

If you really want to confuse Brits and Americans, try telling them that Santa’s reindeer get to rest during the Australian leg of his round-the-world sleigh ride. The revelation that they’re replaced by six white kangaroos will probably confirm a lot of their prejudices, though.

4. The Songs

If you want Brits and Americans to keep looking at you strangely after the kangaroo revelation, start singing about a ‘kookaburra in a gum tree’ to the tune of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. And while we’re on a musical note, what better summary is there of our festive differences than ‘Christmas Where the Gum Trees Grow’?

Christmas where the gum trees grow
There is no frost and there is no snow
Christmas in Australia’s hot
Cold and frosty is what it’s not
When the bloom of the jacaranda tree is here
Christmas time is near

5. Sport!

In Britain, it’s all about soccer on Boxing Day, as you’d expect from a nation that loves ‘footie’ so much. But we’ve got the weather for the Boxing Day Test Match, so it’s cricket for us!

The only time the Brits are on board with that is during the Ashes. And the Americans are confused by the very idea of cricket, so we can assume they won’t be watching.