My first ever green Christmas

Today it is my first ever Christmas spent in South Hemisphere. It was a bit weird, I have to say, when I lay on a bench on Anzac Parade (a main street in Canberra where the War Memorial locates) this afternoon. I don't remember ever lying outdoors during Christmas time--way too cold in the middle of winter. But now, trees are green, roses are blooming and the weather in Canberra today is not too cold and not too cold--perfect for an afternoon leisurely stroll. So we did.

We walked around the CBD area for about one hour, passing quite a few residential area. But we only spotted one house with Christmas decoration. Compared to Americans people here seem to have very little interest in wrapping their house up for Christmas. Santa's red hat and shiny colorful balls are popular choices especially in shopping center. Two weeks ago I did see Christmas trees for sale in the parking lot of a shopping mall. But I haven't seen anything extravagant yet.

Here are a couple of unusual cases though. The Starbucks shop in Civic has snowflakes on their window! I assume that was an idea of a home-sick American soul. Some sarcastic character from the poultry shop in Canberra Center put two name tags on a couple of turkeys--one says John Howard, and the other Kevin Rudd--only Rudd wears a Santa's hat though. Not sure that was a good marketing technique.