So this month my subject was submitted by Evil Joy Speaks, and the subject is (drum roll please)....
"Does summer {break} scare you? Does summer {break} entice you? Why or why not??
So first of all I gotta explain a few things for my non-Aussie readers, just so that you guys understand what the hell it is I'm talking about. Now you're probably aware that our summer is not the same time as yours. In fact while you guys are having your lovely warm summer, we are in the grips of an icy and painful winter. In fact one day last month it was foggy all day. I'm not kidding, I woke up at 8:30, it was foggy. I got Miss K her lunch at 12, it was still foggy. I went and bought dinner at 5:00, it was still foggy. It's just one of the things I hate about winter. Now what that means for us is that while you guys are having your white Christmases, we're all in our shorts and bikinis having salad and cold meat on Christmas day. And it is pretty damn awesome.
The other difference between Australia and America (I'm not sure about the rest of the world, you guys tend to keep your holidays pretty quiet.) is that we don't have the whole of summer off from school. We finish school a couple of days before Christmas, then take the rest of December and the whole of January off, with February (the last and hottest month of summer) being spent in school. I've always hated this system, but I'm sure parents all over the country are more than happy to see the back of their little darlings after 6 weeks of being full time parents.
Now given that Miss K is still not old enough to go to school, summer holidays are a bit "same old, same old" for us, as absolutely nothing changes for us as far as our routine goes. But it does mean a change in the kinds of activities we do. There are trips to the pool, to the beach, evening walks, water fights, long hot days and long hot nights. There is a massive spike in parties and barbecues and a huge decrease in the amount of clothes worn. And who here doesn't love completely legal partial nudity??
But with the lack of clothes and the party season comes some negatives of course. The heat here in Australia can become incredibly oppressive. To give you an example, a friend of my sister in law's who lives in England was complaining of a heat wave of around 27 degrees celsius (around 80 degrees farenheit). Now when we in Australia are talking about a heat wave, we're talking 40 degree heat (104 degrees farenheit) which is quite a bit hotter, and a lot more suffocating and exhausting. If the needle ever hits 40 plus (which is happening more and more these days) the only thing you can do is stick a face washer in the freezer and stay as low to the ground as possible. (Unless you're one of those fancy pants people with an air conditioner, in which case you can do whatever the hell you like.) There are also mosquitos the size of small insects, who love the taste of human blood and fly around in swarms around barbecues and pool parties. And then there are the scorch marks you get on your hands every time you touch your steering wheel or seat belt when you get in the car. Oh and the melted tar you get on your flip flops (thongs for my Aussie friends who don't really get why you guys can't call your damn shoes thongs.) when you cross the road.
So I can certainly find plenty of things to hate about the summer holidays, but for every negative there is at least two positives. For example, right now I'm wearing a black bear as a dressing gown as it is freezing cold here at the moment, and I'm afraid if I wear any less while sitting in my lounge room I might get frostbite. That would never happen in summer ya know.
Well that's it for me, be sure to go and visit all the other participants, you will not be disappointed, and I'll be returning for next month's secret subject swap soon.
But with the lack of clothes and the party season comes some negatives of course. The heat here in Australia can become incredibly oppressive. To give you an example, a friend of my sister in law's who lives in England was complaining of a heat wave of around 27 degrees celsius (around 80 degrees farenheit). Now when we in Australia are talking about a heat wave, we're talking 40 degree heat (104 degrees farenheit) which is quite a bit hotter, and a lot more suffocating and exhausting. If the needle ever hits 40 plus (which is happening more and more these days) the only thing you can do is stick a face washer in the freezer and stay as low to the ground as possible. (Unless you're one of those fancy pants people with an air conditioner, in which case you can do whatever the hell you like.) There are also mosquitos the size of small insects, who love the taste of human blood and fly around in swarms around barbecues and pool parties. And then there are the scorch marks you get on your hands every time you touch your steering wheel or seat belt when you get in the car. Oh and the melted tar you get on your flip flops (thongs for my Aussie friends who don't really get why you guys can't call your damn shoes thongs.) when you cross the road.
So I can certainly find plenty of things to hate about the summer holidays, but for every negative there is at least two positives. For example, right now I'm wearing a black bear as a dressing gown as it is freezing cold here at the moment, and I'm afraid if I wear any less while sitting in my lounge room I might get frostbite. That would never happen in summer ya know.
Well that's it for me, be sure to go and visit all the other participants, you will not be disappointed, and I'll be returning for next month's secret subject swap soon.
Although I know other countries have their seasons at different times, I never really thought about the fact that holidays fall in different seasons for you. This was so interesting, I'm glad you got this prompt.
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen, I knew a lot of the ladies who would come by now would be in the middle of a lovely long summer right now so I thought it would be nice to try and join you guys a little with a summer of my own.
DeleteI agree with Karen's comment above, so cool that you got this prompt. very informative and interesting to read. I would die in that heat, but wish I was cold right now..I'm sweating like a bison.
ReplyDeleteI tell you what Karen, I'll take your bison sweat over the finger numbing cold we have here right now any day. Just give me your location and we can do a season swap right now.
DeleteIt is soooo strange to think about spending Christmas in the heat and July in the freezing cold!
ReplyDeleteI HATE the heat. Maybe I should split my time between Australia and here. ;)
It's funny most people I know chase the warm seasons, it's never occurred to me that there would be winter chasers as well. Victoria is the perfect place for winter chasers right now, there is snow on the mountains and ice on my car.
DeleteI loved reading this!
ReplyDeleteIt gets 104 during the summer where I live but I'm one of those fancy pants people. ;)
We're all wimps here in Southern California... if we use them or not air conditioning is standard in most homes.
Sending you lots of sunshine and warm thoughts! <3
Damn your fancy pants air conditioner, I would kill for an air conditioner in summer. We have a crappy little faux air conditioner which basically works like a fan with water in it, nothing like the industrial air conditioner in my dreams. Thanks for the sunshine and warm thoughts though, I'll keep them in a safe place for the next time I have to go outside.
DeleteInteresting! Thst was pretty rad to read.
ReplyDeleteMakes me homesick for the warmer Christmases in Arizona.
The Insomniacs Dream
I love me a warm Christmas. Nothing beats a water fight after lunch to cool down with. Although the Christmas I was pregnant I was kind of wishing for a little cooler Christmas, now I'm back to loving the hot weather and summer thunder storm that always seems to happen on Christmas day.
DeleteIt was 104 here in Utah last week. If I didn't have the air-conditioning, I'd be pretty useless. It's always fun to read about someone who has a different experience. February is your warmest month? I can't imagine, but I do know where I'd love to vacation this winter!
ReplyDeleteCome on down, we're always open, especially during summer. I can even give you the names of some beautiful beaches you absolutely must visit while you're down here. And don't bother adding Bondi Beach to that list unless you're prepared to pretend to drown just to be rescued by the hot lifeguards.
DeleteIf I could find a place where it stays a comfy 75 year around, I'd be thrilled.
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought that this blistering heat wouldn't be felt down under.....learn something new every day!
Yeah we tend to like to do the opposite of you guys at all times just to be different. I'd be happy if I could find somewhere that stayed around 80 at all times, 75 just doesn't seem warm enough for me sometimes, but then I always seem to be colder than everyone despite my extra padding.
DeleteLOVED learning about the differences in seasonal time. I tend to forget that until I talk to my gal pal in Africa and as I complain about the heat, she is telling me how cold it is there--it takes a minute to register. I also had no idea it got that hot in Australia. I live in South Florida, right on the ocean. Our temps get into the 90's around this time but it's coupled with horrid humidity---always a bad hair day around here! Good news is we have the ocean near our home to jump into and cool off!
ReplyDeleteI always thought our summers were dry until I travelled to the north of Australia, then I found out what a dry summer is, and they are pretty fantastic. It doesn't get lens fogging hot here like it does in some of the islands around Australia, but I always have a bugger of a time with my hair too, so I can sympathise with you totally there. And I am totally jealous of your proximity to the ocean. I dream of retiring near the beach one day, these days it takes 2 hours to get to the closest beach. But it's always totally worth it.
DeleteI never considered that other parts of the world would do their breaks at a different time of the year. How interesting-it would bring a totally different perspective!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I dreamed of getting three full months off for summer break, but it's not so bad because we get three other breaks during the school year as a trade off. We still get 12 weeks worth of holidays over the full year, they just split them up so we aren't stir crazy by the end of the school year.
DeleteIt is interesting to read comments from American friends, not realising that other countries have different weather during the holidays. We have a lot of American TV shows down under, so we are very aware of your snowy Christmases, Having said that.... I wouldn't swap our hot Christmases for the world. I love having cold food or barbecue, wearing shorts and t shirts and thongs. It is soooo relaxing. But I'm sure everyone has a lovely Chrissie, no matter what the weather.
ReplyDeleteYeah Christmas isn't meant to be about how warm it is, but I still totally prefer eating my potato salad in thongs and a t-shirt. (And I mean flip flops for my American friends, I promise I wear pants to all family parties. Just ask mum, she'll back me up.)
DeleteI remember you sharing this info about your seasons being very different...I think you rocked this post.
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen. I was so excited to get to talk about summer as we're still months and months away from it so it was nice to remember what is coming up for us at the end of the year while you guys are in the grips of your own icy winters.
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