Summer! Christmas! The blending of the two.

[out_there]

flaming_muse asked me: does it feel strange to you that in Western literature/movies/television there's so much emphasis on snowy, winter Christmases when you're used to Christmas being in the summer?

I'm replying here because I know how I feel about it, but I don't know if that's a "just-me" thing or a "generally-Aussie" thing.

We're a very Western country, regardless of our hemisphere (still a member of the Commonwealth, strong Brit background, large US influence in pop culture) and those snowy traditions go hand in hand with the roast for Christmas and the songs and... Hmmm. It's funny when you think about it. I don't know if "strange" is the right word. Because you grow up taking it for granted that most UK/US Christmas traditions are around cold weather (I mean, the fact that I love singing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" when it's usually over 90F shows that I don't really have a problem with it).

...but at the same time, the snowy winter isn't really an Australian thing either. Oh, sure, there are places (mostly up high and used for skiing) where it regularly snows, but we don't have the snow that US/UK get. Our winters here (Melbourne) are overcast and rainy, and usually around 5C-14C most days. Canberra was cold, but "cold" is -5C to 12C (cold enough for frost, but snow is a freak occurance). Winter here isn't feet of snow and blizzards -- it's overcast and a need for a jacket, not chains on the tyres.

And that was totally off-topic. But I was going to say that most modern Christmas songs aren't strictly about winter (Baby it's cold utside, Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, etc, are all older tuneS) so it translates pretty well. Doctor Who christmas specials are always snowy, but it just sits in that cultural-gap spot in your head, the one that says, "the UK is a cold place to live". (In fact, that's probably the main impact: a mental assumption that UK/US are cold due to all the winter-during-out-summer reminders.)

Having said all that, one of my favourite Australian summer songs is Sunny Cowgirls' "Summer" which really sums up that feeling of summer, the relief of warmth coming back, the heat coming, the social season coming on, the stretch of school holidays. It's a little more bush than my actual life (wetsuits, dams and tanks aren't part of my summer, but thongs-on-bitumen and hot seatbelts and running through sprinklers will always be summer memories for me) but that thrill of looking forward to the hot weather even though you know there's things that you'll bitch about -- it's the feel of summer.

That's always been a moment of dissonance, actually. Not the Christmas-in-winter thing but the school holidays thing. For me, Christmas/Summer holidays were always the same stretch of six week break growing up. You look forward to Christmas because it's summer and the year's over and a new year will begin. (So having a short Christmas break feels odd to me. Having New Year's in the cold feels strange. Even though New Years was originally a celebration through the winter, getting ready for the next harvest thing, that's not how it falls on my calendar. New Years has always been the height of summer, hot weather and sunlight until 8.30pm and celebrating getting through the cold times months ago.)

Comments

[tevere]

Having New Year's in the cold feels strange.

Yep! I don't have any feelings about warm or cold Christmases much (we barely celebrated it when I was a kid), but when I was backpacking solo in San Francisco on one New Year's eve I got a bit down in the mouth about how it was cold and raining and everyone seemed to be having convivial private house parties rather than the big street parties like we're used to. It was lonely! (Which is ironic, since often in Australia I'm crankypants about the crowds and the noise and the fireworks, and I'm usually in bed by 11pm.)

[out_there]

Which is ironic, since often in Australia I'm crankypants about the crowds and the noise and the fireworks, and I'm usually in bed by 11pm.

Hee! Me too. I'm frequently not awake by midnight and wish people weren't outside making such a ruckus -- but the idea of not being able to wander outside in the dark but still warm hours of the night, oh, that just seems wrong and sad for NYE.

[delurker]

but the idea of not being able to wander outside in the dark but still warm hours of the night, oh, that just seems wrong and sad for NYE.
Agreed!

[china_shop]

This reminds me of Tim Minchin's Christmas song. :-)

I almost feel like the association between Christmas and winter gives me an excuse to pretty much opt-out of Christmas. Huh. I never put that into words/thought before -- which probably means it's probably a rationalisation after the fact. *g*

/here via the friending meme

[out_there]

"The lyrics are dodgy"! That's awesome! Okay, I sort of love that song. It's getting added to my Christmas mix (it includes stuff like Everclear's "I'll be Hating you for Christmas" and glee covers so... it's a touch random anyway.)

I almost feel like the association between Christmas and winter gives me an excuse to pretty much opt-out of Christmas.

Interesting. I rather love Christmas - much like the Tim Minchin song, it's mostly about seeing family and having time off and warm weather and drinking and decorations up everywhere -- but I've also never really done the big family christmas thing (it's always been immediate family, so most years it was 2-4 people, and now it's sneaking up to 6), and I think the stress of spending time with crowds would change my mind completely.

/here via the friending meme

*waves* Hi!

[nemonclature]

That's really interesting, I'd never really thought about what it must be like to have a Summer Christmas/New Year beyond the cliched, barbecue on the beach sort of thing.

That said, the whole 'white Christmas' thing is mostly a fantasy even here in the UK, at least for the English (Scotland being much more likely to get snow, though not assured). -5 or lower for a few days is reasonable, but we've been coasting around 8 for a while. A wet Christmas is a much more common occurrence!

[out_there]

A wet Christmas is a much more common occurrence!

Huh. Now that I hadn't thought of. To be perfectly honest, actually having a White Christmas sound like more hassle than it's worth. I think the snow might be pretty for a little while, but cold and mushy and *cold* wouldn't appeal to me for too long.

[nemonclature]

Yeah, I know everyone at work is wishing against a white Christmas because they don't want to have road closures when they're trying to get home to family. That's the problem with harsh weather in the UK, we never seem to be prepared for it. There's a bare inch of snow and it's suddenly impossible to get anywhere, public transport all grinds to a standstill, people don't go out on the roads. It happens once every two years, you'd think we'd have got used to it by now.

[out_there]

If it makes you feel better, we have that with the trains in summer. Once it's over 38C, there's a good bet trains get cancelled and there may be a few hours of delays. I mean, it tends to happen once or twice a summer (we're not usually that hot, but it gets up there occasionally) but apparently we can't work around it.

[nemonclature]

Wow, too hot for trains. I didn't even know that was a thing. But yes, nice to know it's not just our govt. that's incompetent >_<.

[out_there]

It's actually a too-hot-for-the-train-lines thing. Something about the railings heating to that level can make them unsafe for the trains to travel at normal top speeds, so there are delays left, right and center.

But yes, nice to know it's not just our govt. that's incompetent >_<.

Hee! True.

[nemonclature]

See, that actually makes sense, we just get the whole 'leaves on the track' thing, which, ok, I'm sure there are reasons for it, but how come the Eurostar is all 'leaves on the track' on the British side, and then it enters France and suddenly it's smooth sailing. Clearly there's something going on there.

[out_there]

Well, my favourite reason for train delays was "insects". Apparently, a bunch of caterpillars had invaded the tracks and the slickness that would be caused by crushing them could make the train derail. Spending two hours stuck in a train carriage in the middle of nowhere, waiting for someone in the transport company to signal the all-clear from the terror of *caterpillars* is so surreal it was almost worth it.

[nemonclature]

That is amazing. I've honestly never heard of that one before. Next time I'm late into work I'm totally gonna use that as my excuse!