Holidays and Celebrations

Like many of you I’m looking at my schedule and planning what needs to be completed between now and the end of the year.  The last few days of the countdown is on.  Each year it seems that the race to festivities and celebrations begins sooner.  Here in Australia Christmas decorations have been in most department stores and many of the large shopping malls for the past two months.

It’s easy to become cynical and negative as the festivities combine with end-of-year pressures creating a pressure cooker effect.  Work tasks combine with work related celebrations and events and leave little time to consider family needs or to reflect on the meaning behind celebrations. 

For expats there are the added challenges of adapting to a culture that may not acknowledge your celebration, or where the climate is opposite to your usual festive triggers, or where your favourite food or decorations may be absent.   

We all enjoy special times and the opportunity to enjoy a new celebration or provide an added twist to an old celebration can be a memory maker.  But once again it requires expats to make a conscious choice – to choose to celebrate, to explore new possibilities and sometimes to be willing to let go of old traditions or adapt them to work in a new location.

We all need holidays to mark the passage of the year.  We need times to reflect on the things that are important to us, our family, friends and cultural and spiritual heritages.  And we need time out from work to remind us what is really important!

I hope you will celebrate well wherever you are and whatever you are celebrating.  I extend wishes of peace and joy to you, your workplaces and families.

And take care of yourselves and each other.

December Celebrations

Here in Australia as we race through the last days of work before winding down for a Christmas and summer break it can feel like all the world is shopping, decorating, baking and looking towards the Christmas holiday that begins on the 25^th of December. Of course we know the reality is different.

Around the world different religious and secular celebrations are being held or looked forward to and even for those who celebrate the Christian festival there are many different dates and ways of celebrating. 

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What makes Christmas for you?

Merry Christmas from New Zealand! This year it was hot and humid.  Definitely no snow except the white stuff visible high on the peaks of the alps as we flew in on Christmas eve.  No mistletoe, no chestnuts, no open fires, no sleighs or sleigh bells or snowmen.

There was a tree, lights, roast turkey, Christmas pudding and presents under the tree.  There were carols at a midnight church service with candles and a nativity scene.  And most memorable of all there was family; grandparents, uncles, aunties and cousins. 

Christmas with family is an uncommon pleasure for us.  Like many expats we have often been far from family at Christmas. 

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