By the time this goes to print I'll be in Melbourne, Australia for a holiday and to visit my family for Christmas and New Year. During the eight years or so that I've lived in Thailand, I've only made it back for Christmas once, so I'm really looking forward to this trip.
Although I'm originally from the Sydney area, since I've been living in Thailand most of my family and many of my friends have moved down to Melbourne. I'm pretty happy about this because I like Melbourne much more than Sydney these days. The southern city has more parks, better public transport, a more happening music and arts scene, as well as some of the best coffee and food in the world.
Some people complain about the weather in Melbourne, but after nearly a decade of constant sauna-like heat, I'd be happy to experience a bit of cold, bracing weather that allows you to wear cool things like coats, leather jackets and sharp suits. Though having said that, I'll be there in the middle of summer, which has the potential to be even hotter than Thailand. In that case, a trip to the beach might be in order.
Although nobody in my family is religious, Christmas is always a fun get-together for us. It typically involves lots of food, wine, board games, movies, and afternoon naps to get refreshed for the next round of food, etc. I'm especially looking forward to the home-cooked turkey and ham, which are definite highlights of our family Christmas meals.
At some point during Christmas lunch, we usually pull apart some Christmas crackers — small paper-wrapped cardboard tubes that make a loud bang when you pull them apart and typically contain useless plastic trinkets, impossible-to-solve Chinese puzzles or strips of paper with the worst jokes ever thought of written on them. Great fun!
So if you celebrate Christmas in any way, I hope you have a great one filled with things like turkey and bad jokes. If not, I hope the annoying chirping of endless Christmas songs in all the shops and malls doesn't drive you too crazy!
Ben Edwards
Editor
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