An Evening of Australian Christmas Traditions

Earlier this week, several people from Cross Cultures met at the church to bake gingerbread. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible for me to join them, but I was able to attend the regular weekly dinner and Bible study. When I arrived today, the tables and chairs were arranged to accommodate the anticipated larger crowd for our Christmas dinner and there was a bon-bon at each place setting. Since they’re not a popular part of the Christmas celebration in the US, the first time I had ever heard of bon-bons [or Christmas crackers] was when I was in the UK. They’re basically cardboard tubes with colorful paper twisted around them in such a way that they look like massive Tootsie Rolls. There are different versions of the game, but in essence, a different person grabs each end of the bon-bon and pulls until it breaks. In one version, whoever has the largest piece empties the contents from the bon-bon, which is normally a colored paper crown, a toy, and a joke of some sort.

With Christmas just around the corner, we naturally discussed the story of Jesus’ birth and how it’s the true meaning of this time of year. I felt like it was a really important discussion because even as a Christian, it’s so easy to get swept up in today’s commercialization of the holiday. It was even mentioned that while many people gather around the Santa-themed window displays at Myer, hardly anyone pays attention to the last one that features the Nativity scene. Shamefully, my first thought upon hearing this was ‘There’s a Nativity scene?’ Wow, talk about guilty as charged! Sometimes it’s just good to step back and remember why we’re celebrating in the first place.

In addition to our study, we ate a hearty traditional Australian Christmas dinner that consisted of turkey [I think, but being a pescetarian, I have to admit that I wasn’t paying much attention to that portion of the meal…] and then rice, salad, and other vegetables. We also decorated the gingerbread figures that were baked earlier in the week with icing and different types of candy. I ended up with a gingerbread man, a star, and then a kangaroo that someone said resembled a dinosaur :o) Later on in the evening, we had plum pudding for dessert, which was pretty delicious.