It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...... Christmas?

True to my word, most of my afternoon on Monday was spent in the downtown area, where I was thankful to be able to readily access my voicemail and to snag some free WiFi from the beautiful State Library of Victoria. Later in the evening, I wandered aimlessly along the well-lit city streets

when a small banner hanging off a lamppost caught the corner of my eye. As I walked closer, I realised that it was a colourful sign that proudly displayed the words, "Merry Christmas, Melbourne." I'll admit that it took me off guard and I even laughed to myself, immediately thinking that it was much too early to be decorating for Christmas; however, when I gave it just a little bit of thought, it hit me that it's mid-November already and decorations back home are probably popping up everywhere as well since Christmas isn't that far away.

Within moments of noticing the small sign hanging from the streetlight and snapping a quick photograph, the sound of bright, cheerful, very loud Christmas music filled my ears. As I looked around to try to locate the source, I saw small groups of individuals gathered around humongous Christmas-decorated displays in some of the store windows of one of the department stores, Myer. These displays were massive, comparable to Macy's in New York and Harrods in London, and the likes of "Here Comes Santa Claus" was blaring from them.

It seems that the older I get, the more quickly and unexpectedly the holiday season suddenly appears in my life, but this year, it's different for a number of reasons. First of all, it will be my first summer Christmas, which makes it no wonder why it especially doesn't feel like that time of year right now. There's no question about whether or not I'll wake up to find a beautiful white blanket of freshly-fallen snow outside my window or whether or not it will be cold enough for my dad to light the fireplace in the family room, which almost makes me feel like some of the magic has been whisked away. Secondly, to my recollection, this will be my first Christmas spent outside the

tri-state area, but most importantly, it will be my first one spent away from home, away from my family and my friends, away from those who know me the best and love me the most.

When I had originally planned my trip, the holiday season was something that was always in the back of my mind, but whenever it tried to creep to the center of my attention, I always pushed it back into the corner. It's pretty daunting now that Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas will inevitably soon follow.

Despite the fact that I'll be far away from people I love, I am, however, looking forward to spending my New Year's Eve down here. It has always been my plan to spend it up in Sydney so I guess the next logical step would be to purchase a return ticket up there, right?