Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the first country to see the sun each morning! While it's still Christmas Eve in most parts of the world, Christmas is already in full swing here in New Zealand, which means... well, not quite what you'd think, really. It's a much more subdued affair here. Storefronts, streetlamps, and indoor shopping malls have decorations, but most homes don't put on the light displays typical of American suburbia. In some ways it's nice, because you don't have to drive down the street and pass the homes of overzealous rednecks who drove to Wal Mart and bought a dozen three-story-high inflatable snowmen and reindeer to fill the neighborhood with the incessant roar of industrial-strength fans. Not that I have a problem with tasteful decorations, but there's a line that shouldn't be crossed.

I get the impression that Christmas here is more akin to our Thanksgiving in that it's the time for the whole family to get together, consume a boatload of rich food and alcohol, and fall asleep by three in the afternoon. Also, since summer's starting, Christmas barbeques are quite popular. Over the past few days at the grocery store, the Kiwis have been buying immeasurable amounts of charcoal, meat, and alcohol. Oh sweet dancing Jesus, so much alcohol--all I want for Christmas is for one of the customers to randomly invite me to share in this glorious tradition. We're talking shopping carts filled to the brim with Speight's, Mac's, Monteith's, and Tui (the main NZ beers), and whole cases of wine and "bubbly" (champagne). Apart from the odd shopper just in for a few things, I've been ringing up tickets anywhere from $150-$600. Sorry. Forget what I said about Christmas being more subdued here.

My booze-filled fantasies aside, Alexa and I actually have been invited to a Chirstmas barbeque. Our landlady's having one on Saturday. Since we live, oh, about a dozen feet away, we figure we'll probably take up the offer and check it out.

As for today, we're probably going to head downtown and see what Queenstown is up to for Christmas. A touristy, hoppin' town like this is bound to have something going on. Sadly, after three nine-hour days at work staring longingly through the windows at glorious sunlight, it's cloudy, raining, and miserable on my day off. Figures, right? Still, we'll find something to do. At least it's not snow! Later on we're going to have pretty much the fanciest Christmas dinner ever--we bought a whole chicken!

We already exchanged presents this morning. I gave Alexa roughly $5000 worth of lavish jewelry, clothing, lotions, and a week-long vacation to the world's most famous spa in Switzerland. All she gave me was a dirty, used sponge to do the dishes and a sock. It's true. Don't believe whatever she writes in her blog. Seriously.

Anyway, we're going to head downtown. I have the next three days off, so we're probably going to go white-water rafting or river-surfing tomorrow or Saturday, depending on the weather and what's open on Boxing Day (whatever the hell that is). I'll keep you posted!

Merry Christmas or Happy Chonnnjnucka' (Alexa says there's so many ways to spell it, I can spell it however I want, so I thought I'd use four n's and a silent j).

Oh, and happy Kwanzaa, Chad.

That's two shout-outs. You have to pay for the next one.

New Zealand's largest Christmas tree. It's up in Hamilton.