“I’m dreaming of a White Christmas, just like the ones I used to know. Where the tree tops glisten and children listen – to hear sleigh bells in the snow.” With these words and that song, Bing Crosby brought tears and joy to the thousands of GI Joes in World II. The song reminded them of home and of a childhood in the snowy Northern Hemisphere. But wait! One half of this planet doesn’t get snow in December. For those who grew up in the Southern Hemisphere, December brings sunny days, warm beaches, and long, lazy days. Several of my trips have taken me to the Southern Hemisphere in November or December, and I was always taken aback when I saw holiday preparations being made while the folks were wearing shorts. Let me share a couple of these jolts with you.
The first time I realized my perception was a bit out of whack came during a visit to Santiago, Chile in late November. We came out of our downtown hotel in shorts and t-shirts into a pleasant, warm day. We stepped around a ladder where an employee was stringing colored lights. “Must be getting ready for some sort of a party or celebration,” we conjectured. “Yep, looks almost like Christmas,” we chuckled. A few blocks later reality set in when we passed a decorated Christmas tree in a store window. The surprise went on. Santas standing in shorts next to donation buckets. Very much like Christmas, except for the weather.
Another equally jolting revelation came to us in Sydney a few years later. We were relaxing one late afternoon in a German Hofbrau-style restaurant in the area of Sydney known as “The Rocks.” A chorus of lederhosen-clad lads and dirndl-wearing maids arrived and began entertaining us with songs in German. After a melody or two, we realized they were singing Christmas Carols. Hey – it’s eighty degrees outside and not a flake of snow in sight. We also enjoyed a little side show here. There was a church which had erected a fair-sized stage near its entrance. The curtain was closed, and a sign proclaimed, “Coming soon.” A few days later we passed by and the curtain was drawn open – and a full-sized nativity scene was displayed.
A humorous scene happened in Dubai. Admittedly, this city is not in the Southern Hemisphere, but it hasn’t had a snow storm in recorded history. Outside that is. At the Mall of the Emirates it snows daily inside the enclosed area where people can ski in twenty seven degree weather, while it hovers in the nineties or higher outside. They don’t decorate the fake pines in this enclosed area, obviously due to the overwhelming Muslin population. But as you meander through the shopping part of the mall you are exposed to some Christmas sights. For example, we saw a fully-dressed and decked-out Santa Claus – but instead of the usual red outfit this guy wore bright blue!
One more for good measure. This one was in Quito, Ecuador. The country sits right on the equator, but it does have very high ice-covered peaks in the Andes which surround it. Nevertheless, it is warm and sunny at Christmas time. Being a very religious nation, Ecuador is crowded with churches and cathedrals which are almost as prevalent as they are in Europe. Once again, we found ourselves surprised when the stores began displaying lighted and decorated Christmas trees in November. Here though, the emphasis was more on wise men, nativity scenes, and angels hovering over babies in cribs. Santa and his elves apparently do not travel this far south. Fortunately, all the trees we saw were of the plastic type as pine and spruce are not part of the Ecuadorian environment.
Diversity on this planet always surprises me. These Southern Hemisphere holiday manifestations contrast so much with my visits to cities like Heidelberg and Nuremberg in Germany. I suppose we adapt to our locations and tailor our memories to fit the surroundings.
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