Christmas at the beach

Think about Christmas

Close your eyes. Think about Christmas. What is popping into your mind? Cold, snow, family gathering, gifts, Christmas movies with the same plot every time, a night at 4 pm. Or something like this, I guess.

My usual Christmas

My usual Christmas is to come to my parents’ house for a week, have good food, play games with my sisters next to the fire, drink tea under a blanket and fall asleep on a book. On the 24th, the whole family goes to the movies, and we eat some blinis with smoked salmon. We open our presents in the morning of the 25th, and then eat some oysters and veal with a bottle of wine at 3 pm.

My 2022 Christmas

In 2022, it was the first time I spent Christmas without my parents and sisters, and also, the first time I experienced Christmas in summer. I moved to New Zealand in September, which is in the South hemisphere, and for those who never thought about it: seasons are inverted. So it was the first time in my life that I got to spend Christmas at the beach. And I was a bit weird.

Weather

First, it was hard to get in a Christmas mood when it was 25°C outside, and the sun was burning your skin if you forgot to put sunscreen on. When I told Kiwis about it, they all told me, “Oh yeah, ‘cause you used to have a white Christmas!”. I quickly understood that it was regarding snow, and not my skin color, but when I did my research, it is in fact a famous song and movie that I didn’t really know.

Christmas decorations

Even if the weather and plants are completely different from the northern hemisphere, symbols around Christmas are not that different. Christmas decorations are Christmas trees, candles and snowmen. All right, the decorations’ colors are not green and red everywhere, but there is a lot of fake snow on shops’ windows. One of Auckland’s attractions at this time is Franklin Road, Ponsonby. Every house and gardens are lightened. My favorite, because it was the most unique, embraced that Christmas is in summer here by transforming Santa’s sleigh into a boat and reindeers by dolphins.

Gifts

The hardest part for me this Christmas was the gifts. Honestly, I didn’t manage it very well. It was hard for me to realise it was Christmas season because I lost my marks. And also, because to make a decision with people who were still in France about mutual gifts, we had to take into account the twelve hours of difference between us. So, we had only two times in the day to talk, when we were all kind of sleepy. Anyway, I did everything at the last minute, and, thankfully, my sisters were there to deal with it.

And in this other way also, I didn’t get the excitement of receiving gifts because I knew there would not be a thing under our nonexistent Christmas tree. And for all good reasons. First, because I came here with two suitcases, and I need to leave in one year with the same ones, so no material gifts. And second, shipping fees are over the moon from France, and the shops are really different from here so it is complicated to find a gift over the internet. So call me materialistic if you want, but knowing there won’t be a proper gift opening, I wasn’t the most excited. Don’t get me wrong, I got great gifts to do some activities here, and I love it. I am just a child who loves objects.

Beach

The best part of Christmas for me was spending time on the beach on the 24th. I loved it. Sun, sand, swimming, and a beautiful view of the island in front of us. It was great!

And the people we were meeting there came prepared. They had an arbor to protect us from the sun (but of course everyone got sunburns anyway), portable barbecues with a sausage thermometer to check on the cooking, and folding tables to put the eighteen dishes we cooked. And with all of this, we were not at the same level as Kiwis who came with chariots and tents.

French people

The people who invited us were other french immigrants, people who I had never met before but welcomed us with open arms. And I have to admit that it felt good to be part of a group this day. Even if I am a big advocate for speaking English between French people if there are non-French speakers around, it felt nice to be able to communicate everything I wanted to say, exactly the way I wanted to, without thinking about it.

Also, the fact that we were with families, with children of all ages reminded me of my family gatherings when I used to go to my grandparents’ house and all the cousins were there.

Video calls

I spent my 24th on the beach eating sausages and rice salad. But I also spent some time with my family through the great technology of video calls. I took part of the gifts openning on the 25th, and the next day, I played Trivial Pursuit with my parents and sisters. By the way, know that there is a Trivial Pursuit decades 2010 - 2020 for those who don’t know anything about Russian authors of the XVII century or football players of the 50s. What we usually do is ask the classic questions to our parents, and they ask us the new questions. Like that, the game is a bit fairer. Anyway, video calls cannot replace real-life moments, but it allowed me to share some traditional moments with my family.

A winter without Christmas

Now that I experienced a summer Christmas, I wonder what will be left in winter. Because if Christmas, summer and my birthday are all at once in the year, what is gonna be left in July, and it will be cold and dark here? Will I be in the mood for Christmas movies under a blanket with hot cocoa?

Next week

Thank you for reading the first article of How to be a beginner? ! I have to admit that I had to make myself remember that it was a blog about tries and first times, and that this article didn’t have to be perfect. But it’s okay, and since you read it, it means it is now online, so I’m glad it is here.

There will be a new article about my first stand-up scene in the comedy club The Classic.

What about you?

What about you? What did you try this week? What will you try next week? Tell me about it in the comments or on Instagram or Tiktok!