Relocated from "Uses for Shorthand" discussion:
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Recommend Delete Message 9 of 11 in Discussion
From: Ray Sent: 12/22/2004 8:05 PM
I am really pleased that I found this group. It has been great meeting up with some terrific people amongst its members, even if it is just by e-mail. What I have been enjoying in particular is the good naturedness (is that a word?) of the people who post messages and the sense of humour possessed by members. Your anecdotes and willingness to share memories make you into flesh-and-blood people for me and not merely staid and formal participants in a oh-so-far-away message board.
Ray in Australia.
This message was produced using only 100% recycled electrons.
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Recommend Delete Message 10 of 11 in Discussion
From: MSN Nicknameforknerman Sent: 12/22/2004 10:05 PM
Ray,
It is good to get to know people from the far side of the globe, even if it is only through email.
I can't imagine what Christmas must be like in mid-summer, as in Oz. Strange enough for a kid from Ontario, where Christmas is accompanied by a couple of feet of snow, to live in coastal British Columbia, where snow is very rare. "White Christmas" wouldn't be the most popular carol. "In the Bleak Mid-Winter" would make no sense at all. Then again, I can only imagine going shopping for Christmas presents without carrying either a parka or an umbrella. Must be heaven.
Jim
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Recommend Delete Message 11 of 11 in Discussion
From: Ray Sent: 12/22/2004 10:51 PM
Well, we certainly don't have a "White Christmas" as the Christmas carols and Christmas cards suggest!
Many people here have airconditioning in their homes and in their cars, just as many Americans would have central heating and so on. And Christmas day is often spent at outside barbecues, or at one of the beaches that this country is famous for, or - more traditionally - at home with family gatherings.
Traditionally also the majority of people still have a hot Christmas midday meal, with roast chicken, pork, turkey, ham and plum pudding! An increasing number are swinging over to cold meals for Christmas, and seafood is very, very popular nowadays despite its expense nature.
Of course, Aussies being Aussies, large volumes of beer and, to a lesser extent, spirits, are consumed but there is an increasing amount of wine being drunk as well. And lots of "cuppas"( = cups of tea!) by Australians of Anglo-Saxon heritage.
I would imagine that California and Hawaii would be quite similar in terms of weather conditions.
Christmas is a very humid time of the year anywhere near the coast and people in general are shedding as much clothing as they can, whilst still remaining decent, of course! "Coastal Australia" and "perspiration" are pretty much synonymous terms in the summer months.
Ray
Labels: anythinggoes