Mark Jezek, 18, of Temple is there this year, participating in the Rotary Student Exchange program and has been trading his Texan “howdy y’all” for an Aussie “g’day mate.”
His host home is in Tumut - population 6,000 - nestled at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains in the state of New South Wales, with a shire population of about 11,355 and located about 10,482 miles from Temple. Shires are compared to American counties, although always a bit smaller.
The warm weather allows Australians to enjoy a tradition that started in the 1930s. Carols by Candlelight is held every year on Christmas Eve. Tens of thousands of people gather in the city of Melbourne to sing along with celebrities. The sky above with its Southern Cross acts a backdrop for thousands of candles held by carolers.
Many then attend a midnight Mass at their church to mark the beginning of Christmas Day and to celebrate the birth of Christ.
A traditional Christmas meal includes pretty much what Americans eat - a turkey dinner, ham and pork - but for dessert there’s flaming Christmas pudding. A more modern approach to dinner consists of prawns, which Americans call shrimp, cold meats and salads. Families gather in backyards to escape the heat of the house. No Christmas meal is complete without the traditional “cracker” or “bon-bon.”
A cracker is a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of paper, making it resemble an oversized sweet-wrapper. The cracker is pulled by two people, and, much in the manner of a wishbone, the cracker splits unevenly. The split is accompanied by a small bang produced by the effect of friction on a chemically impregnated card strip (similar to that used in a cap gun). Inside the bon-bon is a small trinket and a paper hat. The hat is cheap and geeky looking and worn with pride by uncles and aunts for the remainder of the day. No teenage child wants to wear the hat!
Christmas carols are classics with the occasional uniquely Australian carol in the mix. People dressed in shorts, flip-flops and a T-shirt hum along to “Frosty the Snowman,” “Jingle Bells” and “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” - the operative word here being “dreaming.”
Australians can dream all they like but there isn’t a hope in heck of a white Christmas. It is celebrated smack bang in the middle of summer. Temperatures are not unlike heart-of-Texas summer highs.
The balmy weather had Jezek down in Adelaide last week learning one of Australia’s most popular sports, surfing.
He told his dad, Eric, that he would be surfing where great white sharks call home - but decided to keep this piece of information from his mom, Judge Fancy Jezek.
Christmas is also the end of the school year and a chance for families to take holidays.
For Mark Jezek, this Christmas will include a camping trip on the river, doing a spot of fishing and relaxing with his host family.
Back in the towns, roundabouts - junctions where traffic moves in one direction around a central island at intersections - are decorated with angels and stars to add to the festive season.
Preparations consist of Christmas trees in public areas, usually the fake kind because real trees can’t cope with the heat.
“I do get a laugh out of the fake snow that is used to decorate when it is so hot outside,” Jezek said.
Home and business roofs sport Santa being led by his reindeer, but some children believe differently.
Many children leave a pillowcase at the end of their beds so Santa has to creep in their room to fill it with toys. They also believe that Santa delivers gifts with his sled being pulled by six white boomers (kangaroos, of course). Boomers are large white ones more accustomed to the heat than reindeer from the Northern Hemisphere. The reindeer, the children believe, are resting up from their travels around the world.
Naturally, a carrot for the roos, and snacks and an icy beverage for the big jolly fellow are provided.
Jezek has been a busy teen, getting involved in anything and everything offered to him, including all kinds of sports like flag-football or rugby league, where the players do without the helmets and padding that Americans use in football. “Rugby league is a gentleman’s game played by thugs and Rugby Union is a thug’s game played by gentleman,” Jezek was told. He is enjoying both.
Cricket is another sport that Jezek is enjoying. Cricket is a game consisting of a bat, a ball and wickets - there are 11 players on each team.
It is a dynamic team sport characterized by short bursts of activity punctuated by irregular periods of inactivity; and always includes a tea break that dates back to Australia’s English ancestry.Jezek said he tasted kangaroo, the animal that appears on the Australian Coat of Arms, before climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“That (bridge climb) really amazed me. On one side you can see the gorgeous Sydney harbor, known as the most beautiful harbor in the world, and the opera house. Looking in the other direction you can actually see the Blue Mountains in the distance.”
For Jezek, a lazy day awaits him this year with the ritual game of backyard cricket, endless eating, scorching temperatures, a bit of fishing and an afternoon nap - a necessity on any Australian Christmas day.
“Every American should visit here. The Australian people just love showing their country off. It is always very friendly. It’s the kind of place where you can do anything and there is always someone to take you there.”
The Jezek family in Temple will have an empty seat at their table this year as their son spends his first Christmas in Australia, but phone calls will be made and good wishes sent. “This is a chance of a lifetime for Mark. His host family are just wonderful people. We know he is in good hands,” Fancy said.
