As is true in many places around the globe during this month, this weekend’s Christmas festivities included the school program. It was typical in many ways…the grade one students stole the elementary school with their dancing and nose-picking, the beginning band sounded better than expected, flashing cameras were present in abundance, and my favorite part involved jingle bells.
There were so many things that were different from Christmas programs in my past though. Here are a few
-The shepherds had a distinctive Australian accent.
-Little ones were appropriately dressed in short-sleeves and flip flops.
-Short pants and well-worn shoes on junior high boys were understood as part of living in a place where new clothes for growing teens are hard to find.
-Adults from the neighborhood played in the band to make complete sections.
-Some parents came in on helicopters, while I just walked down the road.
-We all breathed a sigh of relief when two typical things didn’t happen: the rain didn’t come (downpours on a tin roof make for bad acoustics) and the electricity didn’t go out (imagine 60 kids on stage with no lights).
I have a feeling this is just the beginning of differences in Christmas traditions here in the land of the unexpected.