The Obligatory Christmas Post.

No other holiday is quite so linked to being with friends and family as Christmas. Obviously, its considered to be one of the first big challenges of recent immigrants, being away from family and friends during this holiday.

Carly and I have very different feelings when it comes to Christmas. For my part, I definitely felt a little blue at not having dinner with my 'rents, seeing my friends, vegg'ing out, playing games and generally being social with those I love. Being that my family is all over the world, You'd think it would be easier, but the fact is we typically made sure we all saw each other during the extended holiday season if not on Christmas proper.

Technology definitely makes up for some of it. Skype has been a godsend throughout our immigration and being able to talk to anyone we want without having to worry about blocked international lines, long distance fees etc. is definitely making it easier. Seeing people over the video is an even better treat.

That all being said, we've been having an excellent Christmas thanks in no small part to our new friends in New Zealand. This weekend, we got to visit with our friends J and B in Christchurch. We met them through a board gaming website of all places. J's been incredibly helpful for finding all sorts of Kiwi information that many of the locals took for granted before arriving and I think we all hit it off quite well when we went to Picton together earlier in the year. They took us out to great restaurants, threw a BBQ with their friends while we were there (and much boardgaming was done!) and generally were fantastic hosts.

R and A, another couple we've befriended, came over on Christmas day so that I could make them a nice big breakfast. Carly made scones from the cook book she bought me for christmas (Edmund's Cookery Book) I made eggs bacon and coffee / tea.

We followed that up by bringing a Tourtiere (my mom's recipe of course!) to the BBQ they were having at their place over lunch / dinner to share some of the Canadian festivities that would normally take place. It was very well received.

And now, on boxing day, having made all our family phone calls, we're off to explore the Boxing Day sales (Kiwis definitely take their sales a lot more seriously then Canadians do :P ) and go to the beach.

Here are some photos of the traditional New Zealand Christmas Tree, the Pōhutukawa Tree