Santa in the southern hemisphere?

[Just Lori]

I know I could look this up, but I'd love to hear Ehellions' recollections of Santa in the southern hemisphere.  (For that matter, any of our warm weather Ehellions could weigh in.)  So much of my Santa recollections involve his sleigh.  We worried that if we didn't have snow, Santa might not be able to make his trip on Christmas Eve.  And when he did visit, he was always wearing his warm, red outfit that kept him warm in the North Pole.

In areas where Christmas falls during the summer months, does Santa wear shorts?  How do children believe he gets around? 

[Betelnut]

Good question!  Does Santa live in the South Pole if you live in Australia?

[kethria]

I can only speak for Colombia, but Santa doesn't really do presents there. It's all about the Baby Jesus and the 3 Wise Men.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_worldwide#Colombia

Huge elaborate Nativity scenes are made and every day Mary and Joseph get a little bit closer to Bethlehem. Then Christmas Eve the Baby Jesus appears in the manger. Then the 3 Wise Men get closer and closer and the finally make it there on Epiphany.

[Leafy]

Interesting question. Children in Australia are taught that Santa lives in the North pole, wears a big red suit and flies a sleigh. The sleigh lands on your roof and Santa comes down the chimney - or enters the house in some other magical way if you don't have a chimney.

Novelty Christmas cards will have Santa on the beach in singlet, stubbies (work shorts) and thongs but normal Santa is normal. There is also one Australian Christmas Carol that has Santa riding "snow white boomers" - also known as big male kangaroos. I wouldn't say the stories have been Australianised at all. Oh, we do tend to leave him a beer though.

[magicdomino]

Novelty Christmas cards will have Santa on the beach in singlet, stubbies (work shorts) and thongs but normal Santa is normal.

My brother in New Orleans once sent me a Christmas card that had Santa in a boat pulled by alligators.

[Avi]

Leafy has it right.

Santa is just Santa (although in my family it is Father Christmas, not Santa - I dont know if this is an aussie thing or not) with a big white beard and big red suit. He is from the North Pole and has a majic flying sleigh so the lack of snow isn't an issue.

In our house we leave out a beer and mince pies, and carrots for the reindeer.

I really wish I could see a white Christmas though, it is usually 30-40 degrees celcius (86 - 104f) at Christmas here.

Our meal is usually cold - seafood, smoked ham, salad, chicken or turkey, fresh fruit ( cherries, apricots, plums), cheese platter and maybe a cheescake or Pavlova for dessert. With lots of chilled wine and ice cold beer. Yum....

[Ceallach]

AUS/NZ here:   Our childhoods and lives are dominated by both British and USA books and media, and our family traditions are passed down from ancestors from the United Kingdom.   So our Santa is exactly the same as your Santa!

Every so often creative Summer versions of Santa appear, but they're always a tongue in cheek joke - really we believe that Santa still comes in his sleigh.   Besides, it's a FLYING sleigh, so it doesn't need snow!!   The Santa on the beach, Santa at the BBQ etc is all just for fun.

I do think that perhaps this makes it more common for kids here to know that Santa is fake at a younger age though, as it's fairly obvious that there are some BIG discrepancies in the story.      We also tend to yearn for a white christmas as children.... although in reality our fun summer Christmas is pretty awesome.   

(On a personal note:  As an adult, I love the idea of having Christmas in winter to break up the long cold months - the thought of a "summer holiday" and "christmas holiday" is pretty awesome.  It's all-in-one here, and the months from June to October feel very long and cold with little to look forward too! Just rain and cold and no holidays, except for the possible escape overseas!)

[bigozzy]

In Queensland in the early 60's we kids would sit sweating in front of Christmas tv watching UK/US films with snow and ice and steaming hot meals while we had lovely cool treats and swims. Through the gauze of the mosquiton net over my bed I would look at decorations and cards reflecting their cold origins!

At my primary school it was a regular event for a parent to dress as santa and come to our last day of school party (school year finished then). In the last few years of school santa wore shorts and short sleeves.

Xmas day could be inthe 30's celcius so we would eat cold meats, watermelon and other summer food and then find some shade to sleep off the excess and avoid the worst of the heat. No aircon then. Boxing Day was spent at huge family picnic gatherings on a beach or by a river bank in the bush.

I did that here in Scotland once and I have just started getting feeling back in my feet.

[StarDrifter]

I'm 25, and I've lived in Australia my whole life.

Last year my (23-year-old, 6'7") LittleBro was a 'Santa's Helper' at Myer (big department store) and the 'Santa' outfit he wore was red jeans and a long-sleeved red cotton top, but the traditional pattern with the white fluffy trimming and black buttons.

It was funny, really, a lot of kids questioned him on why his beard was so short and brown, but he kept calling himself Santa Jr. and the kids thought it was awesome that Santa's son was chatting with them while his Dad was making all the presents up at the North Pole. He even wore the hat.

We also get Santa visiting us first, you know. Check NORAD. Seriously, he comes by Australia, Perth first, then across the Nullarbor.

A lot of Australian depictions of Santa are of him chilling on the  beach, he gets about a half hour respite between us and NZ, he's that quick, so he usually has a beer in Bondi and then the police make sure he's not over the limit before they send him on his way.

I do think that we perpetuate the myth a little more tongue-in-cheek than most countries, most kids accept as early as three or four years old that the "Santa" in the shopping centre isn't the real deal, he's one of Santa's Helpers who is sending their wishes back to the Big Man up north. A lot of Australian houses lack a fireplace, too, so he can't really come down the chimney, so we have to leave a door 'unlocked' for him to get into the house, or remind kids that he is magic, and can get in no matter what.

Either that or he uses the AC vents.

The guy in the red suit still uses the sleigh, but most people in this part of the world honestly have never seen one (I don't know anyone, outside people who've been to the States or the UK in winter) who has actually seen a sleigh, let alone has a complex knowledge of how they run - plus, it is a magic sleigh, so snow isn't exactly a requirement for it to run.

I have to concur with Cellach, I'd love a white Christmas, and almost got one a couple of years ago - I was at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and on Boxing day we got 2" of snow... it was 43 degrees in Darwin, high 30s in Melbourne, mid 30's in Launceston (just 200kms away) and it snowed, enough to hit Ace with a snowball, up on that mountain.