<b>Hey Aussie English fans!</b><br /> <br /> Or more particularly... fans of Australia and all things Aussie!<br /> <br /> I'm&nbsp;<b>stoked&nbsp;</b>that you guys have been hanging out so long for the next word from this blog. In fact, I'm so inspired that I am considering how I can schedule this into my daily/weekly routine. (I've said that before, right?)<br /> <br /> So anyway, here's the big news...<br /> <br /> I'M BACK&nbsp;<b>DOWN UNDER!</b><br /> <br /> Yeah mate, that's right. I was living in Siberia (Russia) with my&nbsp;<b>fam bam</b>&nbsp;for three glorious years. We had a&nbsp;<b>ripper&nbsp;</b>time and managed to make a whole&nbsp;<b>stack&nbsp;</b>of friends. But it was time to&nbsp;<b>mosey on</b>&nbsp;home to where kangaroos roam.<br /> <br /> There's one big difference already... a Summer Christmas!<br /> <br /> We just enjoyed our first Summer Christmas since 2012. There's something to be said for a beautiful white Christmas with snow, ice-skating and all that... but coming home to Oz, it's just like the good old days again.<br /> <br /> Typically, on Christmas day we wake up early (the time is generally dictated by the <b>tin lids</b>) and flop around on the lounge and floor near the Christmas tree.<br /> <br /> Kids rip into their presents and shout for joy as they unwrap toys, gadgets and of course socks and undies. It could be argued that some families overdo it a bit. Personally, I don't like to&nbsp;<b>splurge&nbsp;</b>too much.<br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKW9BlnXj-caeR3BqOBbSmSWqCu9LD58UfOKCiFWddCZ9JLq2NkfUyJQnitpMo5zJKvDibdYXi45URUjwIarSW37sK9DmqC1WNGuOAlGTsg4GkwG4tjIOTBPQWvgguJvEBXrvoQ60ino/s1600/christmas+family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKW9BlnXj-caeR3BqOBbSmSWqCu9LD58UfOKCiFWddCZ9JLq2NkfUyJQnitpMo5zJKvDibdYXi45URUjwIarSW37sK9DmqC1WNGuOAlGTsg4GkwG4tjIOTBPQWvgguJvEBXrvoQ60ino/s320/christmas+family.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><b><i>My mob on Christmas morning, 2016</i></b></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> Some folk head off to church for a morning service where the original Christmas story is lovingly retold and kids often show off one or two of their favourite gifts.<br /> <br /> Following that, we have a&nbsp;<b>whopping&nbsp;</b>big family lunch of salads, sliced meat, maybe a BBQ and then bucket loads of lollies, cakes and ice cream. One of the most well-loved cakes at Christmas time is the pavlova (or "pav" as we say).<br /> <br /> We recently moved to a new town near the beach and not too far from the alpine regions. The temp is a bit cooler here, but even so, Christmas Day is renowned for being a&nbsp;<b>STINKER</b>. That means, very hot.<br /> <br /> If you're lucky, Christmas Day will end with a nice big thunderstorm and cool, cleansing rain.<br /> <br /> Just so you can get a sense of the Aussie Christmas tradition, I'm posting a link to Colin Buchanan's well-known rendition of "Jingle Bells" - aptly retitled "Aussie Jingle Bells".<br /> <br /> Enjoy...<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OnJ8jsw4BSo/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OnJ8jsw4BSo?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <br /></div> <hr width="100%" /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <b>Useful words:</b></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <br /></div> <b>Stoked: </b>to be very happy about / proud of / thankful for something<br /> <b>Down Under:</b> Australia<br /> <b>Fam bam:</b> family<br /> <b>Ripper:</b> Awesome, excellent, amazing<br /> <b>A stack of: </b>lots of, many<br /> <b>Mosey on:</b> to leave, go somewhere, walk away<br /> Tin lids: kids (rhyming slang)<br /> <b>Spluge: </b>to spend a lot of money<br /> <b>Whopping:</b> huge, big, large<br /> <b>Stinker:</b> a very hot day, a stinking hot day