What’s Christmas like in…? Fun Christmas Traditions Around the World

I’ve got a real treat for you today! I am taking you on a sleigh ride to peek at how people celebrate Christmas around the world! And you don’t even need to pay for the fare. It’s my feel-good Christmas surprise for you!

I’ve got a bunch of expat friends and bloggers together to write about what Christmas is like for them in their respective adopted countries. It’s a really fun insider’s look at this lovely time of the year.

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Have you ever wondered how people celebrate Christmas in other countries? Maybe you didn’t even know that the 25th December is not always a big deal in holiday celebrations at this time of year. Well then, buckle up and come along for the ride to explore Christmas traditions around the world with me!

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The 3 Ps of Plane Travel with Children: Useful Tips for Flying with Kids

School summer holidays are starting. The kids are buzzed about summer break. The last months have been pretty intense. It’s time to get away and see something other than those same 4 walls. What are you going to do?

If you’re likely to be staying around home for the next few weeks (thank you, COVID-19), take a look at this seriously cool list of summer boredom busters, put together by real live, actual kids 😊.

Or perhaps you’re looking to cram the car full and hit the road on a road trip with the fam? Have a read of this road trip planner and make sure you’ve not forgotten a single thing to keep the kids happy and occupied in the back seats!

But what about if you’re thinking of even bigger plans for travelling with the kids this year?

I can help you out with planning for that too! And no, I am not talking about getting on a cruise ship…

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6 Must-Haves for Road Trips with Kids (and How to Survive Them)

Hellooooo! It’s me! I am back in the land of Everything’s Famtastic after being AWOL these past 2 weeks. I do have a perfectly valid excuse: we were on our family summer holiday!

As alluded to a few weeks back in my list of super summer activities and “Bring on Summer Holidays!” I said that we were planning our summer holidays trip. We had such a famtastic time in Croatia! I can HIGHLY recommend a visit. All of the people we encountered were lovely, friendly, helpful… we had a new language to try out (“hvala!”)… the weather was sunny and hot… views are stunning… gorgeous beaches… icecream every day… What more could you want for a summer holiday?!?

Hubby and I knew that we had to prepare well for the trip. Nobody wants to have 3 kids whining “Are we there yet?” 30 minutes into the drive, right? Am I the only one who has ever fantasised about having one of those glass partitions installed in the family car? You know what I mean? Between the driver and the backseat passengers. Like, in fancy-pants limousines and such. After a few rounds of “Are we there yet?”, just press the magic button and the upwards gliding of a pane of soundproof glass is the last thing you’ll hear for the next hours 😉.

Oh OK, of course we would never actually DO that. But don’t pop my daydream bubble, alright?!?

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So, big trips with children call for military-precision planning. And plan is what we did. Today I’m here to help you out by sharing with you the items we packed for the kids (and us grown-ups) to make the journey as bearable, er, entertaining as possible.

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Bring on Summer Holidays

Another week complete. Another week closer to Christmas. Hey, wait! What?!? Christmas? It’s true, at last one of my children have already asked me how long until Christmas (“About another 5 ½ months, sweetie!”). But they seemed to have missed the big fun right in their face: summer school holidays!!!

School’s Out For…

… well you know the song title. My kids have been requesting to hear it a lot lately!

This week marked the end of the school year for our 2 girls. Both brought home outstanding report cards over which they- and we parents- are extremely proud. Apparently both of our girls are class leaders in the amount of books they devoured, er, read. And both have loved their teachers. Which makes it plain easier for everyone involved, right?

For one of them though, not only was this week the last before summer, but also the end of an era: Miss 10 has just completed primary school *sniff* “I think I have something in my eye” *dabs eye*. 😉 I will confess, there were more than a couple of tears shed. In fact, I think I was weepier than Miss 10, who informed me very matter-of-factly that “just because I am sad doesn’t mean that I must cry”. Oh man. I would like to point out that I was not the only mother with watery eyes on the final day of primary school. However I of course will not be naming names 😉.

Primary school here in Germany is over and done with after 4th grade and high school lasts from 5th to 13th grade! Which as an Australian, is something I am not used to. So off onto the next big adventure for her. (And for me, as I have ZERO experience with the high school system here. Looks like we will be learning together).

But before the next big school adventure comes a summer break FULL of new adventures. Hurrah! Like going away on holidays! We are all so excited and desperately looking forward to going on a big trip somewhere totally new. And this year it’s Croatia!

Big family holidays require big plans. Like: What to pack? What not to pack? What’s the weather likely to be? (Sunny and hot apparently!). Suffice to say that there are scraps of paper all over the place here with list after list of what to buy, what to organise, and what to do with our pet bunnies.

And that’s where I am going to sign off for this week. Because we are exhausted from the final weeks of school and everything that gets celebrated, signed and tidied during that time. If you have school-age kids, you know exactly what I am talking about. And now because we are busy prepping for our holiday.

So, Auf Wiedersehen, vidimo se kasnije and see you later! Have a great week, and if you have school holidays too, enjoy every minute!

How are you spending your summer? Got any grand plans? If you have kids, what are they hoping to do in the coming weeks? f

Reality Bites Back

Here we are at the start of February! How’s the year going for you already? My January went pretty much as I had imagined it, with a few unavoidable hiccups not of my doing. But all in all, a pretty good start to the new year.

As you may have read in my last couple of posts here and here about what it’s like for an expat to return home to visit, I actually spent almost all of January in summery Australia, my birthplace. The boundless blue skies, the hot sunny days, drinking wine with friends and family, regular visits to the beach… *swoon*

From this to…

Departures

I say “almost” all of January, because my trip Down Under came to it’s inevitable end last week. So, after a blessed 5 weeks in Australia catching up with family and friends and mood-enhancing, Vitamin D-filled sunshine, the plane- and my accompanying tears- departed Sydney airport last Friday. The trip between Germany and Australia is one of the longest you can actually experience anywhere in the world (Germany to New Zealand would probably be the winner).

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My Down Under- The Good, the Not So Good and the Ugly

Just last week I posted about Reverse Culture Shock where I talked about my (and most repatriates’) feelings of returning to my “home country”.

In a way it was a difficult post to write, as it required quite a lot of introspection and carefully-planned wording. Speaking about travelling and relocating and returning brings with it a rollercoaster of emotions and memories. Some great, some not so good and some painful. Not only for me, the writer, but I imagine also for a lot of readers who have been or are still going through a similar phase.

You know that saying “Home is where the Heart is”? But what if you have TWO homes?

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It’s Like Culture Shock, But in Reverse

As you probably already noticed, I was missing in action for a few weeks. This was because my family and I (all 5 of us!) flew from Germany back to Australia to celebrate Christmas last month! I am still here in Australia and thought “Hey! Why not keep on writing about my experiences here?!?”. And so I shall…

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I LOVE being back in Australia. There are so many awesome things about being here: my entire extended family, old friends, the weather, the hot summers, the long, sandy beaches, foods of my childhood, restaurants serving awesome, international-flavoured delights, driving on the left (yes, left!) side of the road, I can speak English all the time and be understood, the cute and furry native animals, the wide open blue skies …

But, and this is a big BUT… it is not entirely easy or without complication coming back here. And I am not talking about the humdrum yet stressful things like: How the hell can we afford to fly there? or Seriously, will we be able to fit everything in the suitcases? or Is the school going to really reject our request for the girls to miss the last couple of days of school?

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Welcome Home! But which home?

No, I mean the practical and emotional effects of

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The Expat Returns for Christmas: Celebrating Christmas in Australia

Helloooooo!! It has been too long since I put up a proper post here on Everything’s Famtastic. I did briefly explain my reasons why here but basically, my family and I flew from Germany back to my native soil Australia for Christmas.

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Now since I am talking about it, allow me to fill you in to what it’s like to celebrate Christmas in Australia (at least in my family) and what it’s like if you are a returning expat with a multicultural bilingual family to boot. *phew!* That was a long sentence 😉

I love Christmas time. And I especially love that our family has tried to include traditions from both the German side and the Australian side, no matter which country we happen to be celebrating in. Naturally the kids think it’s BRILLIANT that the Christmas celebrations never seem to end. German traditions, Australian traditions, immediate family, extended family, food, presents… Seriously, Christmas in our family of 5 can last several days.

Fun Fact #1: December in Australia is SUMMER.

Did I just say that?!?

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Back in the Game

Wowsers! It really has been a long time since I was here. I have been missing in action for a few weeks. Waay too long! But how nice is it to be back in the game, posting again?!? I really have missed it.

So why was I MIA for nearly a month? (Man, a month…). Do you remember just the other week many of us across the planet celebrated that little holiday called Christmas? Already seems like an eon ago, right?

Well, as you may know already, I am an expat. Specifically, I am an Australian living in Germany with my German Hubby and our 3 kids. And what do many expats scattered around the world do at special times of the year? Travel back home! I’ll give you a gold star if you can guess where we spent this past Christmas…

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Say “G’day!” to the locals in Australia
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