Fortunately, in living in Wellington, the start of the New Zealand summer is off to a cold and rainy start. After weekend weather that seemed to be teetering on the edge between what felt more like spring and fall weather, it feels a little less like an unusual season during the approach to Christmas. AND, luckily for me, having grown up in Los Angeles, it actually feels cooler in Wellington than it often does in December in Southern California. So bring on the tinsel and christmas lights against the shiny sun! I'm ready for my first New Zealand Christmas!
Of course, the start of the Christmas season was made even weirder by Thanksgiving's absence. Thanksgiving, with its extended long weekend at the end of November, is the gateway to an American Christmas. Nonetheless, I spent a fun-filled Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with friends: Mamma Mia on Friday with Linda; a Kapiti Island day-hike (see gorgeous picture above) and potluck picnic at the Island's summit with the Love Wellington Meetup group (and Linda and her husband) on Saturday; a wild engagement party (rager) for a coworker that same evening; and an ugly Christmas jumper making party at another's coworker's flat with just the girls on Sunday. In the end, isn't that what Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas season is all about? It means being with your friends and family, enjoying one another's company, and reminiscing on the year gone past as it comes to an happy end. And when you can't be with your real family, you make your friends your surrogate family. Sorted.
Having had such a jam-packed weekend, in which I met some new and very sweet people at the Kapiti day hike, and grew even closer to the Wellington friends that I've already made, the familiar sentiments of a traditional Thanksgiving are echoed, if not emphasized, during what should have been a typical long-weekend at home with my family in Los Angeles. I am thankful for these adventures, both epic and intimate, with people both familiar and new. I am thankful for the friendships that I've built and am building, for a family so supportive and loving, even from afar, and for the simple hope that so much good life is to come. To songs of yore resung, and to the addition of new beginnings!
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