Christmas (Day 47)

Up early on Christmas morning. It’s almost like being a little kid again. Only this time, there's no tree, no presents, no Santa, and no family.  What a sad state of affairs.


When I was dressed and ready to go have Christmas with a family of strangers, with bus and train instructions in hand, I headed for the nearest train station, in the valley. I thought I might be able to manage on my own, but that thought didn’t linger long. I had to ask someone right away how to recharge my transit card and then I made sure with them that I was headed in the right direction. I was, so I continued on my way.


The entire time I was on the train I was worried about getting the bus. The train was easy but the bus instructions included the cross streets of the stop I needed and I wasn’t sure which direction I needed to head in or anything. I was at least sure that I was getting off the train at the right place though, so that was a start.


As I got off the train I saw a ramp in one direction and what appeared to be a dead end in the other. I started to go up the ramp and then decided to turn back around because it looked like it only went up to more trains. It didn’t seem like I would be able to get to street level from it. I turned back around once more before I heard my name. It was SJ. I had walked right by him while I was wandering around in circles. My tunnel vision must have been amusing because he was laughing at me pretty hard. I was just trying to focus.


He asked me about the riddle he’d sent me in the email with the directions, to which I replied, “What riddle?” SJ said he had told me that he was going to be on the train at the same time as me and the answer to his riddle indicated which car he'd be in. Too bad I didn’t even look at it. I probably wouldn’t have been able to solve it anyway, so that saved me some embarrassment I suppose.


SJ led the way to the bus stop, not knowing exactly where we needed to go, but not as lost as I was. I was pretty happy he was there to navigate. We went to the first bus stop we found, thinking it was the right one. We were wrong. Luckily there was a bus stopped across the street, so we just went over and asked the driver where we should be going and what bus we should be taking. His bus was the one we actually needed, so that was convenient. He also let us know when we had to get off, which was helpful. From there I was hoping SJ knew where we needed to walk and though I’m not sure he did, we found the place without having to turn back around at any point.


It was only a little awkward to walk into a house full of strangers on Christmas morning. The family was very welcoming and everyone gave out hugs with their greetings. There was an amazing spread of food waiting for us and right away they got us drinks and told us to have a seat at the table. They offered beer or champagne with orange juice, but I took my OJ straight up. It was too early for me, not to mention that I don’t think my liver is my biggest fan after Byron.


Before eating our brunch, we each had to put on our traditional respective paper holiday crowns. They were in little packages that looked like Chinese finger traps and when you pulled them apart they made a loud popping sound. Well, they were supposed to, if you did it right. Mine did not. So SJ and I, with our orange and pink paper crowns, respectively, sat down to our feast. There were eggs, tomatoes, toast, ham, shrimp (but they refer to them as prawns), chocolate rum balls and more. It was a lot of food. I tried my best to help them make a dent in it, but they could have fed far more Christmas orphans than just SJ and I.


We mostly talked with the head of the household, the father of the two boys SJ had given a pitching lesson to. We talked a lot of baseball, which is one of SJ’s least favourite topics, but I don’t think he minded because I wasn’t the one bringing it up. We also somehow got on the topic of how small the Bandits organization is, especially in comparison to the Blue Jays. Here, I work with Gonzo, Whitey and Carl. In Toronto, I only work with the game-day production crew and just in the control box we have 25 people or something like that. That number might include the camera guys, but still. There is a big difference.


The discussion moved at some point to talking about Canada and skiing and Whistler, because the family hosting us for Christmas is heading to Whistler in January. I had to let them know that I do not participate in winter sports, nor do I want to. I went to Whistler for the first time just a couple weeks before I came to Australia and I was happy to see that there was no snow yet, not that my friends and I had any plans to ski or snowboard, but it took the option off the table. We talked a little bit about California because the family had lived there for over a year, but the only places I’ve been in California are the five major league ball parks, as I believe I have mentioned in journals past.  


After the meal, the kids started opening presents and much to my surprise, there were presents for me and SJ too. SJ got underwear and I actually got two gifts. I received a box of chocolates and some bath/shower stuff from Lush, or someplace like that. I felt bad that we didn’t bring anything for the family hosting us but they had apparently told SJ that we didn’t need to.


Various family members starting leaving with their children and spouses not long after that. We stayed for awhile to chat more about baseball and Australia, but we left while it was still morning. The father of the family gave both of us rides home, or at least I assume he did because I got out first. I don’t really know what SJ did. But I was back at the apartment before noon rolled around.


I changed out of my fancy Christmas clothes (I wore a dress!) and into a Blue Jays t-shirt. Real holiday attire. For the rest of the day I mostly just watched DVDs of House (I should probably get some new material) and tried to catch up on some writing. I took a break to head to the grocery store later in the afternoon, so I had some decent food to go with the box of chocolates that I almost devoured. Not a bad Christmas, I’d say.


When I thought it was late enough at night, I called my mom. Apparently my estimate was a little off though because I woke her up. She didn’t seem to mind, as we talked for a couple of hours, until my phone card ran out of minutes and hung up on her. We were probably running out of things to say at that point, so I’m sure it saved us an awkward moment. I did fill her in on the adventures at Byron Bay and the Gold Coast, so she got a sneak preview of my life’s events before I started to get caught up on the journal-writing. You’re welcome, mom.


Then, with no more phone-calling options, I decided it was time for bed. Early to rise and quick to sleep on Christmas Day.