This week I got to spend my first holiday in Australia. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday back home, especially since living in PA. I have had easy access to all the different haunted houses and costume events. However, I realized while here, Australia does not celebrate as intensely.
There is no farm land in the Sydney area, so there are very limited spots where they could even put a haunted house. There is an amusement park called Luna Park that does some spooky houses and people walking around the park, but it was too expensive. Not only were there no haunted houses, they also don’t do trick or treating here. Back home, even as I got older, Halloween was a good time to get free candy and just stack up on all my favorites, so it was sad to not have any sorta candy or chocolate this Halloween. In addition, people are not super festive here, so you rarely see any decorations in the area. Also, pumpkins are not in any grocery stores here, so there is no pumpkin carvings activities that could be done.
One of my favorite parts of Halloween back home are the pumpkin donuts. I have not been able to find these here either, so it has been a pumpkin-less Halloween. I also miss the pumpkin sugar cookies that I would get whenever I go pumpkin picking, they do not have a lot of different pastries here.
However, some people do still dress up here and go to themed events. But the costumes worn are nothing compared to Americans. They stick to pretty basic themes or simple costumes. I chose to just paint my face a day of the dead theme to celebrate this Halloween.
Although Australia was lacking all the cool Halloween things that I enjoyed doing back home, it was cool to be able to see how it differs from American and get to experience their version. Each country has their own traditions and holidays they celebrate.
Thankfully, I will be staying here for Christmas and New Years. I have heard they celebrate these holidays similarly to the states, except they gather on beaches, since it is summer during that time here. I am looking forward to getting to experience Australian holiday traditions.
