For the most part, our life here is pretty similar to our life back home in Australia and the transition was pretty easy. There was no need to learn a new language (unless you include trying to understand the Imperial System and Farenheit!), there was no adjustment to weather conditions that we're not used to, we already knew most of the tv shows, and the cultural customs are generally pretty similar. I say generally because there are certain times of year that I am reminded that there are indeed cultural differences between our two countries. And those times are holidays.
Right now it's Easter weekend which is a pretty big deal back home in Australia. It's the biggest holiday of the year. I mean, it's a four day weekend. Holidays don't come any bigger than that. It doesn't even matter if you're not Christian. A magic rabbit visiting homes to deliver chocolate eggs is about as far removed from the original Easter story as you could possibly get. So, much like Christmas, for most Australians Easter comes with no religious context at all. It's just an extra long weekend to spend with family and eat chocolate. And that's what surprised me most about Easter in America. It's such a non-event here. And when you consider how religious much of the country is (or appears to be from the outside), that seems more than a little strange to me. And to every other Australian or British person I know living here too. But maybe to most Americans it doesn't feel like a non-event. Most Americans I've spoken to about Easter are not aware that Easter is a four day holiday in many countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Just like most of my friends and family back home are unaware that it's not much of a holiday here at all. Unless you've lived in another country and experienced their holidays, how would you know that something celebrated in both places could be celebrated so differently?
So that got me thinking about the differences in how we celebrate Easter in Australia and America and I thought I'd share them with you here. A little expat education!
