Christmas this year is a whole new experience for me. For one thing, this is the first time I celebrate it far away from my family. I used to take it for granted, coming home only one or two days before the Christmas day, but now that I’m alone I can’t stop wishing I had it with my family. My favorite Christmas moment with them is seeing their faces as they open their presents. It makes the whole Christmas shopping debacle worth it.

Thankfully, the merry atmosphere here kinda pays off for celebrating it without my loved ones.

A few days before Christmas, just when we finished a session for group assignment, one friend gave each of us a present and said, “For you who stay here for Christmas, so you have a present to open on Christmas day. Don’t open it before that!” (thank you, Vivi! You’re just the sweetest).

Another friend, when he knew I didn’t have anything planned for Christmas Eve, invited me to a Christmas dinner, and told me to bring chips (or, as people here say it, crisps). Let’s just forget the fact that I tripped and fell down on the pavement on the way there and appeared with a bleeding knee and some bruises. So much for a good first impression. I ended up having a lot of fun laughing and dancing (and also covering the infrared sensor in order to turn off the light for dancing and having to get out of the room after that until it turned off. Who would’ve thought that?). And I’m really thankful this Christmas Eve brought me to really nice new friends. It will be the most unforgettable Christmas Eve, for sure.

I went home at six and dozed off until my father called me in the afternoon, told me to turn on Skype and have a chat with the family. We talked for a while, and after that I went to my friend’s flat and cleaned up the party mess that we left because we had been so sleepy and hadn’t bothered to clean it up before a few hours of good sleep.

I’m adjusting to a whole lot of things in here, including Christmas. Some things doesn’t go as I expected (like, there’s no way we’re having snow until after Christmas, so I have to bid adieu to my lifelong dream of having a white Christmas). And then there’s some new things I’ve never experienced at home, like saying “Merry Christmas!” as early as the second week of December to my friends as they were all going home and we wouldn’t be seeing each other until after Christmas, or getting “Merry Christmas!” from strangers when I shop, or have breakfast in a tiny café, or things like that. I like every bit of it. It’s really amazing, and I know I’m gonna miss it once I’m home (along with mulled cider and wine).

This Christmas is different, for sure, but it’s wonderful just the same. Christmas has always been, and will always be a wonderful time for me.

Merry Christmas everyone!