Here for the holidays

As strange as it was not being in Massachusetts with my family this Thanksgiving, last Thursday will certainly go down as one of the most memorable days of my entire study abroad experience. My professor invited us all over with his family to celebrate together. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and all the fixings, as well as 4 (count them) 4 different types of pie! Imagine 30 people all crowded into a small room taking a few minutes to think about what we were thankful for, to think about the families that were so far away, and to know that we could look around the room and be thankful for who was around us and for all that we have learned from each other in such a short period of time. It was a truly special moment, that was followed by a paralyzing food coma for the next 2 hours. (The only thing we were missing was the football--real American football I mean, my professor looked, but unfortunately no games were being aired on a Thursday in Norwich, shocker!)

Then on Saturday some of my British friends wanted to partake in an authentic American Thanksgiving. Unfortunately our kitchen supplies are limited (we don't have an oven...) and so Phoebe and I told them we would prepare the Thanksgiving meal from the first season of "Friends". For those not familiar with this episode the characters had grilled cheese and tomato soup for Thanksgiving.. It was great to celebrate a second Thanksgiving, this time with my best friend and new friends surrounding me. Not exactly authentic as they had hoped, but I think that they understood the sentiment behind the holiday and how nice it is to kick off the holiday season with.
I would not consider myself someone who gets Christmas crazed. I do not get as excited about holidays as others. I always wished I could get as excited as I did when I was younger, but it is a joy that I have not been able to pull out of me, especially in recent years. I always thought that it had something to do with getting older, but my friends all love Christmas, we had a fake tree in our dorm room last year, so I couldn't explain where my lack of excitement was coming from. But this year I feel something different. I refuse to listen to Christmas music until December 1st, and this year I woke up giddy that I would be able to turn on the tunes. Then this afternoon I went to an Advent carol service, hoping to hear "Silent Night" and "Oh Come All Ye Faithful", unfortunately I had not heard of any of the songs that we sang, but it was nice to take part in a service I had never been to before. During the service a Methodist priest started off his sermon by asking us to all think about what it was that we most enjoyed about Christmas. The first thing that popped into my head was the energy that surrounds the season. People walking through the market going shopping, the lights that fill the streets, the trees that can be found in every lobby of every building. All of these things seem to be hitting me more than usual and I'm finding myself closer to the giddy girl I used to be. Perhaps it has to do with the anticipation that with Christmas means sharing the holiday in a city I have grown to love with the people whom I love and haven't seen in months, perhaps British people get more excited about Christmas (which I doubt), but whatever it is, I like this feeling, and I will continue to listen to my Christmas music and hopefully spread the Christmas cheer that I have felt I have been missing for the past few years. Although I am here I think about you all more than I ever have, especially during this holiday season.