This year finally had my winter holiday in the UK! This was the first time I had arrived back in the UK since I left in August 2016. My first observation, nothing much has changed – the motorway leaving Heathrow Airport quickly instructed us it was 50 miles an hour for the next 100 miles…yep, that seems about right. And then it started raining, not stopping for the next seven days, with the exception of a brief and surprising interlude on Christmas day.
My Christmas started a little awkwardly. Dan flew to the UK on the 14th December, whereas I had classes up until the 23rd. Like the diligent student scared of authority I am, I stayed until the very end of the calendar, not flying until the 24th. My first flight was full of manspreading (not by me, alas) and awkward conversation. On my second flight, everyone enjoyed some peaceful sleep, apart from me. Standard long-distance flying! I landed and in a flurry of customs, I was out, to the smiling face of mum.
The next day was Christmas day and the jet lag was severe. The jet lag this time lasted the full nine days I had at home – it was unusual for Dan and I to sleep past 4 am. Still, we got a lot of extra time to sit in bed and moan about how early it was. I could have used the time productively, as I am still in the middle of the term…alas, I used it to moan, classic Brit. Something about being on British soil really did force me to moan a lot and drink far too much tea while consuming my body weight in cheese and other rich food. I can actually still feel that scone, jam and clotted cream we had on new years day in my stomach…
A couple of observations from the UK break: 1) It was lovely to see so many family members again, even if all of their faces did blur into one. 2) I love my girlfriends! I knew this of course, but reunions were had and I reconnected with how awesome they all are. I didn’t get the chance to see everyone though, so next time…3) British food gives both myself and Dan really bad stomach pain…it is not a joke, we have lost our British guts and now all we can handle is boiled cabbage and rice…4) It really does bloody rain all of the time. 5) Birmingham is a delight! Everyone should tourist there.
Before we knew it, the festive season was over and it was time to return to our jobs and student digs. It was a lovely trip, but it was also nice to come back to our apartment and woodland vibes at university. Now I am just over three weeks away from the end of my second term at university…how is this happening! Time needs to SLLLOOOOOWWWWW down please…
