In the last few weeks, campus has come alive with a flurry of activity: choral choirs, ArtsUCL showcases, mulled wine being served in UCL cafes... across campus (and across London), the Christmas spirit is palpable in the air. Reflecting on Term 1 myself, it has been both exhausting and wonderful. T he pace of life as a student in London can wear you down at times, and so the break may come as a relief to many (I for one am absolutely bursting to go home and see my brother for the first time in months). Hopefully most of us will have completed our deadlines and are looking forward to a relaxing break. This year , students come back on 13 January, giving us a full month off to celebrate and take time to reflect on the past year, before we welcome in Term 2 and the new year!
On campus , last week’s Winter Festival was highly successful, with many students taking part in the series of festive events that were put on to celebrate the end of term before the Christmas break. There were live carol performances, mulled wine, carnival games and waffles, and many more activities on offer. Throughout the two days of the Main Quad Takeover, I spoke to some UCL students to ask them what the holidays mean to them, and what they do during that time.
Elaine, a US exchange student from the University of Missouri, is looking forward to the Christmas holidays as she hasn’t seen her family in more than a year, due to research stints for her history undergraduate degree in France and then her study abroad semester at UCL. While enjoying a Christmas Dinner at Ramsay Hall, she expressed her confusion to me about British cuisine, stating her opinion that it’s not so good - "I just don’t understand how it can be so subpar a lot of the time, no offence". Absolutely none taken. But she expresses joy at the pulling of Christmas crackers, saying that "I think it’s funny that the British idea of a good time is to put a fuse in a paper cracker".
Nasim, my flatmate, doesn’t celebrate Christmas as he is Muslim, but is looking forward to spending time with his siblings and a break from his first-year law degree, which has been "intense, but enjoyable... I’m just ready for the break to be honest: it’ll be nice to catch up with family and friends again."
"Despite not having spiritual investment in the period, the holidays are a time where spirits are high and if nothing else it is simply an opportunity to wind down." He adds that for him it means a lot as he gets to visit his Italian side of the family in Lucca, Tuscany , which he enjoys as they’re "much more invested in the festivities and it’s slightly warmer than East London," where he lives.
For Alice, a final-year engineering student, "my family is not religious, so we don’t do any of the services or typical things you would do if you were. We do the family dinner on the 25 , and it’s always nice to have both grandparents there with the whole family."
Not only on UCL campus has the Christmas fever been rampant: Christmastime in London is always a special occasion. My best friend Hannah and I meet at the UCL Winter Festival and get hot spiced apple and hot waffles before deciding to explore the Christmas season in London further with a spontaneous walk.
"Sometimes I feel like we don’t make the most of London, especially at this time of year," she says to me. I agree - sometimes I unknowingly stick too much to our beautiful Bloomsbury campus and forget all that London has to offer, and don’t venture further out.
We go to Leicester Square, and she gets a Bratwurst (for an extortionate price, but we justify it by saying it’s a once-a-year canonical event really, isn’t it?). Then we move on to Trafalgar Square, where I give in to previously constrained temptation and get an equally unreasonably priced Currywurst.
We’re both German so we celebrate a little differently to how UK families do, by having Bescherung (the opening of presents) on Christmas Eve. As we sit on the steps outside the National Gallery, eating messily with mustard and sauerkraut dripping on the stone floor in the way you only feel comfortable eating with friends who don’t care, we learn about the history of the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square simply by looking at the sign in front of us - every year since 1947 a tree has been gifted annually by the City of Oslo in recognition of the UK’s assistance to Norway during World War Two. It’s always a joy to learn from just looking at your surroundings and in that regard, London always has a lot to offer.
We then move on to walk through Charing Cross station to get to the Southbank, one of my favourite places in London, where I buy strawberries (which are absolutely not in season) covered in chocolate for £8, and we sit down on a bench by the river to talk about everything and nothing and giggle with abandon.
For Hannah, Christmas is a time of reflection of what has happened in the past year and looking ahead to what is to come. Most importantly to her it means being with her family. She’s recently moved house so is looking forward to exploring her new area in Manchester.
After spending time with my family at home in Germany, I will be going to Madrid to see my friend, and we will celebrate Los Reyes Magos on 6 January, which is when presents are given in Spain. New Year’s Eve, too, is a special time of the festive period. A German tradition is to watch the little known black - and - white comedy sketch film Dinner for One. In Spain , twelve grapes are eaten in the twelve seconds in the countdown to midnight.
Despite the New Year bringing with it expectations and hopes for what’s to come, I also think that it’s a nice time to be introspective about what positive changes you can make in your daily life to live better, and achieve your goals, however big they may be.
From me to you all, I am wishing you a happy holiday season, whatever way you choose to spend it!
