Holiday Greetings (Duh!)

Absolutely no excuse for how long it has been since I have posted. Hopefully someone is still reading!

First of all – Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has fabulous holiday plans. Before you get too worried about me spending Christmas alone in a mouse infested hostel, fear not! I will be spending Christmas at my friend Michael’s house where the occasion is celebrated without a tree and no stockings but lots and lots of food and drink. J

Apparently one of the most important British Christmas traditions is an appearance at your local pub! Obviously there will be more details about that later (assuming I remember them!) but clearly I need to back track a bit to tell you all what I’ve been up to!

I’ll continue with the holiday theme…I was much more depressed about spending Thanksgiving away from the states than I was about Christmas. After all, it is only us nutty North Americans that celebrate Turkey Day! But I needn’t have worried. It turned out to be one of the most fun Thanksgivings I’ve ever had. Whole Foods on High Street Kensington, a short walk from my house, catered an amazing American style Thanksgiving for myself and several other transplanted Americans who I live with. We even shared the meal with two Canadians and an Australian; it was his first Thanksgiving ever! We were expecting a meal served in disposable containers which we would have to take turns heating in the microwaves in the Whole Foods cafeteria. Were we ever surprised to be given a star treatment that included real dishes, servers, and two kinds of dessert! More importantly, I found a display of Sam Adams Boston Lager while we were searching for whipped cream for the pumpkin pie. When we went around the table sharing things we were thankful for (yes, this was my idea) being able to drink my favorite beer was definitely on the list.

We had so much fun at our Lost Boys (and Girls) Thanksgiving our house decided to have a Christmas potluck before it emptied out. (People are heading home…it is just me, my room mate Jess, and our friend Matt, the Australian who’d never had a Thanksgiving, left until after New Year’s. And the mice of course. One tried to make a nest in my laundry pile last night. NOT cool.) We set up a Christmas tree and each of us brought something to share; mince pies, risotto, fried chicken, Greek salad. I contributed Christmas crackers (the exploding, favor-producing variety) which were a big hit. From them we got gifts as diverse as a dolphin-shaped-bottle-opener-key-chain (which, let’s face it, is almost too good to be true!), nail clippers, and a green gem stone studded barrette. We all put on our paper crowns, talked, laughed and ate out way through the get together and topped it off with a Christmas favorite: we all lay amid the leftovers and watched Love Actually.

Some true Christmas culture came my way via my best friend Chrissy’s visit. My mother sent her off with all my Christmas presents (most if which are out of sight under my bed so I don’t open them until the 25^th!) one of which was two tickets to the London Handel Society’s performance of the Messiah. My room mate Jess and I made it to our seats just as the choir was filing on to their risers at the front of St. George’s Church, Hanover Square, where Handel himself worshipped. I thought having sung some pieces from the Messiah had given me an appreciation for it but truly, one really has to hear it, sung professionally in its entirety as it was meant to be performed to really grasp how truly, truly beautiful it is. I spent the entire evening listening in a state of admiration which was occasionally increased to goose bump inducing awe. The soloist’s were truly magnificent. Particular highlights were “Oh Thou that Tellest Good Tidings to Zion,” and “He Shall Feed His Flock,” and of course “For Unto Us.” When they began the “Hallelujah,” chorus and everyone stood up, you the energy in the room was almost physical. That kind of music isn’t just listened to; you feel it all the way through you.

Christmas time in London has taken me back; I feel a little bit like I did when I was kid, counting the days until I could wake up obscenely early and tear the wrapping off all the packages for me, me, me. Seeing people try and squeeze on the Tube with all of their shopping bags never ceases to amuse me and the window displays have left me wide eyed and wishing that I weren’t too old to visit Santa. At Fortum and Manson, one of London’s prestigious department stores the displays are based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale of the Snow Queen. Each window is a different elaborately decorated scene from the story. Walking by on my way to they tube when they were finally unveiled must have added ten or fifteen minutes to my evening commute I was so enthralled. I’ve also never had more fun at work. Recently my days of data input have instead been filled with sampling all sorts of British Christmas candies and stuffing envelopes with the company Christmas card. I also had a great time at our office Christmas party – cocktails on the company tab, yippee!!! (The down side? We went bowling….I think I bowled a 37. No one will be getting me a membership to the bowling alley for Christmas!)

Since it is about to be Christmas I’m going to end on a sappy note: A lot of people have commented on the blog, e-mailed me, written, posted “I miss you,” on my Facebook wall, or even visited since I’ve been over here. No Christmas gift will ever mean as much as those good wishes and little bits of love have meant. Moving to a foreign country has made me realize how much good friendships mean; they really brighten your life from the inside out. So thanks very much to all of my friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!