Last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next year you moved to China

Christmas in Scotland is a time of spending precious moments with your family, eating more Quality Streets than your body can handle and moaning about the cold weather. This was the first year I’d spent Christmas away from home but felt so lucky to spend it in Asia.

During the month of December, I had a lot of important final exams. We began to find ourselves spending more time in the Library than the librarians themselves. The month flew by that it didn’t even give me a chance to miss or think about Christmas back home. Ana and myself purchased a Christmas tree from TaoBao (Chinese shopping app) for our room. The room had so many decorations it was a mini winter wonderland.

I remember lying in my bed when I was young, staring out the window unable to sleep with excitement, hoping I’d see a sleigh fly over the house on December 24^th. On Christmas Eve, Cara and myself decided to make ourselves feel more festive and went to a nail salon. Having red acrylics were just a small touch but made me that little bit more Christmassy. After a day of pampering and shopping, we joined the rest of the scholars for the evening. A few of the Scots dragged mattresses through into one room, ordered pizza and watched Christmas movies until they all fell asleep and could wake up together. The rest of the Scots, including myself, decided to go out to our local bar with our French, Belgian, Korean and American friends for the night. As the clock struck 12, Mariah Carey echoed around the bar and all the foreigners sang along and danced like crazy, wearing Santa hats and tinsel. It was a special moment where the Chinese people at the bar smiled, grabbed our hands and joined in. It felt like time had stopped and allowed Western and Chinese culture to come together. However, James dressing up in a full Christmas tree outfit was by far the highlight of the night.

We woke up on Christmas day after having the best night. My family had sent a Christmas parcel which I had kept in my wardrobe until Christmas day. The parcel included lots of chocolate and gifts from home which made the day that little bit better. Living in China didn’t prevent my mum from sending pug PJ’s haha, thanks Mum!

All of the Scholars and a few of our Chinese friends decided to do a massive Secret Santa. We all sat in the corridor of floor 7 and handed out our gifts to one another and ordered a McDonalds breakfast. It was so nice to have one day of living in a bubble forgetting all the stress of university. Later in the day some of us went for an Indian, my favourite food, and then went to Helen’s bar. Of course, it was different from being at home, but I had the most unique and amazing Christmas I’d ever had. I will never forget the Christmas I spent in China with my second family. We also had the opportunity to show our Chinese friends what Christmas was and allowed them to experience Christmas for the first time in their lives.

Note to future Scholars: Yes, Christmas isn’t celebrated in China but it doesn’t matter! You are in a university with 22 other Scottish people and 1000s of other foreigners who all want to celebrate Christmas. There’s nothing to miss or worry about! You might go for an Indian on Christmas day or sing Mariah Carey through the streets of China. Christmas is what you make it, it’s not about the material goods. You will never forget the Christmas you spent in China.

For NYE we went to a ski festival on the Great Wall in Beijing. We booked tickets online and headed to Beijing with some of our English and French friends. We skied for several hours until it got dark and then went up to the Great Wall to have a rave with 100s of others. It was freezing but an experience I will never forget.