Holiday Blues
TTMOAIUS
Winter is coming to Europe. So far it has been cold and gray. The most festive weather that we’ve had is rain and fog. Since Thanksgiving isn’t a thing here, Christmas decorations have begun to sporadically pop up at random times in random intervals. This winter is shaping up to be an interesting experience of French and European culture.
The best way to begin describing the current state of France during this holiday season is dismal. Without traditional American celebrations like Thanksgiving and Halloween, the holiday season seems rather sparse. The French celebrate Christmas and the New Year with a couple of minor holidays in between, but compared to the traditional rush of five holidays in six weeks it seems like something is missing.
Another missing piece to my French holiday season is snow - an essential part of what I consider to be winter. Snow really brings together the idea of Christmas and the holiday season. A soft, glowing white blanket covering everything outside can really get you into the festivities of the holidays, but so far it has only been raining in Europe. And it’s been cold. Though these are the two ingredients for snow, we're just experiencing the rain in the cold. A cold, soggy holiday isn’t exactly the greatest backdrop for the holiday spirit.
The end of the trimester is not exactly what I would’ve expected either. Trimesters are a weird thing if you’ve been used to the semester system for your entire education. While it may not be a huge amount of time that you’ll be missing out, it still feels as if something is missing. Students will be returning to their native university and other students will be arriving to spend a trimester learning the language. Stress levels are high with finals rearing their head and government progress tests checking to see whether or not we are actually learning. The tests are much like finals in America, but instead of normal classes they are all French.
All this being said, I still can’t imagine any other place I would like to be. The weather isn’t terribly cold, each trimester doesn’t seem to drag on forever like semesters and making memories with new people is always a plus. Sharing experiences with new found friends is never a bad thing and watching non-Americans try and match the holiday spirit is always a blast. Though some things seem to be missing during this holiday season, winter in France has proven interesting and different enough to still be good. It is just in a different way.
Alexander Nesmith is a sophomore studying communication.