Never in my life did I get to “celebrate” Christmas. We decorated a tree a few times when I was in grade school and my parents hosted a few Christmas parties. It was very casual though, and not filled with any traditions. I guess that’s the life of someone growing up as an Indian-American? With that said, this is my first festive season in the UK. I didn’t think much of it until some of my dorm neighbors, who are predominately European, start receiving presents from friends and family from home to get them excited for Christmas! My friends shared with me and we got advent calendars filled with chocolates to start warming up to the season.
Since I was very excited to see and hear about how my friends and neighbors celebrate, I decided to organize a little Christmas party for one of the evenings as we prepared for exams. I told everyone to bring something that represented their holiday tradition and we had everything from Christmas tea, stollen bread, mince pies, marzipan, German gingerbread cookies, and more!
Here are a few photos from that evening.
