An International - British - Christmas

Saturday the 7th of December 2013 was declared the E203 flat Christmas. We began the preparations for what I will now refer to as Christmas (because thats what it felt like for us) just after Thanksgiving. I provided the food, Flora (from France) provided the decorations, Nadine (from Germany) provided the presents and the weather quite conveniently provided the snow. All week, despite the up and coming exams, we filled the flat with christmas music and got way too excited!

Finally the morning arrived and you could honestly hear Christmas music from all of our rooms. Nadine kicked the day off with a note for each of us with our required preparations such as photos from our traditional home Christmases, Christmas songs in our native language and any traditional poems or stories. Unfortunately I was too busy slaving over a stove for two hours making the best Christmas dinner they could ask for to prepare my poems etc but I did manage to share photos! Now in all of my excitement to have a Christmas Day I completely forgot the fact that not all Christmas dinners are British Christmas dinners... So I bought all the food, prepared what I was going to make and in the midst of all the plans continually referred to food as 'we'll have Christmas dinner' until my French roommate actually asked what we were going to eat... Then it finally hit me that I was preparing a day like the one I have at home without realising that it wouldn't be what the others were used to.. Opps.

Anyway, we all agreed that we liked the sound of a British Christmas dinner so my mistake was quickly forgiven and apart from the lumpy gluten free gravy, I don't think it was bad for a first attempt! So at 6pm (only half an hour off schedule) we ate, drank candy cane flavoured vodka and were merry, very very merry. We shared photos, learnt German Christmas Carols and found that one of us doesn't even give presents at Christmas, never has. Nadine bought us all matching Christmas socks and we took photos around the tree!

To top the night off we took a trip to a salsa dancing club called 'Mangos' in Oklahoma city and danced the night away surrounded by all things Spanish. The level of culture I experienced that day was second to none and we vowed that one December 7th in the future we will get together, wherever we may be, and relive that day and I really hope we do!

So from the four countries of E203, we wish you a very merry Christmas.