It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I love December.  The end of another school year, and my birthday too, of course, but it's the 25th of December that I really love.  Christmas is my favourite time of year.  I love the atmosphere - Christmas tree hunting, 10 boxes of decos for me and Kiri to hang on the tree, Dad climbing around on the roof putting up the glowing reindeer, planning out an elaborate menu that Mum will never ever approve, late Christmas shopping nights in the main street, carols night at the church, Bucko and Champs playing on repeat in the lounge room - and I love sharing it with my family too.  I'm home for the holidays and I spend the whole month in preparation and anticipation for that one day of the year.  In fact, I probably like the month leading up more than the day itself!

So this year I find myself wondering what I'm going to do for Christmas.  Noel in Paris is slowly but surely kicking off, but for the first time I'm not in the middle of the spirit of the season.  I have no family in Europe at all, and all my friends are flying home for the holidays.  There are no decos in my apartment.  No room (or money) for a tree.  The Bucko and Champs CDs are in Mum's stereo back home.  Apart from McPedro (and Spiderplant and Dumbledore), I have no-one to share any of it with anyway, and I'm too sober for McPedro to talk back in any case (if you don't get the reference, read some more Girls With Slingshots).  The other night my friend Aida took me to the Christmas market on the Champs-Elysees.  It was huge, and wonderful, and the carols over the loudspeaker were in English, but it also made me realise that this will be a different Christmas to all those I've known before.

I've considered going away for a trip somewhere like any other uni holiday, but travel is really expensiv eat Christmas, obviously, and even if I end up in a tiny deserted hostel in the most obscure town in a forgotten Baltic nation, people will still be celebrating Christmas.  There will still be carols and decos and Christmas trees and it will still be just me and Lassie sticking out of my backpack, on our own.  I've also considered staying in Paris and trying to find some kind of event for exchange kids, a church group that does Christmas lunch for students or something like that, but, honestly, it wouldn't make me feel any better.  I wouldn't know any of these people, they wouldn't mean anything to me, and say what you will about sharing the Christmas spirit and fellow mankind and whatnot, Christmas to me is about being with people I love, my family and friends, and a traditional lunch and carols with strangers isn't going to make up for that.  The best idea I've had so far has been to buy some Christmas presents for one of the Christmas appeals - you know, like the Kmart Wishing Tree or something.

So, what will I do for Christmas?  I still don't know.  I have friends coming to Paris in late December and early January who want to see me, so maybe I'll just go away for a few days over New Year's so I can catch up with friends in Paris.  In the meantime I'll try and put aside the niggling heartsickness that the mention of Christmas brings on and try and enjoy the experiences of fairy lights and Christmas-themed Disneyland.

The Paris Christmas market

Lights display on the Champs-Elysees

Me with Aida...you know, I've forgotten all the others

Surrounded by Christmas lights on the Champs-Elysees