Whether or not one celebrates, Christmas time is joyous. Here in London (and, I suppose, everywhere else in the world that isn't America), Thanksgiving does not exist. In the USA we know it's coming on November 1 when Starbucks exchanges the PSL for the Peppermint Mocha and red cups; however, Thanksgiving is just the road block to full on Christmas hysteria. Here, thanks to the absence of Thanksgiving, Christmas starts on November 1, and I am all for it. The only downside to spending the holidays here is missing them at home. This is the first year I didn't see my family for Thanksgiving, which would have been a lot harder to handle had it not been for GW England. That's right, kids, I'm about to make a pitch, so get ready.
I chose a program on GW England because I was only vaguely aware of the resources that would be available to me; I knew we would have some sort of GW advising in London, and I liked knowing that I would have someone to fall back on if I was having any trouble. We do have an advisor here, but this is only the beginning of the benefits of GW England. The advantages of the program were already apparent nearly as soon as I got here, as we GW students at LSE all moved in early so we could go to our GW England orientation events. For starters, my flat mate is also from GW. Second, we got to meet all the other GW students who would be with us at our school and throughout the city. On our first day, we got breakfast at Café in the Crypt, took a walking tour, took a boat cruise down the Thames, had lunch and explored the Tower of London, and then were free to explore the city as we so chose. About a week and a half later, we had the opportunity to see a play at the Globe theatre (yes, the Shakespeare one). Our advisor, Geeta, has taken us out to lunch by school; those of us at LSE were fortunate enough to go to Nando's. One day in early November we took a day trip to the town of Bath where we took a walking tour, had lunch, and explored the Roman Baths and the town itself. That day I ate at Sally Lunn's Historic Eating House, where I stuffed myself full of delicious buns and tea. Our last event of the term is afternoon tea at the National Portrait Gallery, where I intend to stuff myself full of more bread and tea.
Being Americans abroad, perhaps the most meaningful event put on by GW England was our Thanksgiving dinner this past Thursday. Thanksgiving break is often a welcome respite from school. In high school, we had a pep rally and a football game between celebrated rivals. At GW, it is the calm before the finals storm. On Thursday, Thanksgiving did not feel like Thanksgiving because I had a paper due in class that day. I usually have classes from 4-7 on Thursdays, but due to the abundance of American expats at LSE, my professor was very kind and understanding and excused me from my last one so I could be on time for dinner. For this I am thankful (see what I did there?). The LSE runs its own Thanksgiving dinner for General Course students, and my building had a Thanksgiving potluck, but I am glad I chose to do Thanksgiving with GW. It was catered in a function room at a nice hotel, and it was cool to see the majority of GW England students all sitting at the same table. While I wasn't surrounded by family as usual, I was surrounded by friends; it finally felt like Thanksgiving, aside from the fact that I was full after only one plate of food.
The holidays are here. The twenty five days of Christmas are upon us. The festivities are in full operation, from Hyde Park Winter Wonderland to the South Bank Christmas Market to ice skating at Somerset House to the posh Oxford Street department stores having a silent war over who has the best Christmas window displays (I am biased towards John Lewis because of the penguins and the commercial that made me cry). I've had my Thanksgiving, and I have two weeks left until vacation. That's one essay, sixteen class hours, and a few hundred more pages of reading. The reward is sweet: I am going to Spain for a week, and what a relief it will be. This is definitely the most wonderful time of the year.