It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….!
Finally, after what felt like simultaneously the longest and shortest four months of my life, I’ve nearly made it through my first term at Stony Brook. I’ll be heading back home for the holidays soon, but before I do, I wanted to talk about some of the stuff I’ve noticed that’s different about America during the festive months!
1. It isn’t Christmas until it’s been Thanksgiving.
This was something I kind of expected, but was still surprising. Because we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in England, I didn’t really realise just how big a deal it is for people over here. For us, it goes Halloween- Bonfire Night- Christmas so the festivities kind of kick in early November; we really milk it. But over in America, Thanksgiving takes president in November. It was the most days off we got all semester, and my friends were talking about heading back to spend time with their family and loved ones for weeks before hand. In fact, the amount of times I got asked, ‘Are you going back to England for Thanksgiving??’ really amused me, because a) I wasn’t about to hop on a plane for a 4-day break, and b) back in England I don’t think anyone I know even knew it was Thanksgiving!
I spent the holiday in the city with some friends, and it was so interesting to see how invested people are in Thanksgiving, and how even though there were lots of decorations up, it isn’t really a thing to start wishing people a Merry Christmas until that turkey has been served, carved and eaten in it’s entirety. As my Uber driver so well put it to me, ‘At the Thanksgiving parade, the last float is Santa, and that’s when Christmas starts- not a minute beforehand.’ And that brings me on to my second observation…
2. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a wild experience
Quite a lot of people said to me beforehand, the parade is ‘something you see in person once…and then watch it on TV every year following.’ And after having been lucky enough to experience it this year, I can understand why.
It’s chaotic, to say the least.
We didn’t really do our research, and so rocked up 10 minutes before the parade began (rookie mistake) only to find crowds and crowds of people backing up into the shops and blocking the subway entrances. There were people sat on top of telephone booths and on cars, and so many kids hoisted up onto their parents’ shoulders so they could see, it was like a wall of children (especially when the Frozen floats rolled out) and you’d be lucky if they didn’t accidentally kick you in the face.
It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience, and it made me feel so festive, although that didn’t fully extend to some of my fellow parade watchers, as I witnessed a surprising amount of pushing (I understand they got up early for this but…at the end of the day it is just a floating SpongeBob balloon) and arguments.
Blessed were the people who conveniently had flats or offices that were along the parade route. We saw them leaning out of their windows, just a little big smug about their crystal-clear view of Jimmy Fallon on his float.
I had an amazing time at the parade, but I do reckon if I watch it again, it would be in my pyjamas in front of the TV with a hot chocolate!
3. New York is 100% made for the colder months
When I arrived in the city back in August, I wasn’t sure how I felt. It was beautiful and summery and completely overwhelming, and even though I really liked it, I didn’t immediately get that instant feeling of love for it that’s described in the movies. That might have just been because it was so warm outside all I could think about was how sweaty and crowded it was. I think for me what I learnt is it’s a city that definitely grows on you and makes its way into your heart. Every time I’ve visited it, I love it a little bit more.
And I can confirm, after seeing New York at Christmas, I understand what everyone is talking about.
New York in the fall is magical. All the leaves in central park turn orange and fall but not in the gross- dead trees shedding- kind of way the parks back in England do. Instead it’s vibrant and colourful, and somehow the sky is still blue even when it’s freezing. Being there in the evening, with all the Christmas lights flooding the streets and everyone huddled in Starbucks with hot drinks and scarves, and Times Square so bustling you don’t even feel that cold- I still felt very far away from home, but in the best way.
4. Stony Brook is maybe not so much made for the colder months
My return from Thanksgiving break to campus was… a little anticlimactic. I was all hyped up on the festivities on New York City, I guess I kind of expected that to extend to the last few weeks of term here. I kind of forgot to factor in finals, and how everyone here is so stressed and unwell and ploughing through the last few weeks of exams, it doesn’t feel so much like an unwind to the holidays, as much as the final few laps of a marathon you’re exhausted from running.
Back at my home university, our deadlines tend to be in January, so the last few weeks of the Fall term are about going out to Christmas parties, and wearing festive jumpers and drinking and eating your weight in mulled wine and food, and we worry about exams after the New Year has begun. So, it’s been a little bit of an adjustment to remind myself that I actually probably should revise for my finals here and stop listening to ‘All I want for Christmas’ on repeat.
5. Christmas customs are mostly the same…but kind of different too.
I thought I’d end on this, because there’s just a few things I’ve noticed or been told that’s different about American Christmas versus English Christmas. Firstly, I was under the impression Christmas songs were kind of a universal thing? I was wrong. Whilst we all know Mariah Carey and WHAM, the amount of songs I’ve started playing that my roommate has been like ‘What is this?’ about really surprised me. And vice versa.
(Side Note: For anyone reading this, listen to Driving Home for Christmas, or the Band-Aid Song. Thank me later.)
I was shocked to find out that in America there is no such thing as celebrating Boxing Day? The glorious day after Christmas where all you do is stay in comfy clothes, eat left over chocolate and break in (or just break) the presents you got. Apparently here, it isn’t a national holiday, which just made really really sad, because boxing day is one of the best days of the year.
Other things I’ve noticed include how the price of advent calendars here makes it really not worth it for a piece of chocolate (I definitely missed the £1 calendar I can usually pick up from any supermarket back home), and that Christmas crackers aren’t really a thing either! If you want to recreate a traditional British Christmas Dinner, be sure to check them out, they definitely make the celebration more fun and you all get to end up wearing a colourful paper hat whilst you’re eating your Christmas cake.
It’s safe to say the festive experience (and the experience as a whole) in America so far has been more than a little different to what I’m used to or even expected! And, even though I’m excited to go home, I’m definitely going to miss New York City whilst I’m away. I guess I do love it after all.