My Christmas 2020

When you are abroad, you start planning for Christmas a bit earlier, because you may have to book trains or flights. In October, I decided to go home. But in early November, travel restrictions were introduced, which required a 5-day quarantine upon entry to Germany, followed by a COVID-19 test. If the test is negative, you can move freely. The same applied to the return trip to Great Britain.

In mid-November, I received an invitation to Scotland from a friendly family. The offer occupied more and more space in my mind, as I thought I could enjoy Christmas better there than in Germany, where I would be stuck indoors and unable to see anyone. I also had the constant fear of possibly having COVID-19, as someone in the daycare center was always sick. So in mid-December, I decided to go to Scotland for the Christmas season and create a Christmas bubble with the Benthams. From December 23-27, I was allowed to travel to Scotland and I was looking forward to experiencing a traditional Scottish Christmas.

During all the worries about how Christmas would turn out, I celebrated the German tradition of St. Nicholas Day in my shared flat. My roommate Steven was very excited and kept asking about it two weeks before. We also celebrated St. Nicholas Day in the daycare center and, of course, polished our shoes beforehand. Besides that, I baked cookies at home and with the children at the kindergarten. The children had a lot of fun and were proud of their own creations. A kindergarten Christmas party was a successful conclusion. Santa Claus visited and brought small gifts for the children. After this Christmas party, we had a small celebration with the team. We exchanged gifts, talked a lot, and enjoyed good food.

Meanwhile, my Christmas plans changed again. The previously promised Christmas rule by the government was withdrawn. This meant that I was no longer allowed to travel to Scotland for Christmas. I spontaneously considered flying to Germany, but then decided against it, which turned out to be the right decision in the end.

We celebrated the start of my vacation with a festive meal in our shared flat. The annual Christmas dinner was on the agenda and we had a delicious traditional turkey and a speculoos layered dessert for dessert. We exchanged gifts and my roommates gave me a bread baking machine (I must have complained too much about English bread).

In the following days, it became clear that a new variant of the coronavirus was spreading in Great Britain. The air traffic between Great Britain and Germany was completely suspended. At this point, I was glad to be in the UK and not in Germany. In the days leading up to Christmas, I spontaneously started looking for a Christmas tree, but couldn't find a suitable one. So I quickly made one out of cardboard and placed the packages I had accumulated over the past few weeks underneath it.

I spent December 24th with many friends and family members. We made a lot of phone calls and skyped. I agreed with my family to open presents together and they took me along via Skype to the Christmas Eve celebrations. First, we unwrapped our Christmas presents one by one, then we had dinner together. I really enjoyed the time together, even though I was a bit sad that I couldn't be there in person.

On December 25th, I went to church in the morning. My first English church service in London. It was a blend of Protestant and Catholic worship with a lot of incense. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the service very much. We weren't allowed to sing, but there was a choir that provided beautiful musical contributions. So that I wouldn't spend Christmas Day, the most important day here in England, alone, my boss invited me to spend Christmas with her and her family. I was very happy about the invitation and gladly accepted it. As a gift, I brought freshly baked bread, mulled wine, and a bag of cookies. My initial nervousness about the language quickly disappeared. Although there was a constant switch between German and English, it went better than I thought. Together, we prepared the traditional meal, which consisted of turkey with a variety of side dishes, roasted potatoes and parsnips, Brussels sprouts, bread sauce, and cranberry sauce. Christmas crackers are also a classic part of the Christmas meal. These are poppers that are usually filled with a crown, a joke, and a small surprise. They are opened by two people pulling the ends of the cracker, with their arms crossed. Then everyone can unwrap their little surprises and read out the jokes and riddles to each other. In my shared flat Christmas meal, I got a nail clipper in my cracker, and this time, a small notebook. The crown is placed directly on the head and worn for the rest of the evening. Christmas crackers are intended to prevent boredom during the Christmas meal. After dinner, we played a game called 'Wist', which is similar to Wizard. Each round, you have to announce and try to win tricks. The card distribution is a bit different in this version. You start with 10 cards and then have one less card in each subsequent round. There are no wizards or jesters, and the scoring is also slightly different. Later in the evening, after a good dessert and a long, refreshing walk, I returned home.

In hindsight, I have to say that this Christmas, although different from the plans, was still quite nice. I think I made the best of it. Many thanks for the kind messages, packages, and phone calls. Without all of that, Christmas would have been quite lonely. Christmas 2020, definitely a Christmas that I will always remember!