Christmas

I should have posted on this website more often, but life is not easy. Managing job, gym, dodgeball, knee recovery, master’s applications, house, and social life… Honestly, it was only after I got a job that I realised life could be this chaotic. It’s not easy to manage so many things, and maybe my time management is just bad; I found that even cooking is surprisingly time-consuming. And only after moving out of my student accommodation, I realised how complicated managing a flat can be. New problems in a flat can appear every few days, together with the annoying property management team. God, I just miss the days when I could just fill out the form on my phone and wait for a maintenance guy to fix any of the flat issues. Then my knee recovery is just starting to hit the point where my improvement has been extremely slow. Anyway, my recent life isn’t something I want to discuss today. Let’s focus back on Christmas. I’m writing this because, of course, Christmas is coming, but also I have been reflecting on how I spent my Christmas, including the ones before uni. 

I have to admit that I didn’t really enjoy Christmas during my time at uni. Everyone went home, and I was almost the only or the few orphans left behind in the UK. Home alone is no longer a film, but a reality. In my first year, it was kinda okay, because I was travelling with a friend in Helsinki. My second year was the most miserable Christmas. All of my flatmates were gone, leaving me with an empty flat. I had nothing to do, nowhere to go, even the uni library or the gym closed on Christmas day. So, I went to a 24/7 study room at my uni (it’s super cold, even though they have a heater, because it’s in a basement). I wasn’t studying there at all; I only went there because I wanted to leave home and just go somewhere. Things are slightly better in my third year. That year, I was surrounded by some of my flatmates and friends who stayed in York, and we had a Christmas dinner together. But the world wouldn’t be as perfect. I suddenly was super ill the day after. I didn’t even have the energy to cook or do anything, and I could barely cook soup for myself. I didn’t shower for two or three days, and could just stay in bed and sleep. Overall, I just don’t quite enjoy the festival. It’s the festival where almost all of your friends would go home and stay with their families, while you are stuck in a city where your second home is. But when some of my local friends asked me how I spent Christmas when I was in Hong Kong, I realised home alone is actually not entirely a bad idea, at least it’s better than some of my Christmases. 

When people actually asked me how I spent my Christmas in Hong Kong, I started to think the way I did. Then I started to think about my last year of secondary school, as that was my last Christmas in Hong Kong. So, how did I spend that? I believe no one other than maybe some from Asian countries could guess that. Because of COVID, we didn’t have a Christmas party that year. Instead, we had some fantastic alternatives that could enrich our festive vibes.  On Christmas Eve, I had an English extra class at school. It was listed on our extra class timetable, and that was kinda a compulsory thing. How Christmasy was that! Nothing can beat a Christmas with some past papers, right?! The same happened on my New Year’s Eve, but this time we’ve got something different. It was a Chinese History extra class! Again, nothing can beat celebrating the new year with historical figures and their facts. If you think it was crazy, then you should know how I spent my Easter Monday two years before our public exam (Just to let you know, our public exam’s curriculum is three years). Of course, it’s a public holiday, and you shouldn’t expect anyone would wear a school uniform on that day. But, unfortunately, it isn’t a statutory holiday. So, as you can guess, we all wore our uniforms and went to school for an English extra class. When I thought about that, I suddenly thought Christmas without my parents or pets isn’t so bad. At the very least, I don’t have to write any past papers, and don’t have to sit in any mock exam. 

It’s never easy to be a kid, to study in Hong Kong. But, although all the hard work, even during the festive times, there are also plenty of bittersweet memories. The lucky draws, gift exchange among friends, and gifts from our beloved teachers… those made my Christmas satisfied alongside heavy studies. A lot of effort has to be put in if you want to do well in a public exam, especially in a highly competitive environment. But, if I weren’t a student in Hong Kong, I probably wouldn’t experience so much of school life, which was irreplaceable elsewhere. I don’t like having extra classes on a Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve at all, but I don’t hate studying in Hong Kong. Those times might not be perfect Christmases, but they were not as bad as they sound, given that I was spending time with my friends. Anyway, I’m not sure how I’m gonna spend my Christmas this year, but at least I have a Christmas tree that I brought from our flat last year with me. And, if you somehow make your way here, I just want to wish you a merry Christmas.