This weekend marked the beginning of many Christmas festivities to come in the next few weeks that I am here. Not only did I grow closer to my host family, but it also made my leaving in less than 2 short weeks feel much more bittersweet.
On Friday night, we made our way through the frigid, dark streets towards the town square to see the lighting of the Christmas tree. Families with children crowded the streets, waiting to see Santa Clause and get their free bags of candy. Amelia, my host siblings, and I all drank hot chocolate and danced along to the Christmas music blaring on the loud speakers. For the first time in a while, I actually saw a lot of people smiling and interacting with others in public without being afraid to show their emotions. I think this is what I miss most about being in the US, so being back in this setting was incredibly nice. I also feel like I grew a lot closer to my host siblings in this moment. Even though it was just one night, we talked and laughed and danced like we had known each other our whole lives.
Later this weekend, we woke up bright and early on Sunday morning: the 1st of December. As soon as we went up the stairs and sat down for breakfast, Astrid, my littlest host sister, informed us of the elf that had recently taken residence in their house and told us his story. Apparently his real house is under construction, so him and his new wife are spending a month in their wall. He's a great renter though, and brings each of us a piece of candy for every day of December.
After breakfast, we decorated the house with various Christmas ornaments and trinkets. With the Christmas music blaring and the smell of cookies baking in the oven, I really felt like I was at home in this moment. Later, we learned how to make paper stars and julehjerter, or in other words, woven Danish heart ornament baskets. It was super confusing at first, but after a few tries, I became obsessed.
After doing paper crafts, we went out to the woods to collect various berries, pine cones, and twigs. We used these to decorate the candle holders that would hold their advent candles. Each day in December, we will light the candles until they melt down to the corresponding date. We later ate a delicious dinner and then sat down with some æbleskiver to watch the Christmas Yule Log program, a show that airs a new episode every night in December until Christmas.
I went to bed last night with a full stomach and a warm heart. Even with all of the stress of finals, papers, and projects upon me, this weekend left me feeling so happy to be where I am. As the semester is coming to an end, I have been reflecting on how these past few months have positively effected me. It is crazy how much I have grown in such a short amount of time. I know they say that studying abroad will help you develop, but until I experienced it, I never knew exactly what that meant. My confidence has grown, my awareness of my place in the world has become heightened, and most importantly, I have learned so much and have had so much fun doing it.