As I step outside, I feel the winter’s chill in the air, an icy finger tracing my spine, its touch seeping through my skin and deep into my bones. I am used to this by now as the air outside is the same temperature as inside my university flat. I swear landlords take pleasure in making their tenants miserable. When my flat mate and I moved in we had many issues with appliances not working and now that we needed it the most, the heating is caput. Oh well, who needs to be able to feel their fingers anyway? Since I am now in my fourth year of university I am well versed in how to keep warm, so my electric blanket is in full use, and I wear so many layers that I look like the Michelin man. Such is the life of a uni student.
The thing that does bring me some warmth at this point in term is that it is almost Christmas. My weekly shops are made all the brighter by the twinkling lights that line the high street; a tree here and a bow there, they turn even the darkest corner into a place of happiness. You can’t help but smile as you turn a corner to see children giggling as they run around inside a giant lit up bauble while their parents try to take a picture, or a couple having their photo taken in a sledge (which my boyfriend and I did do this year I must confess). The Christmas market makes everyone smile, with its rows upon rows of dainty wooden cabins adorned with Christmas lights. I have already been once, but I know I will go again many times before term is up. There is just something about walking past stalls selling things from gin and fudge to decorations for your tree and garlands of dried fruit, the air smelling of churros and chocolate, with a large cup of mulled wine.
In every shop down the high street Christmas tunes are on repeat and end up stuck in my head, which makes me smile as I browse the Christmas clothing collections that have recently dropped. Window displays are filled with sequins, tinsel and glitter, feeling very inviting and inevitably draining the measly amount I have left in my bank account, but nevertheless bringing some cheer to the winter gloom. Societies are putting on their winter balls, which means everyone gets to dress up and dance the night away, as well as have multiple Christmas dinners before the big day actually arrives – I know I will be having at least two. There so many Christmas themed socials to go to before term ends that there is no alternative but to let that festive feeling in and enjoy the end of term.
While we all may find these last few weeks of term tricky, with assignments piling up and the short daylight hours making it feel like bedtime at 4pm, Christmas in Exeter truly is magical and makes the hard part of university all the more bearable. With this being my last Christmas in Exeter before I graduate, I know I am going to miss it.
