Friday, December 19, 2014

Do they know?

Dear future hubster,
Christmas feelings don't always come to me easily. Sometimes they don't come at all. 
It's not easy, when you haven't been through the usual indian summer-chilly fall-early winter stages, when it rains but doesn't snow, when you get a sunburn in early December, when all the Christmas decorations look just out of place and fake.
There are moments, however, when you can't help it. On a gray Monday morning, when all of Belgium is on strike, and there is not a single bus or tram to be seen on the streets, and people move around on foot or by car, quickly, hands in their pockets, or carrying boxes and gift-wrapped packages - it's all there, The air is cold and fresh, the city feels unusually quiet, you can almost smell the glühwein in the air... you can't deny that the jingle bells have started sneaking in.

And then, get to any given airport on any given morning after 15 December. No matter your destination, you will always see Erasmus students and eurocrats travelling home with suitcases filled with local cheese/beer/chocolate, hoping there will be no snow or strike or freezing rain to stop them from arriving, because they have so little time and so many places to visit, and you know exactly how they feel. Been there, done that. And yes, you have done that in all seasons, but still, when you see them dozing off at 5 am, children on their laps and winter coats on their seats, you know it's different this time of the year.
They are going home for Christmas.

No comments:

Post a Comment