I love Christmas. I love the decorations, the smells, the cold weather, and the joyfulness, so when I tried to think about what my favourite part of the holiday season was, I couldn’t. I made up a list in my head: the twinkly lights, the eggnog lattes, the baking, the game playing and movie watching with family, the traditions, the decorating, the Netflix bingeing, and the general Christmassy splendour. But my favourite? I just couldn’t figure it out.

That is, until I actually went away to school. And so my favourite thing wasn’t really what I was expecting, but it is what it is, I guess. The best part of the holiday season for me turned out to be being with people, away from home, while waiting to go home. It sounds weird, right? So I’ll try to explain:

Ever since I was little, I’d be home for Christmas. I’d see the tree going up, I’d help decorate it, and I’d relish in the holiday atmosphere until, like, December sixth. And after that, the newness of it all seemed to kind of go away until Christmas Eve, or the day before Christmas Eve.

In a dorm room, elaborate decorating isn’t really an option. Yes, my roommate and I have twinkly lights up (all year round!), and there are a couple of decorative things in my hall and even more in the lobby, but I don’t get the same vibe as I do at home. Which, in a strange kind of way, makes me love Christmas even more. Maybe it’s part of the feeling that you want what you can’t have. It’s not like I have no Christmas vibe here, but it’s a different kind of Christmas vibe. One that, to me, isn’t the Christmas I’m used to.

In addition to that, I’m constantly with great people who are looking forward to the holiday season. I swear, my roommate and I could talk about Christmas every single day, even though her favourite holiday is technically Thanksgiving. So, not only am I looking forward to Christmas, but I get to look forward to the holiday season at home with people who are just as excited about it as me.

I love being away from home, because I know that I get to go home. Instead of seeing all of the Christmas spirit happening around me in my house, I get to look forward to it from a seven-hour drive away, with people who are just as excited to go home as I am.

So, it’s official: my favourite thing about the Christmas season is being away from home so that I get to be excited about going home to celebrate with my family. I love being home, and I love being at the dorm. And yes, I’ll admit that when I leave WWU, I always miss my 'university family', but being with my real family is just as good. I’m surrounded by Christmas, decorations, and my mom’s eggnog lattes.

The Christmas season has now officially begun for me, after all of my waiting and waiting (and waiting). My anticipation of Christmas and going back home for the holidays, has been the best part of it all.