I Was Home for Christmas

As you can probably tell from my cheesy, attempting to be cute by channeling Bing Crosby title for this post, I returned to the United States of America for two weeks to enjoy Christmas and New Years with family and friends.

Being back home was absolutely wonderful, but so so cold! Seriously, I think I have become a source of shame to New Englanders everywhere- my time in the tropics has made me such a wimp. Thankfully, I had lots of loving and supportive people to bring jackets, hats, mittens, scarves, and blankets to airports, cars, and houses for me and to make delicious hot beverages to keep me as toasty as possible. I also appreciated the love and support of these people in helping me navigate the trickier waters of culture shock, slowly escorting me around supermarkets and shopping malls, and reassuring me that I didn't have to make a decision and buy anything if I didn't want to.

I had a wonderful Christmas time with my family and ate some incredible food (best lobster bisque ever), a trend that continued over the duration of my trip and encompassed valiant attempts to eat every kind of cheese, olive, and bread known to man, all while stocking up on as much delicious beer and wine as possible. Thom was incredible, and spent the time I was home with me and my family (minus approximately 36 hours) and didn't even pressure me too much to go out of doors and into the freezing, if beautiful, snow!

By far, the highlight of being home was seeing and spending time with family and friends from both high school and college. I had an epic New Years with some of the best friends possible in the middle of the MA woods on a lake with a hot tub (and the hot tub's many rules), and enjoyed nights out in Wakefield, a town that has somehow become a bit swankier (to be fair, that was Reading, but still!).

The only disappointment was that two weeks looks a whole lot longer on paper than it actually is. There were a lot of people I wasn't able to see, and I would have liked a whole lot more time with everyone. I don't know if I realized just how much I've missed everyone until I finally saw people again. And I have to say, leaving a second time was much harder than the first. Still, I'm glad to be back, and excited for the year ahead. As always, I look forward to emails, letter, and packages, and I can't wait to see everyone next winter.

So, to sum up my time at home, I ate and drank a whole lot of delicious things (no root crop!), saw friends and family, braved the snow, discovered a rather disturbing love of Ugg boots and pop music, and re-energized to finish my second year in Tonga!