‘Already in September I was looking for flights. I have my last exam on the 22nd and I wanted to go home to Madrid on the 23rd. But ticket prices turned out to be sky high already. I told my best friend about it, and she wouldn’t even let me finish my sentence: ‘COME HERE FOR CHRISTMAS!’ she answered. She will celebrate Christmas with her sister in Gothenburg, Sweden, and this was my chance. My friend’s sister, whom we are staying with, has a house right on the edge of the city. So I will spend my winter break in a magical Swedish forest, playing in the snow. My friend is half Swedish, half Iranian, so our Christmas dinner will be a fusion of these cuisines. Yum!
Of course my family was a little sad to hear I will not be there. Christmas is always a big thing for us, and I have never been away from home for this long, so it’s a double disappointment. Luckily, my mum sent me a lot of treats from home to survive without the Spanish Christmas. Those will most likely be finished before I go to Sweden. But I’ll bring stroopwafels instead.’