The City of Edinburgh is buzzing with holiday cheer. Every street is adorned with twinkling lights and the smell of mulled wine fills the air. Given the limited daylight in December (the sun sets by 4:00 PM each day), I look forward to each evening when the city is electrified. It is impossible to escape the infectious Christmas zeal.
“Five gol-den rings,” the singers bellow as I stroll passed a choir in Grassmarket Square. I stop and listen a while longer, remembering the last time I heard this song. About one year ago, family and friends had gathered around my Aunt’s piano to sing the quintessential Christmas song: “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” My Dad—with his deep and booming voice—always made claims to the verse about five golden rings. It was a crowd favorite. My mind drifted to happy memories, and I felt one of the few waves of homesickness since I arrived in Edinburgh.
To everything there is a season, and the onset of the holiday season in Edinburgh serves as a daily reminder that my time here is coming to a close. I wanted this post to be a sort of farewell to Edinburgh, a love letter if you will. Conversations with my Edinburgh friends have reinforced how much I have learned and how much I have done in the last four months. I am incredibly grateful for my semester abroad!
Things I’ll Miss:
It is difficult to articulate how grateful I am to have lived in Europe for nearly four months. It was a semester filled with wanderlust and “once in a lifetime” moments. My heart is full. Still, the Christmas lights and the choir voices remind me: it is time to go home.
A note: I would like to thank the incredible Arcadia staff at the University of Edinburgh for helping with my personal crises (schedule changes, hefty parcel charges, and recruitment logistics) this semester. I would also like to thank Arcadia’s marketing team for trusting me to honestly and eloquently capture life abroad! And to my loyal followers (hi Mom), I hope you enjoyed reading about my European adventures.
Thanks for following along!