Home away from home... 

As I mentioned in my last post, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year and it's not a better time to be happy and peaceful. However, it's still a hard time for me, since I had a totally multicultural Christmas last year in the USA with my host family with which I spent the last year. Now, everything seems back to normal and to "my old boring life" and especially now, like a holiday this big, I compare a lot to last year and how much more exciting it was, but also that I won't see the people from last year not only this year, but I won't also see them for the next few months or even for the next year! 
You should know, last year Christmas was HUGE! My host mum's aunt from France was there with her family and everyone spoke French and I only spoke English and it was crazy, but so much fun! We were so many people and you might think as a person they had only known for three months you feel a little bit left out or not part of it, but that's not true! I totally felt part of the "clan" and everyone, even the people I couldn't really interact with, made me feel as part of the family. I really think, it's so great to be able to spend such a great holiday time with people you don't even know for half a year! I didn't even miss my family once during that time and I talked to some friends over there and they felt homesick and wanted to go home for Christmas. One of my friends even flew home over the holidays. What's the point? You decide to go abroad for a year to learn about a different culture, why should you go back for such a big holiday? That's the same as if you decide to go to Canada for the 4th of July instead of going to DC, for example! I understand, if people get homesick, but I still think for the main holidays, to really "absorb" the culture, you shouldn't be going back to your home country for a major holiday, especially because for me that's something else that's so astonishing: how different cultures spend Christmas. The traditions I experienced last year, where similar in some ways, but not completely the same. For example, in Austria we get our presents on Christmas Eve and not on Christmas Day. The major day is Christmas Eve, but in the USA you have a nice family dinner and then on the 25th the big event starts: getting the presents! 
So, as excited I am for Christmas this year, but I still miss my host family and I really hope to be able to visit them soon!