Sophie Guillermin-Golet | Contributing Writer
The first term has come to an end. Essays are almost all over. Exams are just a (bad) memory. But there is still an ordeal to overcome. I am not talking about the difficulty to pack for those who do not live with their parents, or about the impossibility to find presents for all your relatives. I am writing about the dreaded family reunions.
In 1984, Band Aid sang that at Christmas “you throw your arms around the world”. However, sometimes, I tend to believe that you just want to throw yourselves in your bed, and spend your time watching Christmas movies on your own.
So I am going to share useful tips in order to survive the “most wonderful time of the year”.
First of all, do not eat useless things. I know that it seems as impossible as the films of Tom Cruise. I am the first to claim that I cannot wait to be back home to forget my student food. But this case is a particular one. Forget your breakfast the morning before a big lunch, and forget the afternoon snack before an even more important dinner. In fact, Christmas meals can be considered as the contrary opposite of the Hunger Games. There is food, too much food, and sadly, nobody is going to steal it from you. Thus, your main goal is to be able to eat as much as possible, in order not to upset the Capitol, or rather the host.
Choose carefully your place at the table. Let’s be honest: nobody wants to sit between Grandpa Alfred and Grandma Edith, who will spend their time bickering about the quality of the food, talking about their dentures, and asking you awkward questions. So, choose someone slightly younger than them as an aunt or a cousin. But do not sit at the kids’ table. I do not think it would be an enjoyable experience, except if you want a food fight.
One of the most important points is certainly the following: find an ally. An ally is really useful to make fun of the others (as they say, the more the merrier), or just to have quite interesting conversations. The ally is often someone who is around your age, who does not spend the dinner staring at his plate, and who has a good sense of humor.
Once this ally is found, you can try to invent games with them. I swear that time will fly by if you manage to have some fun. It can be something like “throwing little pieces of bread in the glass of this annoying uncle”, or “counting the number of drinks you are able to drink without being noticed”. You only have to let your creative side express itself.
Still, even if you do not specially appreciate these moments, try to find some happiness in it. As dysfunctional your family can be, they are all you’ve got. And you know, all I want for Christmas is you…to say that in the end “it was good craic”.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas!
