It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

With the Christmas countdown going strong and me living in a country that takes the advent period to a whole new level as opposed to the comparatively sober Dutch people, I figured that by now I would be singing Christmas carols and walking around in Christmas jumpers without missing a beat. However, I’ve found that I’m struggling a bit this year to get into a proper festive mood. Maybe it’s that I’ve been busy traveling or maybe it’s the way this overkill of Christmas has already been going strong since November. Most likely, though, it’s because I’m far from home and I’m far from all our traditions. Buying a tree with my sister, decorating the house, sipping hot chocolate at my mom’s and even celebrating Saint Nicholas on the 5th of December as we do back in the Netherlands.

I haven’t been homesick in quite some time and I’m still going strong but it’s hard to get in the Christmas mood when all of it is so tied up with spending time with friends and family and I can’t do that right now.

My one consolation? I am in a country that does Christmas well and you know what.. In less than three weeks, when it’s time for Christmas, I will be home and I will be surrounded by all the people that I’ve been missing for so many months now. And what’s more Christmassy than that?

Until then I will be drowning myself in Christmas markets and I will dream and plan for the day that I will finally be flying home for Christmas…