Third Month: Holiday Season

My third month in Leicester was quite eventful, I stayed busy with work as well as celebrating the several holidays leading up to the end of the year.

In November, I connected with several American and British colleagues to celebrate Thanksgiving. We gathered after work (yep, still had work since unfortunately it's not a national holiday in the UK) and put together a potluck meal with all the staples: turkey, gravy, stuffing, roasted veggies, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole-- the works!

The Brits were particularly baffled by the sweet potato casserole topped with marshmallows. The group enjoyed the meal together, we all walked away stuffed!

I took more time to explore Leicester as well, of course. I enjoy walking along the canal I mentioned in previous posts. Heading south from my flat, beyond the swans, you pass the Leicester City football stadium.

I also did a bit of travel throughout the month, both in Leicester and elsewhere I sought out opportunities to enjoy local festivities. Mince pies are one holiday desert pretty unique to the UK which I particularly enjoyed. The best two I tried were from St. Mary Redcliffe's in Bristol, and the canteen at our local office (left & right respectively-- couldn't wait for a bite of the latter).

Speaking of the office, while I was able to get a good bit of travel in over the past month or so, I also was quite busy at work. My current role involves supporting our UK&I leadership team for our company's sales organization, and we had a significant presentation mid-December to provide an annual overview and strategic update to the European leadership team. I traveled to the Stockport office to support the presentation, but unfortunately I managed to catch a bug and lose my voice for the day of the meeting-- how ironic (in the Alanis Morrissette sense)!! Luckily, I was able to enjoy some delicious takeout katsu curry while watching the World Cup in my hotel room at least.

Once that passed and we wrapped up the year, I was able to take a good amount of time off to enjoy Christmas and the New Year. Although I very much missed celebrating with my family in the US, I did my best to make the most of it. I spent a lot of time baking some delicious treats to share with my colleagues, friends, and neighbors-- can't have Christmas without Christmas cookies! It was also fun to see folks around the office with festive Christmas jumpers (sweaters) on. Bonita joined in, although she wasn't particularly excited to.

One of my cohort buddies stayed to celebrate in Leicester with their family, who traveled in from the US to visit them. They kindly invited me to celebrate with them on Christmas Day, which was wonderful. We watched some classic movies, ate a delicious feast, and popped open crackers for great hats & trinkets. Many other colleagues and friends checked in to make sure I wouldn't be on my own for the holiday, so I felt very welcomed and included overall. I also enjoyed several hours on video calls catching up with family and friends over Christmas Eve and Day.

On Boxing Day, I shared some snacks and wine with my neighbor in the evening. We'd crossed paths several times before because he kindly picked up a few parcels for me while I was away at work so they wouldn't be stolen. It was great to chat with him a bit more as he has many stories to tell, especially about his experiences travelling with the Royal Air Force and a Tartan Army (Scotland football supporters) group. He's originally from Scotland, so he also shared many recommendations for places I should check out when I visit.

Besides hibernating in Leicester for the rest of the break (i.e. spending quality time with Bonita, reading, bouldering, and the like), I also visited Warrington to explore a bit more and celebrate the New Year. My manager generously invited me to stay with her & her family for a few days so they could show me around Manchester, Liverpool, and a few other towns nearby. We saw & did a lot, and ate loads of delicious food. I'll share more details on specific places we visited in another post, generally speaking it was a fantastic experience and I am very grateful to my manager and her family for being such kind and gracious hosts! On New Year's Eve, we had a relaxing evening together and arrived back at their home as fireworks were going off around their neighborhood, crescendoing to a peak at midnight-- overall a very calm and restorative way to celebrate the close of 2022.

It seems unreal that 2023 is here already! My first few months in the UK passed very quickly and I've already learned a lot, seen many new places, and made new friends. I'm looking forward to continuing my time here and the fresh opportunities offered with the New Year.

To anyone reading along with this journey, I hope you enjoyed the holidays and that 2023 brings you peace, laughter, and love. Happy New Year!!