周语欢

    As my school which is located in New Jersey adopts the trimester system, students get four long breaks during a school year. These breaks include the Thanksgiving break in mid-November, the winter break from December to January, the spring break in March, and the longest of all: the summer break from June to the end of August.

    I was kindly invited by a local student from my school, Lynna, and her parents, to stay at their house over the winter break.

    For the first few days, Lynna, her mom, and I spent some time in the malls and shops looking for Christmas gifts for family members and friends. “Christmas is a great time because everyone gets gifts and, especially, kids finally get the pricy items on their wish lists crossed out,” said one of my friends. However, it can also be a huge problem when someone, such as me, has no idea what to buy for others. Apparently this problem didn’t just apply to me: Lynna told me that her mom often received chocolates as gifts, even though she is a dentist!

    On Christmas Eve, we had a big dinner and Lynna’s dad joked about Santa Claus. It interests me that teenagers of my age may still believe in the existence of Santa Claus. The next morning, the entire family and I gathered around the Christmas tree and started to open our presents. I was so surprised and happy when I found out there were some for me as well, of course, from Lynna’s family! My favorite presents were a cuddly polar bear and a pair of golf gloves.

    During the relaxing days, our activities included watching movies. I was able to enjoy plenty of Christmas movies, for they were always on TV, and so was Christmas music during the holiday-special broadcast on the Holly radio channel. Besides watching the movie “2012” six days after the day of the “apocalypse,” Lynna and I also went to a theater to see “Les Misérables” together with another friend from my school. Life could not be better during winter break!

    On the last day of 2012, we watched the ball drop in Times Square live on TV and ushered in the New Year. I was sad when I realized another year had passed and the year 2013 had started: It felt like I did not do much in 2012 and was not ready for a new start at all. Nevertheless, no matter how much I regret wasting time in 2012, the busy school life started again right after the New Year celebration anyhow. Winter break has come to an end and it’s time to start school again!