I DON’T know about you but it’s taken me a lot longer than usual to get in the Christmas spirit this year.
Perhaps it’s because I haven’t really been out as much.
There’s been limited Christmas shopping, I’ve skipped the annual trip to see the Christmas lights in London and the family tradition of going to see a pantomime.
Those little traditions always made it feel like the most wonderful time of the year.
But finally, with one week to go, I can now declare that I’m in a very Christmassy mood.
Getting to this point has been a lot of hard work because the end of the year has actually been really busy, and while this has been slightly exhausting, I think that this has played a part in boosting my Christmas cheer.
I’m back at the Everyman Cinema where I work part-time.
Now that it’s reopened and the Christmas movies are playing, I’m actually really enjoying my shifts there in the run-up to December 25.
The complimentary mince pies and mulled wine that we’re giving to guests also have a part to play.
Despite working part-time, school is out and now it’s time to relax.
This last term has felt like the term that kept on giving.
It was a long, hard few weeks of UCAS forms, University interviews and exams, not to mention A-level studies and coursework.
I thought it would never end.
Oh yes it is
Aside from all the studies it was great to be involved in the school’s annual Sixth Form Christmas Panto.
While we had many obstacles in our way – not least the fact that we couldn’t perform in the theatre to a live audience due to Covid restrictions – it was a case of ‘the show mustgo on’.
Instead of a live, theatre production, we filmed all our scenes in advance.
The whole thing was expertly edited, and then shown on the big screen in a drive-in movie type format in the school car park.
Our rather inaccurate portrayal of Robin Hood went brilliantly, and the two evening showings were a sell out.
Actually being able to watch ourselves perform, and see ourselves on the big screen, made it even better than the old-school style panto that we’re all so used to.
The drama department did amazingly to not only edit our panto into a movie short, but also balance that with teaching and organising the junior and middle school performances.
So everything has come together to put me firmly in a Christmassy mood.
Yes, it might be very different this year and while I still need to get a few presents for friends and family, Christmas has slowly but surely come around and lifted my spirits after what has been a pretty tough year.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and hopefully a happy, a much more sociable, New Year.
See you on the other side.
