It's That Time, Again!

Something's happened to me, this year. Well, several things have happened to me over the year, but that will be covered nearer the end of the month. What I'm specifically referring to is my sudden excitement over the advent of Christmas. I'm serious: I'm in the mood for Christmas!

It all started a couple of months ago, when I suggested to my housemates that we have a meal to celebrate Christmas in the last week of term before the vacation. On Tuesday we got together, chipped in some money to buy a whole load of food for the meal, and drank mulled wine and ate mince pies while watching Oliver! which although not specifically a Christmas film, it's the musical most suited to Christmas in our collection: it's Dickens, it's Victorian London, and it has singing and dancing cockneys in it!

From then on, it was downhill for my usual sense of restraint. All this week, I've been unusally affectionate to my friends and classmates, wishing them a Merry Christmas, and even being visibly excited for the oncoming  holidays. I'm currently sitting in my living room, surrounded by card, coloured paper and assorted stationery making - yes, making - my own Christmas Cards. I've gone mad.

I must make it clear to any new readers (yeah, 'cos there are so many of you...), I don't hate festivity. I love to throw a good party, especially if it is for my birthday; and I've yet to have a bad New Year's Eve. I just hate Christmas, mainly because of how fake it all is. People pretend that they are happy for a few days, surround themselves with their families (often the people most responsible for unhappiness) and force pleasantries out in order to keep peace. Which is why, for the last few years, I decided to spend Christmas on my own. I loved it: no pressure to do certain things with certain people, no arguments (I always get my way, anyway), and no sharing of food. I was eating that pork (I hate turkey) for days.

I have a feeling there are several reasons why I am more positive about Christmas, this year. Firstly, I didn't spend last Christmas on my own in Madrid, but rather spent the day with my friend's family. Not only was that a wonderful gesture greatly appreciated, but it also helped me realise that Christmas can genuinely be a fun time for all the family. Secondly, a similar thing is happening this year: my friend Sophie is having a few friends over to her house for Christmas, since not all of her family will be at home. Sophie and I have had a difficult year: she is one of my colsest friends, but we fell out back in Easter and didn't speak to each other until I returned to the UK. It's all fine, now, but it's especially good to know that we have recovered our friendship to the point that we'll be exchanging presents on Christmas Day, the ultimate symbol of putting the past behind us. Another reason is that I have been feeling so happy, lately, and I have had such a good 2009 - indeed, such a good decade - I'll be toasting it and hoping that the good feeling continues well into 2010.

Time for a brief aside. It's just occurred to me that 2010 will be the end of my formal education, and hopefully the beginning of my career as an actor. Since I'll be making applications for Drama Schools in January, if I get in and begin in September, my adulthood really will have begun. Scary and exciting, huh?

Finally, on probably the least personal note, I'm excited for Christmas because it means only one thing as far as my television viewing habits are concerned: Doctor Who and EastEnders Christmas Specials! With the noted absence of the former, and the resurgence in quality of the latter, I cannot wait for the production teams to pull out their big guns and show us what they have in store.

So, that's it. Christmas is going to be fantastic, I'm excited, and I don't care who knows it!