Flippin' 'eck! What happened to the sun?

Winter in London has been quite an experience. I guess I never realised just how different it would be to my Aussie-centric definition of ‘winter’...which is, a time to wear a few extra layers, eat soup rather than salad and avoid being outside if you can help it. Well I realised pretty early on not to wear loads of singlets and underlayers because as soon as I got on the hot, airless underground I almost passed out (on the way to a concert, how wild). So Just a coat on top then. Avoiding being outside? Well then you’d never see the sun. But it really is the time for soups...and chops...and roasts ...and puddings ...and pasta bake... and lots and lots of red wine.

I did my Christmas shopping way too early to send back to Oz and then watched with a smug expression as millions struggled to buy all their rubbish in the people-logged city. Every department store on Oxford St had huge amazing Christmas light displays out the front. You can’t help doing the tourist thing and stopping to look up to see who has the brightest shop front, who looks classy and who just looks tacky. The fairy lights go up in the suburbs too. The magic is completed by the carol singers at tube stations. Am I the only person who felt teary on hearing “Noel” at Angel station? This truly is how Christmas is meant to be.

While all this festive magic and desperate consumerism grew something was going away. The source of life and happiness. It hit me one day when I headed out after lunch to buy some things for the office. It was about 3pm and it was twilight. I actually felt nauseous and quite depressed as I realised that this unnatural feeling was the way things are here. I ate my depressing chocolate bars, got on the depressing bus and sat on a depressing seat.

Christmas itself was better because at least there was some sense of hibernation as we stocked up on ham, pork pie, chops, veges and puddings. There wasn’t a much better way to spend a chilly Xmas day than snuggled up with some chunky yarn, knitting a warm scarf while watching several versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’. Oh and then there was the food :) Whoever said you need to get out of bed to eat a roast?

Walks in the park while it was still light were difficult when we slept in til 1pm, but well worth it. The sun struggles to shine weakly down and you soak up those rays like a pom on Bondi Beach (incidentally at that moment Bondi is covered with poms).

Several incredibly lazy days later it was time to welcome the new year. Party time. A wake up from the hibernation and a reminder that this is an amazing city to have fun in. Young people come from all over to go to the clubs, pubs, gigs and concerts here. I love talking to randoms in clubs here because you never know what accent or language you’re gonna hear. And so many hot people!

But then there’s Black January. The pretty lights are taken down and the carollers go back to their jobs as call centre operators. Fur trees are abandoned out on the street. You go back to work but payday is infinitely far away. And the morning talk shows like to rub it in– “today’s the day most people quit their jobs” (why not just kill all your colleagues); “today’s the day most people get divorced” (January makes me want to get married just to get divorced), “today’s the most depressing day of the year” (don’t come near me! I will stab you with my Oyster card..which has no money on it...)

But miracle of miracles... today there was still some light at 4:30pm.

Things are looking up.