Picture this: it’s the dark days of November, deadlines are piling up, you check BBC Weather to see that it will be raining for the entirety of next week, and you’re forced to either freeze to death or spend all your money trying to heat up your room. It can become bleak—quickly. However, there is a saving grace in all of this, and it comes in a neatly wrapped gift called Christmas.
Now, I understand that November feels too early to celebrate Christmas, but to that I respond: let me have my fun. Most of my friends, especially those who do humanities degrees, will be packing up and going home in early December, meaning time to be festive in Edinburgh is limited, so it becomes essential to do activities like the Christmas market trip sooner rather than later.
Nobody rubs me the wrong way more than those who try to crush the festive spirit, labelling the Christmas markets as a cramped, consumerist, money-grabbing event. And yes, the food will make a sizeable dent in your bank account, and if you try to hit the event at peak times, you’re probably going to be crowded amongst American tourists, but what else did you expect?
Is it so wrong for me to want to enjoy a couple of hours of festive fun, which can also be done on a budget? I am not saying you have to go around and buy something from every stall: leave the tourists to support the local businesses who, keep in mind, make most of their money in a year on this event. Simply walking around the fanfare, admiring the lights and making the most of the photo opportunities can, in my experience, improve my mood significantly.
All the stall runners are always in a great mood, and whilst there might be a slight tinge of guilt when you don’t spend £60 on gifts, they’re always offering tasters, so you can get more than enough entertainment without spending a penny. I’ve been given testers of 10 flavours of gin, sizeable glasses of mulled wine and every type of cheese you could dream of, and for students on a budget, anything free should always be taken advantage of. Also, the student and EH postcode discount at least makes you feel like you’re getting slightly less ripped off than everyone else around you.
My final message to any Christmas market haters is keep the misery to yourself, and please don’t inflict it unsolicitedly on others who have managed to retain whimsy after 10 weeks of university. As Hugh Grant puts it, “general opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed,” but walking around Edinburgh at Christmas seeing friends, couples, families, everyone coming together to enjoy the season might just remind you that, as always, Hugh Grant is right and love, actually, is all around.
Image by Mark Chan for the Student
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In Defence of the Christmas Market
Picture this: it’s the dark days of November, deadlines are piling up, you check BBC Weather to see that it will be raining for the entirety of next week, and you’re forced to either freeze to death or spend all your money trying to heat up your room. It can become bleak—quickly. However, there is a saving grace in all of this, and it comes in a neatly wrapped gift called Christmas.
Now, I understand that November feels too early to celebrate Christmas, but to that I respond: let me have my fun. Most of my friends, especially those who do humanities degrees, will be packing up and going home in early December, meaning time to be festive in Edinburgh is limited, so it becomes essential to do activities like the Christmas market trip sooner rather than later.
Nobody rubs me the wrong way more than those who try to crush the festive spirit, labelling the Christmas markets as a cramped, consumerist, money-grabbing event. And yes, the food will make a sizeable dent in your bank account, and if you try to hit the event at peak times, you’re probably going to be crowded amongst American tourists, but what else did you expect?
Is it so wrong for me to want to enjoy a couple of hours of festive fun, which can also be done on a budget? I am not saying you have to go around and buy something from every stall: leave the tourists to support the local businesses who, keep in mind, make most of their money in a year on this event. Simply walking around the fanfare, admiring the lights and making the most of the photo opportunities can, in my experience, improve my mood significantly.
All the stall runners are always in a great mood, and whilst there might be a slight tinge of guilt when you don’t spend £60 on gifts, they’re always offering tasters, so you can get more than enough entertainment without spending a penny. I’ve been given testers of 10 flavours of gin, sizeable glasses of mulled wine and every type of cheese you could dream of, and for students on a budget, anything free should always be taken advantage of. Also, the student and EH postcode discount at least makes you feel like you’re getting slightly less ripped off than everyone else around you.
My final message to any Christmas market haters is keep the misery to yourself, and please don’t inflict it unsolicitedly on others who have managed to retain whimsy after 10 weeks of university. As Hugh Grant puts it, “general opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed,” but walking around Edinburgh at Christmas seeing friends, couples, families, everyone coming together to enjoy the season might just remind you that, as always, Hugh Grant is right and love, actually, is all around.
Image by Mark Chan for the Student
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