It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

Last night when we were playing scrabble, which is all that we seem to do anymore, Rachel asked Emily and I if there were any major differences in the ways that Canadians and Americans celebrate Christmas? At first we jokingly asked, "Do Canadians sing carols? Have Christmas trees?" But when we thought about it for a minute, we realized that the Christmas season starts much, much earlier here. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving the second Monday in October, so after Halloween it's a holiday straight-shot to Christmas. Sure, the Christmas advertisements seem to start earlier and earlier every year in the States, but people stick to the notion that the Christmas season shouldn't, and doesn't really, begin until after Thanksgiving. In my mind the Christmas season starts with Santa Claus at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, black Friday, and, of course, advent. Here, though, the Christmas season is already in full swing. The Christmas lights are up in town, the Christmas carols are playing, and everybody is decorating their rooms. Maybe it's just because I love Thanksgiving so much, but I never want the Christmas season to start until after I've had my share of turkey and potato filling.

But, as they say, when in Rome ... so we got started on the Christmas season yesterday. We bought decorations while in New Minas and made gingerbread houses while listening to Christmas carols. I've even begun my yearly paper chain. I'm extremely sad that I'm missing Thanksgiving (and that I'll be in class when they play Alice's Restaurant), but gingerbread houses and the snow! we got yesterday cheered me up quite a bit:

Teal and Rachel's ginger-bread house:

My beautiful ginger-bread house:

Teal watching the snow fall:

Goofing around with Hannah in the snow:

And for the studying party of studying abroad - I've been a bit anxious about my classes this semester. Not because I don't love them, I do, but because I'm so used to all of my classes being somehow political in nature. Every class at American seems to be somehow related to politics, which I love - that's why I chose to go there, but here I'm only taking political science class and only one of my others is at all political in nature (environmental history) - so I've felt a bit out of my element. Not only do I love political science, but out of all the subjects I've studied it comes most naturally to me. I've never studied Ancient Greek texts before and I've always struggled with philosophy. But I was pleasantly surprised to receive As on both my Greek Civ and Aesthetics midterms, especially after I've only managed A-s on all of my Canadian History assignments. I still have four term papers and five finals ahead of me, but it's always good to have some reassurance.

I also cannot believe that I only have one month left here. One month! I can't lie, I have a mental countdown going for the days until I get home. I cannot wait to see my family, have a sleepover party with Alli and Amanda, sleep in my own bed, eat home-cooked food, listen to the Muppet's Christmas CD, decorate the Christmas tree, etc. but I'm really, really going to miss it here. I love the friends I've made, I love this town, I love my classes, I love looking out my window and seeing the Bay of Fundy. I have so much I'm looking forward to (home, Scotland, St. Patrick's Day in Dublin with Rachael and possibly Caroline and Sala), but I have so much I'm going to miss.