December 31, 2023
Going home for Christmas
Hejhej,
Welcome back to another blog post! This time, I’ll tell you about my journey back to Germany for Christmas and some Christmas traditions we shared. 
My journey started at home in Linköping on a Tuesday night. My friend came with her car and took me and a friend to the station. The train we were getting was the SJ Euronight train. However, SJ already notified us that we had a 1.5-hour delay. At the station, we got a text from SJ gifting us a free fika at Pressbyran because of the delay. We, of course, very gladly accepted this, and then we hopped on our night train. This night train goes all the way from Stockholm to Berlin, where it stops at several cities in Sweden, Copenhagen, and Hamburg. It is a pretty old-school train so we were
n’t expecting much of our 350SEK ticket. However, we were pleasantly surprised when we found out the seatings turned into beds. We just had to put the backrest of the sofa up and suddenly we had 6 beds instead of two sofas. My friend and I shared the cabin with 4 other girls, which was very pleasant. Around midnight we crawled into our beds and we actually could get some hours of sleep. We were supposed to arrive at Hamburg central station at 6am, however, with the delay we arrived at 9am. This was no problem for me as this was my end station but my friend needed to go all the way down to Frankfurt, and she missed her connection. The staff of the SJ Euronight train kindly offered her a handwritten note stating that the SJ train was delayed and with this note, she could enter a later train to Frankfurt. So, after our goodbyes, I made my way to my friend who lives in Hamburg.
I stayed with my friend for two nights and we took it really slow. I felt like I needed this because student life in Linköping can be a lot. A lot of fun but of course also a lot of work, a lot of new things and experiences. So, I really took this time to relax and reflect on my first semester studying in Sweden. The only thing we did, which is very important to do in Germany around Christmas time, was visit the “Weihnachtsmarkt” (Christmas market). The one in Hamburg is very cozy and colorful but also full. We bought some last-minute Christmas presents and enjoyed each other’s company.
After my time in Hamburg, it was time to go home. Home for me is a funny concept. I am half Dutch, and half German but grew up in Groningen (The Netherlands). However, my family owns a very special holiday home in Northern Germany which I also call home. It is a bit special as it is a Windmill. My grandparents bought this windmill in 1972 and renovated it back to its original state. They also build a shed and a little house next to it. That is where I spend a lot of time in my life together with my family. At Christmas, my parents and my two brothers always meet at the windmill and celebrate Christmas together with my German family and friends. It mostly consists of gift giving, good food, walks, a little bit of spa, shopping, and relaxing.
Spending Christmas at home with my family was very needed after such a turbulent semester in Linköping, however, I also very much look forward to be back in Sweden and enjoying everything the winter/spring has to offer!
I hope you all had a very lovely Christmas and had fun celebrating New Year’s!
/ Fleur, Master of Science for Sustainable Development
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