Christmas Time In London

As the semester has been winding down, decorations having been going up. Last week a few of us took the option to go see the lights around the city with Professor Forray and Professor Goodnight. We began our tour at Trafalgar Square, where there was a huge Christmas tree, a giant menorah, and Christmas carolers. Our tour guide would later explain to us that local choirs sing in front of the tree every night in December before Christmas. For the next two hours, we walked around the city seeing the different light displays that were up. Seeing the city with all of these lights gave it a completely different feel. The tour guide told us all about how different stores compete with one another to see who can put up the best display. From a business standpoint, it is a pretty genius way to attract customers to your store. If this experience has shown me anything, it is that there is much more to the world than America. This walk through the city really brought out the holiday spirit for me. Not all of the lights were big and tacky like they tend to be back in America and the menorah was a very nice touch. It is not very often that you see a menorah back in America. Although the city of London recognized Hanukah with the big menorah, in the end, as my picture shows, it is all about Christmas for the businesses who put up these amazing lights. Seeing all of these lights here was amazing. It reminded me of all of the things I have to look forward to when I come back to America. It is really sad to think that I may never come back to London, but the people that I have met here and the things that I’ve learned will be with me for the rest of my life.