32515: Oxmas Under Lockdown

Returning to Oxford as a graduate student during the pandemic has been a strange experience. Familiar faces and landmarks still anchor me to the city I love; yet in other ways, it appears alien. I miss the bustle of the city and some of the undergraduate friends who made it so lively. The next chapter of my life has begun, but - with no real celebration to mark the end of Finals, nor any graduation ceremony to say final goodbyes - the previous one has never felt fully closed.

Inevitably, Oxmas has not been the same this year. We cannot congregate in chapel for the Carol Service, get overly merry at the college Christmas dinner, or belt out songs at Nepotists' Carols in Balliol hall. Nevertheless, my house has been determined to get into the Christmas spirit. Since mid-November, we have been blaring out Christmas tunes, crafting snowflake decorations, and watching awful Christmas films (and we've still got a vegan Christmas roast and Secret Santa to look forward to). Oxmas 2020 has been a genuinely lovely time which has proved to be a much-needed respite from the pandemic.