Living in the United States may seem all exciting for everyone outside the USA. Life in America is considered to be a dream with unlimited good ice cream, the best sports teams, Hollywood and famous celebrities. My life in the United States for 14 years, isn’t like the stereotype people have. I have always been invested in learning about other cultures and traditions . So for Christmas break, my dad decided to take me to London. We have a lot of family and family friends there. So it guaranteed a lot of fun and comfort. After weeks of excitement for my trip, finally the day came. On December 20th, I was picked up early from school for my trip to the UK and I was surprised with business class tickets as my Christmas present.
We arrived in London the next day, and I was intrigued to notice the differences between the US and the UK.
We started off the few days by going out to different spots like Big Ben, several Cathedrals, Buckingham palace, and shopping areas downtown. Another fun part was meeting a lot of my parents’ friends from medical school. They made us feel welcomed and special. They showered me with many questions about America. We exchanged presents, and got a lot of gifts.
On the day of Christmas, we started off having an English breakfast, taking a 3 mile walk, and the best part, which was Christmas dinner. We started off by pulling Christmas crackers, which we don’t do here. Inside the crackers, they had a paper crown and funny jokes we all shared. In America, we eat turkey on thanksgiving. Whereas turkey is served at Christmas dinner in UK. My favorite part of dinner was the Christmas pudding, and the minced pie which turned out to be amazing and delicious. When I was all over the UK, I was able to find a lot of diversity including hearing several different accents from the north, the south and different parts of Europe. My favorite accent was the Scottish accent where they spoke in a calm and happy tone.
The only regret for me would be having to miss our Harry Potter world trip. However, this will be my motivation to go back again. Although this was my first Christmas away from home, without my mom and sister coming along, I received a lot of love and warmth from my family friends whom I had never met.
I want to thank all the uncles and aunts in London for making my trip so memorable. A special thanks to Rajan Uncle, Anjali Aunty, and all the kids I met on this trip. Hanging out with these kids made me feel like I was in Milwaukee.
Basically, It made me realize that kids all over the world are basically the same inside irrespective of where they come from.