Hi everyone. I’m Lucy, a first year studying history at the University of Exeter. However, as well as a history student, I also just happen to be a huge Christmas enthusiast, the type of person that thinks it’s never too early to listen to Christmas music and the first of November is the perfect time to put up the Christmas decorations. Living at uni on the run up to Christmas, you might, like me, be worried you’ll miss out on that festive feeling you’ve been craving since the end of summer, but I have realised that this is definitely not the case at Exeter. In fact, one of the reasons I love Exeter so much is because of the range of opportunities there are to help you embrace the Christmas spirit. Like an overflowing Christmas stocking, there’s just more and more, and it keeps getting better and better. So, here I am to tell you all about it!
Firstly, Exeter city itself. Now, it’s no secret that Exeter high street is pretty to walk down any time of year, but at Christmas time it seems to come alive with a whole new sense of magic and ambience. As the days get colder and the evenings get darker, there’s nothing better than grabbing your friends after a late lecture, bundling tightly into scarves and gloves, and knowing that just a short walk from campus you can be in the city centre, hot chocolate in hand, twinkling lights overhead, laughter echoing through the streets.
But what’s even better than Exeter high street, lit up by fairy lights? Exeter Christmas market! It’s no joke, Exeter takes its Christmas market seriously. At first sight, it’s certainly mystifying enough to stop you in your tracks. With over 100 wooden stalls sprawled out in all directions, decorated with baubles, holly and lights, against the glorious backdrop of the historic Exeter Cathedral, it’s gothic architecture aglow in the moonlit December evening, this is something essential for all students to see. So essential in fact that I had to visit it multiple times, taking multiple different routes, at multiple times of day, just to ensure I fully appreciated the scene. It’s so close to campus, there’s really no excuse for not sneaking away to experience it for yourself. From hot food and Christmas bakes to jewellery and trinkets, and so, so very much more, this is the perfect place for Christmas shopping or spending time with friends. Visiting this market, it’s impossible not to feel the Christmas spirit, people bustling all around you, Christmas music playing, stall owners talking animatedly about their handmade goods. And if you’re really lucky and listen closely, under layers of chatter, laughter, music… you might just hear the carols of the Cathedral choir.
Experiencing the choir at Exeter Cathedral is straight out of a classic novel. Those big wooden doors close and the chaos of the Christmas market just metres away dissipates. A hush as if the whole world had quietened. The cool stone beneath your hands, Christmas garlands strung, soft hymns and carols echoing through the space. I can guarantee that nothing can compete with the serenity you feel walking out of the Cathedral, the night air nipping at your face as you make your way back to your accommodation. But, alas if you fail to make it to the Cathedral choir, the university itself has you covered. Exeter uni holds its own choir nights even closer to your doorstep, in its very own chapel on campus.
So it’s not just Exeter city, the campus is buzzing with festive fun too, with so many Christmas activities taking place it’s hard to keep track. There is certainly something for everyone. My personal top picks would be gingerbread decorating (though be warned, this can get oddly competitive between your friends) and wreath making, but there’s also games, concert bands… you might even get to meet some donkeys. And it doesn’t stop there; December is also the time of year you’ll find lots of societies holding their Christmas balls. Getting all dressed up to enjoy a three-course meal, with wine and music and merriness, in some pretty building, whether that be the historic Guildhall, where History Society held theirs this year, or Reed Hall, or somewhere else likely aesthetic and perfect for photos. In the run up to Christmas the uni holds such a range of festive activities, it’s impossible not to find yourself enjoying the festive spirit.
But the best memories are sometimes the simplest. One of these memories will find me on a Wednesday morning on the brink of December, ‘not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse’, but I was dragging myself out of my room for a 9:30 am seminar. Walking out of the front door of my block, I was met, not by a cold breeze, but what felt like slamming into a wall of ice. Making my way up Forum hill, the cold clinging to my face and hands, a morning frost still coating the ground, I remember wishing distinctly that I could have stayed in bed. But, as I walked towards my seminar, I had the privilege of seeing the Forum Christmas tree being decorated and I couldn’t help but smile. Anyway, the point of my story is that all the little festive touches Exeter uni provides certainly helps to maintain my Christmas enthusiast status and I can’t believe I was ever worried that being away from home for the run up to Christmas might prevent me feeling the Christmas spirit. Oh, and my second point is that you should always go to 9:30 am classes, they might just provide you with some much needed merriness.
Christmas is a time of year everyone longs for, and being at uni, in many ways you get to experience two Christmases, of course the one with family once you go home, but also the one with friends and flatmates as the term comes to a close. I think this is particularly prominent at Exeter, with such a strong sense of community and involvement, there’s a particular feeling of home away from home that I don’t think other unis can replicate.
One of the things that creates such a strong sense of community might be the number of events that are held around the city specially with students in mind. Batty Bingo for example, with a Christmas twist for December, a room full of rows upon rows of Exeter uni students all laughing and gossiping with their friends. Club Christmas parties, dancing to Christmas tunes at Timepiece, everyone singing along at the top of their lungs. And everyone at these events wearing Santa hats, because, let’s be real, that’s what we’re all really there for, the free hats. Or is that just me? Either way, my hat collection has grown quite nicely since coming to uni, and it now has its much needed festive edition.
Having two Christmases is particularly the case if you get to experience the joy of ‘Flatmas’. Over your first term your flatmates often do become like your family, you cook with them, you laugh with them, you learn all their bad habits – who’s the messiest, who slams their door in the morning… So it’s only fair that you get to experience Christmas with them! This is one of my favourite and one of the most festive things. Whether you’re buying a little Christmas tree and stringing it with lights, sitting around the table making paper chains whilst music blares from a speaker in the corner, completely filling your flat with gonks (which are like Christmas gnomes – my flatmates say I have an obsession, but who wouldn’t have an obsession with gonks, I think it’s perfectly reasonable), or hurrying back from your last classes of the term to make flatmas dinner. Now it’s more than likely the outcome of this Christmas dinner attempt will be burnt or dry or in some form inedible, and it will give you a new appreciation for your family Christmas dinner, but soon crackers will be pulled, jokes will be shared, and you’ll be half asleep and crawling off to bed, leaving the mess in the kitchen, that more accurately resembles the aftermath of an explosion, as a problem to be dealt with in the morning.
If anything, being at uni has made me even more of a Christmas enthusiast and I don’t think I’ve ever felt more festive. The Christmas season seems to breath a new life into the city, making it all the more magical, and there’s no end to the Christmas activities you can get involved in, all situated no more than a short walk from campus. And the University itself provides you with more festive spirit than you know what to do with, making merriness as infectious as fresher’s flu. So, I hope this has reassured you, or provided you with some valuable insight. Thank you for reading all about how I got festive at Exeter.
From one Christmas enthusiast to (hopefully) another, Merry Christmas!