Here’s everything you didn’t realise you’d miss about Liverpool during the winter break

Picture this – it’s already the 13th December, and everyone in your house is packing their bags for Christmas, and you can’t wait to get home to your family dog and a home-cooked meal that actually involves vegetables. You romanticise your journey home, staring out the window with your “mystical main character weekday afternoon astronaut moment” Spotify mix playing, but less than a week later and it is hard to imagine why we were all so keen to get home.

You end up regressing back to your 17-year-old self in your childhood bedroom, banished from cooking a frozen pizza at 3am and feeling guilty for popping down to the local with your hometown friends. You can’t help but complain to your uni housemates about feeling angsty and lonely all of a sudden, and as soon as you see photos from your alternative life in the North West, you can’t help but long to go back.

You might not be wishing for black mould, Liverpool ONE on a Saturday afternoon, or the 699 at 8:30am on a weekday, but here are some of the things you just didn’t realise you’d miss so much during the winter break.

Wholesome nights in with your housemates

I don’t know about anyone else, but I assumed something wholesome like a film night would be just as easy to do at home, but that’s far from the truth apparently. All you end up with is a dad who has fallen asleep half an hour after starting the film, a mum who is constantly asking questions throughout, and a dog who barks at every animal that comes onto the screen.

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There’s just something about sitting on a disgusting leather sofa in your slightly gross student house and yapping into the early hours of the morning that you just can’t beat. Making hot chocolates with your housemates, nipping out for a sweet treat run, or playing some kind of second hand board game you found in the downstairs cupboards is the pinnacle of good night as a final year student, but it’s just not the same with your family.

Trips to the pub

Liverpool has so many pubs to choose from that it can be easy to realise it’s not like that everywhere you go. Suddenly, a trip down to the pub isn’t as fun when your local’s average age is above 50 and doesn’t offer any student deals. Never again will I take for granted the string of pubs on the Smithdown Road.

A clean house

This one might seem strange given some of the flatmate horror stories we’ve all heard, but one thing they don’t warn you about when you go home is that your brothers and sisters can be even messier than your housemates. The arguments over whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher have already started – but somehow it’s even more unbearable when it’s your own family you’re bickering with. No passive aggressive group chat messages are going on the family WhatsApp apparently.

Studying in independent coffee shops

What do you mean I won’t be able to use my 92 Degrees membership for my daily coffee whilst I’m at home?

The caffeine withdrawals are already kicking in. Liverpool has an abundance of cool little independent coffee shops and it is breaking my heart that my only options now that I am home is either Starbucks or Costa…

A sense of routine

Now I’m not saying I made it to every 9am lecture this semester, but it was at least nice to have the option. Suddenly now that my timetable has been taken away from me I am craving my routine back. The days have already started blurring into one, is it Wednesday or Saturday? No one knows. I think everyone is in a permanent state of confusion right now.

Whilst I can’t wait to have a bit more structure to my days, I am still going to pray to the timetabling Gods that l get a day off in my timetable when I come back after Christmas.

Your friends

This one may seem like an obvious one, but this list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning it. Living with your friends at uni and being able to see them is the best thing in the world, and even a short break from doing this can be really hard. There’s nothing quite like it; immaculate vibes, constantly having someone to hang out with in the kitchen, and always having the chance to yap and debrief after a particularly outrageous night out.

There’s no doubt when we all eventually go back to Liverpool, we will immediately start to miss home again – namely the warm house and the full fridge – but that doesn’t stop us from waking up every morning and texting our housemates like a desperate ex that misses them.