We’ve come up with the perfect winter week in Manchester to survive deadline season

Christmas in Manchester as a student may be one of the most stressful times of the year but take a step back and appreciate everything this bustling city has to offer.

The chill in the Northern air and the crowding of the Christmas markets may be causing you to reminisce the warmer months, but appreciating the smaller things in your day-to-day life will make you realise it’s not that bad after all.

Monday 

You wake up to the sound of your obnoxiously loud alarm at eleven am. Last Christmas by WHAM is what blesses your ears. You can’t deny that its slightly overplayed at this time of year, but you think back to your early childhood, memories filled with white, snowy Christmas mornings and the unreplaceable cosiness of incandescent lights. You then realise that it’s a worldwide hit for a reason. Bless George Michael.

Thankfully, you don’t have lectures today, so you decide to take on the town to have a productive study day at your favourite café. 

You throw on your favourite winter scarf and gloves (courtesy of a charity shop, of course) and leave your slightly damp smelling student house to head for the bus. You decide to hire an electric bike and enjoy the brisk winter air blowing through your hair. 

You arrive at Mala, nestle down on the floor encased in a warm bundle of pillows and blankets and realise the journey was worth it. The hazelnut oat milk latte you ordered has certainly hit the spot. 

Tuesday  

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Today you decide you want to feel young and cool again, so decide to spend the last of your few pounds to get the bus to Affleck’s. 

You think to yourself, “All these new Manchester residents keep telling me to check out Affleck’s,” but little do they know you’ve been coming here since you were twelve. It’s kind of sweet if you think about it, really – seeing newcomers fall in love with the place and want to share that same love with you.  

You spend the morning scanning the shelves, making sure to take plenty of pictures for your Instagram. On your walk back to the bus, Starbucks seems to be calling your name. A £2 Eggnog sounds like the perfect pick-me-up on this chilly Tuesday. Thank the heavens for UNIDAYS. Overall, it’s been a pretty successful day. 

Wednesday 

Society night is upon you. The Cheese and Wine society is what caught your attention at the Freshers’ Fair. Spending your Wednesday munching down on cheese and sipping on wine is exactly the vibe you were going for. It makes you feel grown up and sophisticated, but on the contrary, you feel like Remi from Ratatouille when he eats the cheese and strawberry. 

You appreciate that you get to enjoy delicious food and breathe in the lovely company of others. This week its pub quiz night, followed by an ultimate cheese eating competition – you win, but you feel like you might never want to eat cheese again (that is only going to last until the weekend when Lidl’s mozzarella sticks are going to look way too tempting at 3am). 

Thursday  

Urgh! Thursday is uni day. You aren’t happy about leaving your nice warm bed, you are, however, excited to use the new pens you bought from Ability. They make you feel weirdly productive. You spend most of your seminar gazing out of the window, looking down at all the city goers. Being on the third floor for your classes is pretty but VERY distracting. It’s okay, though, you are just daydreaming and having your main character moment.  

What you soon realise is you’ve been given five readings to do for next week. Not ideal at all considering you weren’t even listening. The price you pay for being whimsical, I guess. But, hey, at least you get to look mysterious in the coffee shop whilst doing your readings. 

Your housemates then insist on a dinner out. You settle on McDonald’s; Fat Pats was just not going to fit the budget this time. This isn’t the dinner out you’d had in mind, but the new Grinch menu is surprisingly scrumptious. 

Friday  

Friday morning welcomes you with a rainy ringtone outside the window. It is absolutely lashing it down. Today you must sacrifice fashion for comfort and face the storm with your rain mac, then spend the whole day battling with your brolly, which has flipped inside out for what feels like the millionth time. But amongst your rain-smeared makeup and wet UGGs you enjoy the comforting smell of the rain-soaked pavements.  

The Christmas market seems to draw you in once again, resulting in buying an overpriced but undeniably delicious hot chocolate. Paying extra for whipped cream and marshmallows was so worth it. With how many mini marshmallows you got, it equates to just 45p a mini marshmallow! (If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry). The mug it comes in is also adorable. 

You stop to take a moment to yourself, sipping on your warm liquid gold and listen to the faint sound of the tram bells echoing around the square. It might be freezing, and you might be soaking wet (and now poor), but life is good and you appreciate feeling small in a big and lively city. 

Saturday  

Saturday morning consists of a lie-in until 1pm. You feel dreadful but you truly deserved the rest. It’s been a long week. Pub night tonight! Until then you decide to try and romanticise a study day to feel somewhat productive.

You make a warm tea, snuggled up on your creaky chair, and light a gingerbread candle. A few hours later, you pat yourself on the back. You wrote 100 words in the last 3 hours. You deserve to let loose. 

By 11pm, you find yourself in 256, which you don’t know how to feel about – it can be a vibe sometimes even though as a third year you feel ancient amongst the flood of freshers. What can you say, the options of Buzzballz are way too tempting at New Zealand wines. A few Tequila Rita’s later, and you’re boogying it out to Baseline Junkie.

You know you have the grace of a fish out of water, but in that moment, you feel like you’re dancing in slow motion in a film, so that’s’ all that matters. 

Sunday 

Last night was a good night, but the taste of the tequila Buzzballz you had last night seems to still linger in your mouth. They may be cheap and cheery but you’re regretting it slightly this afternoon. You and your housemates decide it’s time to reconnect with nature, so you ungrudgingly take yourself over to Platt Field’s Park.  

The moment you step outside, it starts to rain – a perfect representation of how you’re feeling in this moment. Considering you woke up in the afternoon, you have actually made it in time for golden hour, the rain and setting sun combining to create a rainbow halo across the lake. You take it in turns feeding the greedy pigeons, who you can’t deny are so cute.  

It’s now time to go to sleep and do the whole week again.