At Home and Abroad: Winter Break

After a long and frosty winter break, it’s terrific to be back in the Bubble. Here at The Stand, we missed you. We know that you missed us too. Whether you spent the break at home knitting with your dear old Granny, or jetting off to Zimbabwe to wrestle a gorilla, we wanted to know all about it. So, we harassed students across the town about how they spent their holiday… and here’s the scoop.

Matt King, a 3^rd year JYA studying Theology, pretty much lived the dream this past winter break. Taking Europe by storm, he backpacked through a record 16 countries in five weeks. Though he accidentally sent his Eurail pass and his passport (complete with his study visa) for a ride in the washing machine en route, King has no regrets.         

But while King was sleeping in a different place every night, first year Robert Sellar enjoyed the comfort of his own bed at his home in Belfast. Other than visiting relatives and going to see his St Andies friends in London, Sellar has spent his break devouring home-cooked meals (“hall food just doesn’t compare”) and relaxing with some literature…

Postgrad Joel Dobben certainly enjoyed the bone chilling weather back home in Chicago. Though he thought the break was a wee bit too long, Dobben appreciated being able to spend time with his family and the opportunity to eat as much Mexican food as he could. His least favourite aspects of the holiday were the number of Oreos he consumed and Russell Crowe’s performance in Les Miserables.         

Vintage Dobben family snap

As Dobben surfed the web, freshman Alexis Tri was surfing the waves whilst on a trip to Morocco. Coming from snow-covered Minnesota, riding camels on the beaches of Morocco was a perfect way for Tri to end her holiday. In addition, the five-week break was just enough time for Tri to catch up with all of her friends and family when she got home, though she admits that it was hard saying bye to her boyfriend at the end after six weeks.

Tri may have been riding the waves, but 4^th year Economics student Robert Sturrock was taming the slopes (and some books) in his home of Vancouver, Canada. Sturrock spent much of the holiday actually getting some work done, which is more than most of us can say. While he passed the time skiing or chilling (or cruising around on Boris bikes, see below) with friends and family, Sturrock also spent a portion of the holiday applying to graduate school and doing his dissertation. He seemed to think that the break was too long by about a week. 

Whether you journeyed abroad or enjoyed the comfort of being home-sweet-home, welcome back to St Andrews, in all its only-in-St-Andrews glory.