You studied abroad? Never would’ve guessed

As the month of January rolls into the 25^th day of 2016, our sad but unfortunate truth unfolds before our eyes. The month long hiatus, we all have been enjoying is nearing its last days. As the Christmas cookies come down to their last crumbs, and the New Year’s streamers finally get taken down, we near the start of a brand new semester.

Aren’t we all just thrilled? Seeing your amigos again, reuniting with the roomie, and hearing endless tales and seeing abundant photos of your friends fabulous trip to some foreign, exotic country in the middle of some absolutely stunning realm, that they were #blessed to visit over break.

Foreign romance?

So your friend who traveled to Spain for three weeks over break cannot keep herself from chatting on and on about how cultured she is to have seen Cordoba, Madrid, and Barcelona all in one week. Not to mention constantly bringing up her hot new Spanish man dime she madly fell in love with and traveled around Spain with for the remainder of her trip.

As exciting and romantic as that sounds, I will have you know that I had just as fabulous a time here in the good ole CT. Yes oh yes, I had the pleasure of watching Titanic three times with my cat over the course of winter break, and no, I will not have to endure the heartbreak she will feel when her Spanish lover informs her that “long distance relationships aren’t really his thing.” Not to mention, cats provide endless love until the end of time.

“It’s pronounced ˈkwæs.ɒ̃…not croissant”

Oh, so you had crepes in a little café under the Eiffel tower, how exciting? So that means you speak French fluidly now? Wow, you are so refined.  After sitting in calculus for a full ten minutes, you have already seen every single breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snack your friend has consumed while eating her way through the magical city of Paris.

Okay, I get it—the food in France is pretty amazing and all, but my break was magically scrumptious too. Instead of spending twelve whole dollars on a thin crepe that could barely satisfy the hunger of my goldfish, I had the pleasure of receiving free, five star treatment from the kitchen of Le Mama. The endless clumps of sugar cookie dough I consumed, as well as the tall glasses of golden eggnog I was happily served every day is a clear win over that French food…right?

Yes I saw all 22 of your insta pics of your toes in the sand

Every sunshine filled Instagram picture posted by your friends over winter break is sure to re-surface, as your now bronzed comrade re-lives their fabulous winter retreat to Cancun.  And that hilarious story about how they got drunk one night and almost got arrested by the Mexican police has been told about twenty times in the last hour. For real, I probably can recite the same story verbatim now.

As fun as that all sounds, my mom and I had a pretty rad time over break drinking fruity drinks and partying it up in CT. Pretty sure dancing around to Fetty Wap in my cupcake pajamas beats going out to a club in Cancun with a tight dress that cuts off my circulation and high heels that give me blisters the size of Texas, #winning.

“It’s January and I’m tan”

Good for you. Yes, let’s compare our skin tones again because I can’t quite tell the difference between your suns kissed tan skin, and my winter time white glow. It is so lovely hearing about how beautiful the beach was, and how perfectly powdery the sand felt. And oh how the ocean was so clear, blue, and warm.

Hey, at least I’m not the one getting sunburn the first day of vacation, leading to constant applications of aloe every day for the next two and a half weeks. And sure the ocean probably was beautiful, but can it beat the luxury of your own bathtub? I think not. I’m the one who can eat peanut butter and fluff in the comfort of my tub, without getting sand in it.

“You totally had to be there, it was so much fun”

Oh that classic phrase, added to reiterate for the thousandth time how much fun your friend had over winter break. Please tell me again how wonderful traveling was, and how I totally had to be there to experience such joy. And all of those “fiestas” you went to while in Madrid where a thousand times better than a Thirsty Thursday night at Huskies.  According to you, the Spanish know how to party right.

Well, while all of that partying seems great and all, I’d say my “siesta” was far better than your “fiesta”. As all of the folks who studied abroad come back all tired and worn out from a combination of jet lag and a constant stream of partying in foreign countries, those of us fortunate to stay home over break are relaxed and rejuvenated. While study abroad friends stayed out till 4am every night partying it up, I was able to finally acquire a healthy eight hours of sleep with no worries of drunkenly getting lost in a foreign country!

So as you all embark on your frigid first weeks of classes, venturing out into the arctic tundra of a campus we call UConn, keep these lovely stories in mind and imagine you are somewhere sunny and 75.