Home for the holidays

Warmth.  Crackling fire.  The familiar scent of cinnamon buns and game hen.  The sound of laughter echoing throughout the house.

Maybe this is what your family’s Christmas is like, but not everybody’s return home for the holidays is quite this picturesque!

I’m a full-time college student, so I’m away from “home” for most of the year.  During the school year, I live in a suite-style dorm (kind of like a 4-person apartment) with 2 of my friends and one other person.  Several of my other close friends live in the same building as me; we eat dinner together, go out together, stay in together, walk together, shop together, etc.  I tell them things that I wouldn’t dream of sharing with my parents. Needless to say, my college friends have “replaced” my family.

Coming back “home” for breaks is always an interesting ordeal.  My mom has completely gutted my room, rearranged my furniture, took down my white lace curtains and replaced them with old-lady rose print ones.  Don’t get me wrong–I’m not complaining.  It’s a nice house, but just not mine anymore. I almost feel like I’m renting a room from them. All my clothes are at school, so I have to bring a suitcase full of clothes, hair stuff, makeup, and toiletries home with me. The fridge is only stocked with health food, so anything I want I have to pick up on the way home. It’s just an surreal combination: being in a spacially familiar place, but in an unfamiliar situation.

So, does anyone else have a “coming home” story? What’s it like staying in your old bedroom (or possibly the guest room) when you come back from school for the holidays? Did you feel out of place? Or was it not a big deal at all? I’d love to hear what you have to say.