Seasonal Greetings to you all!
向大家致以节日的问候！
By the end of the first semester, here comes the most important British holiday- Christmas Day! After three months of study, it is finally time to relax a bit.
转眼到了第一学期末，英国最重要的节日——圣诞节来了！经过三个月的学习，终于到了放松的时候了。
For it is my very first Christmas abroad, I’ve decided to make it special, thus earlier in October, I have registered with the organisation called HOST UK and submitted my Christmas visit application. In the past four days, I stayed in a local family and had my most authentic and unforgettable Christmas experience.
因为这是我在国外度过的第一个圣诞节，我决定让它变得特别，所以在10月初，我已经在一家名为“HOST UK”的组织注册并提交了我的圣诞访问申请。在过去的四天里，我住在一个当地的家庭，度过了最真实和难忘的圣诞节。
HOST UK is a non-profitable organisation aiming to help international students who are studying in the UK to learn more about British culture. Students who are enrolled in the UK universities can register and apply for a one day/weekend visit or one day/whole festive visit. Applicants usually pay a small amount of application fee and students from well-known universities even are free to apply! (In my case as a student of Surrey, I didn’t pay anything apart from my own travel expense)
HOST UK 是一个非盈利组织，旨在帮助在英国学习的国际学生了解更多的英国文化。在英国大学就读的学生可以注册并申请一天/周末访问或一天/整个节日访问。申请者通常只需支付少量的申请费，知名大学的学生甚至可以免费申请！（作为萨里的学生，除了旅行途中的交通费用外，我什么也没付）
My host is a 76 years old gentleman called Michael and he has been hosting international students since 2002, he had his degrees from the University of Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh. He is well-organised and very very knowledgeable in many fields. He had over a hundred Chinese visitors in the past two decades, which in result he had so many Chinese presents and decorations in his house and he knew China so well!
我的Host是一位76岁的老爷爷Michael，他从2002年开始接待国际学生，他在剑桥大学和爱丁堡大学获得了学位。他在许多领域知识渊博。在过去的二十年里，他接待了一百多个中国游客，他家里有那么多中国礼物和装饰品，他对中国非常了解！
The other student who came with me to spend Christmas with Michael is Shiv from India who’s doing his Master degree in Education at UCL, Shiv is 9 years older than me and had a very well-understanding of education and policies.
我一起去过圣诞节的学生是来自印度的Shiv，他正在UCL攻读教育硕士学位，Shiv比我大9岁，对教育和政策非常了解。
Michael has arranged so many interesting events that I would never expect to see here in the UK, at least not in London or any other big cities. And did I mention that he’s a brilliant cook and quite an excellent wine taster? During the four-day visit, he has cooked many local cuisines and desserts we have had the most traditional Christmas and I myself first time discovered that the British dishes can be that tasty, for that, I appreciate Michael’s hospitalities!
Michael安排了很多有趣的活动，我从来没有想到会在英国这里看到，至少不会在伦敦或任何其他大城市看到。他还是一个出色的厨师和一个非常优秀的品酒师？在为期四天的访问中，他烹制了许多当地美食和甜点，我们度过了最传统的圣诞节，我自己第一次发现英国菜可以那么美味，为此，我感谢他的热情好客！
We had quite a lot of driving during every day’s visit, Michael’s driving skill is marvellous, we went to several coastal villages that around the local area and one of the most amazing National Park in there.
在每天的参观中，我们都会开车前往很多地方，Michael的驾驶技术非常棒，我们去了当地附近的几个沿海村庄和那里最令人惊叹的国家公园之一。
It has been a wonderful Christmas and I did learn so much about British culture, history, literature and other aspects from Michael and Shiv.
我度过了一个美妙的圣诞节，学到了很多关于英国文化、历史、文学和其他方面的知识。
This is my very first authentic Christmas and I shall remember it forever.
这是我第一个原汁原味的圣诞节，我将永远记住它！
