The Winter Fest at the University of Surrey officially began on 7th December 2022 with the Surrey Switch On at the plaza in front of the AP building. Many students and staff participated, with free drinks and mince pies available for all. There were thousands of fairy lights, which were all turned on at 5pm on this day. It was a very cold day, but the atmosphere was electric, with festive music being played. I really enjoyed the hot drinks that were given out during this event.

Throughout the month of December, there were many festive events that took place, including a mock trial by the Surrey Law School which had Santa on trial! Another major event was the Christmas lunch on campus that was organised by the religious life and belief center of the University of Surrey. This was an event where a lot of international students participated as many other students had gone back home to celebrate the holidays with their families.

Getting to spend the Christmas afternoon with many other students, and receiving a free lunch and goodies at a warm atmosphere in the Hillside Restaurant felt lovely. There were many families, as well as dogs! I really enjoyed the decorations and the Christmas crackers that were given to all, which included a cool paper crown! Huge thanks also go to the many hardworking volunteers who were in charge of distributing the food, with many food options such as halal, vegetarian, and kosher being available.

Christmas decorations were also put up everywhere in Guildford, with winter markets popping up at the High Street and North Street offering limited time only goodies and festive food. The streets were very colourful, with Christmas trees and lights adorning many buildings and festive music being played at almost every shop!

One last holiday event that I participated in was the lunar new year dumpling party organised by the University of Surrey Students Union (USSU) which was held at the Basement. Here, staff from Young’s Kitchen taught participants how to make and fold dumplings. We even got to cook and eat these delicious homemade dumplings!

The event was very immersive, celebrating Chinese culture with festive decorations and distribution of “ang pao” or red envelopes to all participants. We were distributed among teams, where we made the dumplings and dumpling soup. This was a very educational and enlightening occasion where we got to celebrate the beginning of the year of the rabbit.

That is all from me for now. Hope you enjoyed reading the post as much as I enjoyed writing about the fun activities that I participated in!

Cheers,

Shaulan