The 10 Best (and Worst) Things About Being An American In London During Christmas

Being an American in London during Christmas is simultaneously amazing and awful all at the same time.

First, the best...

1. No Waiting

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Halloween (which isn't even widely celebrated) is over? Let Christmas begin! Christmas here just feels more Christmasy as well. Maybe it's the old buildings, maybe it's the geographic proximity to Jerusalem - I dunno.

2. Boxing Day

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We don't have Boxing Day in the states, but our friends up North do. Essentially, from what I've seen of the day, it's another day off work and there are tons of sales. It originated when people used to box up their unwanted crap after Christmas and give it to the poor people.

3. "Merry Christmas"

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While Americans have slowly and surely moved to "Happy Holidays" you won't hear that stuff in London. It's Christmas. Full stop.

4. Ice Skating!

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From in front of the Natural History Museum (Dinos + skating = ROARFUN) to Somerset House (Sponsored by Coach of course) to at the Tower of London (Off with their skates!) you can strap on a pair of skates and recreate Mighty Ducks (or that one movie where the hockey player becomes a figure skater)

5. Christmas Crackers

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Yeah, you can buy them at some places in the states, but they've got nothing on the ones here. What's more fun than fighting over a prize that involves a minimal amount of gun powder?

6. Watching Love Actually and Actually Knowing Where Things Are

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Like knowing where the dodgy end of Wandsworth is because you got stranded there one night after your wife's cousin made you traipse all the way out.

7. Christmas Commercials

John Lewis takes the cake nearly every year, but this year Tesco, Morrison's, Argos and the lot used nostalgia, ageing singers/TV presenters, and aliens to rope in the holiday shoppers. My personal favorite is actually a re-make of a previous 3 commercial #DancyPonyDance

8. Heinous Xmas Sweaters

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The Brits have their ugly Xmas sweater (jumpers here) game on LOCK! You can snag them at almost any high street store.

9. Advent Calendars for DAYS!

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You seriously can have an advent calendar of advent calendars. So many options that BuzzFeedUK had to review some.

10. Winter Wonderland

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It's amazing! This actual wonderland pops up every year in Hyde Park and has a full-on carnival, not to mention food and booze!

and the worst...

11. Winter Wonderland

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Yes, it made both lists. While it looks amazing and sounds even better, this place can also be hell on earth. Lines. Lines. Lines.

13. Sending Gifts to the U.S.

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Oh, you got some biscuits and an ornament to send home? That's nice. You'll pay 3x the cost of the contents to send things home for the holidays if they weigh over 2kg. So, get a scale and use the Royal Mail's service - much cheaper than FedEx or UPS

14. Who the F*** is Father Christmas?

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Yeah, they say Santa as well, but you're likely to hear the Jolly Old Elf called Father Christmas more often than not.

15. "What are you doing for Christmas?"

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It's the question that replaces the standard British weather conversation from Nov. 1 - December 24th. Start getting a good 4-5 bullet points together

16. Pre-Christmas Stock Up

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Things shut down on Christmas and Boxing Day too depending on where you are. The pre-Christmas shop is already being planned by everyone in London. My suggestion? Use a .com and have stuff delivered prior to the big shutdown.

17. Lack of Required Christmas Movies on TV

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I've yet to see "Christmas Vacation" or "A Christmas Story" on TV back-to-back-to-back. What the hell is going on? I haven't heard someone say "You'll shoot your eye out!" or "Can't see the line, can you Russ?" at ALL this Christmas and the sad Charlie Brown Christmas song hasn't been played once.

18. Christmas Trees

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Oh, you want a real Christmas tree? That'll be a week's paycheck. Oh, and it sucks. Want us to deliver it? That's an extra £20. When you're done with it, just keep it on your deck for about 3 months and throw it out on the sidewalk in March, but be sure to get pine needles all over the elevator when you do.

19. Trying to get work done in December

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Might as well pack it in after Nov. 30. December looks like a month filled with nothing but unwitty automatic Outlook replies. Have fun closing the books on 2013 when no one is around to sign stuff off!

20. Missing Your Family and Friends Back Home

When it comes down to it, this is really the only truly bad thing about being an American expat in London during Christmas, but you know that you'll all be together in one big, Dysfunctional, gathering again soon!

Merry Christmas, Expats! You may not be home, but you're not in that bad of place... unless you're South of the Thames.