Anna Voinova Creative Business lecturer
I have always loved presents . Ever since I was a child , I was obsessed with looking for presents around the apartment that my mother would buy for me and attempt to hide – of course , she never stood a chance . I would find them all in no time and then got something extra , as I had already seen the main ones , so Santa has always been very generous to me . The three presents that I remember the most from my childhood would be the train track with a bright blue train with a red chimney going round and around the track ; the bright blue ( obviously that color was very much in fashion at that time ) miniature piano that I would attempt to play and get very upset that no pleasant sounds would come out of it ( but plenty of unpleasant ones !). I certainly expected to be able to play the piano beautifully as soon as I touched the keys but that , for some reason , didn ’ t happen . And the main present of all – the real symbol of my childhood – was Biggie ! A giant ( or so it seemed to me back then ) plush toy hippo , who I have to this day . Biggie was the biggest , most beautiful , and just the best present that I have ever received .
Elena Baltaretu Leisure and Events student
My happiest Christmas memory is from a few years back , when together with my family visited our friends from Italy . I think I was about 8-9 years old , and our friend ’ s children were 6 and 8 years old , so of course Santa was expected . We made a huge Christmas dinner , with all kinds of traditional food and cookies . After dinner , we went to play Wii Sports and wait for Santa . Because I was really excited , I started looking on the window and at some point , I just saw a guy dressed in a Santa costume passing by . I started screaming at him , then in the house and then the Santa waved back . I don ’ t really remember what my parents said to the guy , but he came upstairs , and I think my parents gave him our gifts , so then he gave them to us . To my surprise , I got the prettiest ski suit that I was dreaming of getting and my parents took us all to ski . It was my first time skiing and I remember it so well , I fell in love with the sport and still go on ski vacations with my family till this day . I know it ’ s a silly story , but it still sparks joy after so many years .