As older students probably know, December marks one of the most enjoyable events of the English Institute, which is the annual Christmas Party. This year it was held on 9 December, at Horánszky Street. Probably it was because of the new venue that the number of guests was surprisingly low, since the Christmas Party is probably the most popular event of the Department, but we did our best to have a jolly good time together.

While there were green arrows pointing me and my friend toward the room of the event, they were almost unnecessary: the sweet sounds of the last minute rehearsal of the carolers and the smell of mulled wine guided us to the right place. The event was kicked off by the professor’s choir, led by Professor Kinga Földváry, whose performance is already a tradition. They performed some traditional carols, like I Saw Three Ships, Joy to The World, and Merry Christmas, and the performance was as enjoyable as ever.

After the lovely performance to set the mood, the traditional quizzes followed. Firstly by filling out a little questionnaire with which we got to know a little about each other’s Christmas traditions. Then we formed three groups, and we’ve got several tasks to perform: a word search puzzle to solve, a cookie to eat from one’s forehead without touching it, Christmas cards to blow off a desk, Christmas tree ornaments to get through the room without touching them (it was quite a race!) and a Christmas film to present to the others with three pictures formed by the groups.

The quiz was finished and, just like in the case of the regular Institute Eves, the guests started to mingle with each other while grabbing a few bites from the buffet. The table had the regular sandwiches and home-made cookies, including some that were shaped like little Christmas-trees. In the meanwhile, the winning group of the quiz was announced.

The small number of guests made the event’s atmosphere even more familiar, but I’d encourage everyone to come to next year’s – the Christmas Party is a really nice, relaxed, small celebration to get you in the mood of the holidays before the exams start, and it is probably the least formal event of the Institute.