Kemi had applied more times than she could count to the UK, it was on her eight try that she finally got her visa. She had broken up with Etta and moved churches six times just because she had done going away parties for her japa only to be denied visa. UK was her dream since she was six and her best friend Pamela moved there, she had kept in touch until they could no longer pretend to have similar interests and although their friendship ended, her dreams to move to the UK stayed alive so she worked hard, prayed harder and here she was, three years and more than seven attempts later, she was standing in Heathrow. She had watched Richard Curtis' Love Actually more than ten times just so she could rewind and stare at the airport and here she was standing in the very spot he had watched for years, she was beyond excited. 

Kemi could have left in January since school was starting then but she decided she was fed up with staying home to dish and cook every Christmas. She awed at the giant trees lit with a billion lights in the airport, yes Calabar had lights during Christmas but they paled compared to what she was starring at, from various accents to people running and children trailing along, the airport was like a moving train , buzzling and buzzling with so much noise and rhythm at the same time. 

'Adekemi Martins?' 

Kemi would have laughed at how her name was pronounced if she hadn't turned to see the person that called her name. She quickly adjusted and gave a small smile, she rehearsed her own accent in her head before she opened her mouth and replied. 

'Happy Holidays' Kent said to her and smiled brightly.

'Yes, Merry Christmas to you too' She replied, matching his energy. 

Kemi settled into the house she found it weird that it was a mixed accommodation. She made a mental note to remember not to tell her mother that the apartment was actually a living space occupied by two other males, apparently the school did not have accommodation for foreigners which was very weird to her. Her other female housemate Lisa was Ghanaian. 

It was 2 days to Christmas and Kemi wasn't sure if there was a church around she could attend for carol, her housemates looked at her weird when she asked about a church for service and she shifted uncomfortably. 

'It's about the Holidays Kems, you should come to the couch , sip on some cocoa and watch Home Alone with us' Kent smiled at her as she enquired for a church to attend carol with her white dress and red bow. He reminded her of the last recital he had to do when he was child. 

'It's about the birth of Christ' Kemi stood her ground. 

'Look, there's Easter okay? you can go on Easter' Lisa looked at her.

'That's not even the same thing' Kemi pulled out her phone and googled churches nearby but getting there was the problem and her roommates assured her that they weren't taking her anywhere. She sat down in defeat and watched the movie with them. 

Kent was the first person to wake Kemi up the next morning', he had knocked on her door until she twisted the key and opened it.

'It's funny how you lock your door Kems, no one's gonna steal from you yunno' He smiled. Kemi looked at him with tired eyes before motioning to close the door again.

'Wait, wait - we have a surprise for you, here' He handed her a blindfold and she took it reluctantly. 

After much persuasion , she put it on and he led her to their living room. After cautious steps, she got to the living room - he took out the blindfold , her other three housemates shouted 'tadaaaa' and her eyes went around the living room. Their dull parlor was covered with candy canes, gingerbread cookies, snow men, elves, Santa, reindeers, snow, ornaments and red bows. The Christmas tree was gigantic and Santa was everywhere.

'Happy Holidayssssss' they screamed in unison.

She coughed and adjusted, taking it all in. 'This is, this is nice' she finally said as she looked around. 

'We felt bad that you couldn't go for your carol and so we decided to do this for you since you're so big on Christmas' Lisa smiled. 

'I'm really grateful' Kemi replied. 

'Kent even made gingerbread cookies for you' Jake added.

'Oh, I've never had one of those before' Kemi responded.

'No way'

'Yes way' she smiled.

'What's the holidays without gingerbread?' Kent asked and walked in with a tray.

'Well, Christmas is actually about the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God who came and gave His life for us so that we be reconciled to God' Kemi said calmly.

'Urm well, i guess so? i don't see how gingerbread relates to Jesus but i guess we can make it work, plus Santa throwing gifts out of a window is better PR than a Jewish baby born in a manger because the other family didn't want them to stay in their guesthouse' Kent replied.

Kemi kept trying , she tried to explain it to them but they just did not think that it was that deep. She went on and on until she felt like she was speaking a different language altogether , every argument passed over their head, every scripture felt like something out of a fantasy book. she looked at the decorations again and she wasn't sure if she was missing home or something about snowflakes Christmas over the birth of Christ was upsetting her , she moved to her room and shut the door behind her. 

'Jesus, it's your birthday and I wish you were actually here- not the reindeers, not the snowflakes, you' She wiped the tear and continued to pray. 

'Take it easy Kems, you can't possibly pray us all into salvation in one day' She heard Kent scream from the parlor. He was right but she was grateful she had many days to pray. She was in the UK and she knew that it was for such a time as this.