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Phil and Georgie share their real stories about Christmas. Phil visits the countryside for Christmas and Georgie gets a bit too close to the Christmas tree.

Transcript

Beth
Hello and welcome to the Learning English Stories podcast. This festive season we’re sharing some of our own stories from this time of year. So, get cosy by the fire, grab a mug of hot chocolate and get ready for some wintry tales.

Hello. I'm Beth and welcome to Christmas Stories. In this series, we tell real stories about Christmas, New Year and the festive season. Today, our stories come from Phil.

Phil
Hello.

Beth
And Georgie.

Georgie
Hello.

Beth
OK, Phil. Can you summarise your story in one word?

Phil
One word?

Beth
Yeah.

Phil
Caravans.

Beth
Georgie?

Georgie
Disaster.

Beth
Ooh, OK. Interesting. Well, I'm excited. OK, Phil. Let's hear your story.

Phil
OK so, this comes from many years ago and it was the first Christmas after my grandad had died. My mum and my aunt, they didn't want to have the same family Christmas that we always had because there’d be a lot of painful memories hanging around. So, instead of staying in London, we went away to the countryside.

Now, almost every Christmas card you get when you're a kid shows a snowy scene, a white Christmas. And the thing is, I'd never had one. It never snows in London at Christmas, or hardly ever. But out in the countryside it's a different story. So, on Christmas Eve, as my parents and my aunt and uncle were preparing Christmas dinner, it started to snow and it didn't stop! Pretty soon the village we were staying in was blanketed in snow.

Having a white Christmas for the first time, it’s a nice memory, but it's not actually what I remember most about this trip. The most memorable thing, it came on Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas. And there was, there was a race track nearby and we'd seen some posters. There was a big stock car race and that's when people race old cars or modified cars around a track.

On a bitterly cold day, really freezing, we headed to the track to find out the top event of that day was caravan racing. And that's exactly what it sounded like, each of the racing cars was towing a decorated caravan. But what followed was complete carnage. The cars sped round the track, knocking each other's caravans out of the way. For a 15 year old, this was as exciting as it gets.

And by the end of the race, there was pretty much nothing left of the caravans. Some other cars were still towing a metal trailer and the track was just covered in splintered wood. And it’s that scene of destruction that is my enduring memory of Christmas in the countryside. Crisp snow, bitter cold and smashed caravans.

Beth
So, did anyone get hurt? Because I was waiting to hear about a bit of caravan flying off into the crowd.

Phil
These were professionals. They knew what they were doing – I think they'd done it before. This was not their first rodeo. They’d smashed a caravan or two before, I think. And they were wearing helmets and all the gear.

Beth
OK.

Phil
Safety first.

Beth
Yeah. Of course. OK, Georgie. I think it's time to hear your story now.

Georgie
OK, so this one was when I was very little. I think I was about five years old, and I was playing near the Christmas tree.

So, because I was small, I was probably crawling around, my head quite close to the floor and I ended up sniffing up those Christmas tree needles up my nose. You know a real Christmas tree has… their leaves are unusual, aren't they? Would you call them leaves? They're kind of like sharp needles and one went up my nose and my mum was trying to find it with a torch. She was looking up my nostrils and couldn't find it. And she was quite worried.

I'm not sure why she was so worried. She used to be a nurse, so I guess her concern was valid. But she took me all the way to the hospital – to Accident and Emergency – we call it A&E in the UK.

And we drove about forty minutes away. And when we got to the doctors, they couldn't find the Christmas tree needles stuck up my nose, so we came all the way home and that was it. It was a bit of a wasted journey.

Beth
But they're so sharp! Were you in pain?

Georgie
I don't remember being in pain. I think I must have just felt a bit uncomfortable. I think I was absolutely fine. It was my mum who was worried about it.

Beth
I mean, to be fair, pine needles, like the needles on a Christmas tree, smell really nice.

Georgie
I don't remember that part. But yes, I think now I'm an adult, they do – they do smell really nice.

Phil
You don't, you don't sniff them anymore, presumably?

Georgie
I don't sniff them anymore. It wasn't on purpose, Phil. It was an accident.

Phil
I think A&E must be quite busy at Christmas with people with things up their nose because my cousin got a bell from a little toy stuck up his nose when he was about two.

Georgie
Well, that's bigger!

Beth
When he shook his head, did he ring? Ding ding ding?

Phil
I think so, yeah. It was very festive.

Beth
Amazing.

That's it for this episode. Next week, we'll hear some stories about New Year. Find all our stories and dramas on our website: bbclearningenglish.com.

Bye for now.

Phil
Bye.

Georgie
Bye!