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.
Hello. And Georgie.
Hello. Okay Phil can you summarise your story in one word?
One word? Yeah. Caravans.
Oh Georgie? Disaster.
Oh okay interesting well I'm excited.
Okay Phil let's hear your story.
Okay so this comes from many years ago and it was the first christmas after my granddad had died um my mum and my aunt they didn't want to have the same family christmas that we always had because it'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've 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 the most memorable thing it came on Boxing Day which is the day
after Christmas. And 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 around 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 of the cars were still touring 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.
So did anyone get hurt?
Because I was waiting to hear about a bit of a caravan flying off into the crowd.
These were professionals.
They knew what they were doing.
Professional caravan.
I think they'd done it before.
I think this was not their first rodeo.
they smashed a caravan or two before I think and they were wearing helmets and all the gear so okay safety first yeah of course okay Georgie I think it's time to hear your story now okay 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?
I think, 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 40 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 but they're so sharp were you in pain 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 I mean to be fair pine needles like the needles on a Christmas tree smelled really nice I don't remember that part but yes I think now I'm an adult they do they do smell really nice You don't sniff them anymore, presumably.
I don't sniff them anymore.
It wasn't on purpose, Phil.
It was an accident.
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.
Well, that's bigger.
When he shook his head, did he ring?
I think so, yeah. It's very festive.
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 bye bye there are so many ways to learn with BBC learning english follow us on instagram tiktok facebook subscribe to our youtube channel discover our podcasts and find
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