O how great Christmas is in China. I want to say thank you to LM, Dad and Leigh, Mike and Mom, and Heather for all the great and wonderful presents that I was blessed with. I would like to say thank you to the rest, who sent me greetings for the holiday to show that I was not forgotten and I was missed!
Now I want to tell you some things that made my Christmas worthwhile in China.
This year I had Christmas lessons for two weeks with my students. It was exciting to tell them about the origins of Christmas and to see their opinions on the matter. Later, on the 23rd we had a Christmas party where we drank hot chocolate, played Dirty Santa, and watched the Grinch Who Stole Christmas (They were also impressed by the beautiful Christmas tree display). At the Christmas party they not only had fun but they were also able to donate toys to the orphans, which a group of friends and I will go visit this weekend.
On Christmas Eve, I went to eat with a friend, went shopping for presents to give others, and hung out with the group last night. Yesterday I was able to hang out with my friend, Mick, with similar interests. I then proceeded to go on a shopping adventure throughout the city of Wuhan (I guess China is the place to be if you are a last minute shopper because nothing closes, lucky me). Later on we played Dirty Santa and cooked a fabulous meal, Calzones (I'm not sure if you can call that a meal but it's me so I did). When we finished supper we had a guys' night where we just hungout and talked.
Christmas Day, today, was definately different than what I had expected. I had a great Christmas and I was not as homesick as I thought ( I know that He was helping me through this time). I got to wake up early and prepare for breakfast. My Dad called and I opened my presents on skype which was actually kind of cool. I was with my family when I opened my presents, who would have ever thought?! I then went upstairs and had a huge foreignor get together, as well as Jeremy's family, while we ate breakfast. We all had purchased each other gifts and gave them to each other. We opened them and it was very funny to see what we got (for example: I got a poster that teaches me the Dinosaurs in Pinyin, great gift). Later on this afternoon, we cooked again and had delicious barbecue chicken (not normal in China!) which made me drool all over myself. As soon as we had finished we had some of our Chinese friends come meet with us and sing Christmas Carols and other songs. We also shared the great gift of candy and pies which we received from back home. What a great Holiday!
For all of you at home, I want you to know that I miss you and love you. May you have as great of a Christmas as I have. Be thankful to the one above for what you have and I would like to say thank you for all your encouragement. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! As the Chinese would say have a "Happy Everyday!"
