computer/internet problems.
We didn't get Christmas Day off of work, only Christmas Eve- and I
always have Thursdays off. So it wasn't much of a special holiday for
me. I did a lot of Christmas activities in class though- Christmas
vocabulary, coloring, word searches, songs.
On Christmas Eve, I went to a buffet dinner at the Sheraton Hotel. It
was very expensive, but I decided it was my Christmas gift to myself.
And they had all of the hard to find Western foods and lots of
delicacies- turkey, ham, duck, goose, steak, mashed potatoes. It was
delicious. And there was unlimited imported wine. I sat at a table
with Chris from my school, and our friend Julian, who is an English
teacher at another school. The other people at the table were in the
symphony orchestra, and from all over- New Zealand, Austria, Italy,
Bulgaria. It's unusual because it's one of the few privately funded
and run orchestras in China. It was really fun to hang out with the
musicians.
I can only describe Christmas here as bizarre. It's like they want to
celebrate it but don't really get it. Chinese friends kept asking me
if I went to church- apparently it's popular to go to church on
Christmas, which is weird because a lot of the people who go aren't
religious. On Christmas Eve, everyone was out on the streets at night.
They sell fancy-wrapped apples to give as gifts, and lots of light up
stuff to wear. Most popular are the devil-horn headbands that light
up. Then everyone sprays silly string everywhere and on everyone-
especially foreigners.
So at the end of my Christmas Eve night I was covered in silly string,
including having tons in my hair. Definitely a unique Christmas.
New Year's was not too crazy, since I had to work on Friday. I just
went out with my friends from school, and we only barely realized it
was past midnight. No countdown, they're not really into Western New
Year's here.
And now it's January 2010, crazy. This month is going to be crazy- we
got an extended vacation for Spring Festival but we have to make up
the classes. So the next few weeks we will work from 8:20 am- 8:50 pm
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It's going to be exhausting, and require
a lot of extra planning.
But then, I will be on vacation for about 20 days! I will fly from
here to Hong Kong on February 2nd, then fly to Singapore and spend 8
days in Singapore/Malaysia. Then I am meeting Kate and Siggy in
Boracay, Phillipines. It is a white sand beach. I am really excited
for warm, tropical weather- I'm sick of the cold here.
So if I don't update a lot in January, it's because I don't have much
to say besides I am teaching all the time. But expect lots in February
for my big vacation!
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