Merry Christmas!
While I'm
sure you all know that I would give anything to spend Christmas at home
with you, my Christmas here has actually been quite wonderful.
Christmas has made it's way over to China, but most of the traditions
that we are used to have been lost in translation. For instance, there
are Christmas lights everywhere and pictures of Santa, but there are
also masquerade masks and fairy wands. It's a little like a mixture of
Christmas, Mardi Gras and Halloween.
Last week the head of our department, Miss Li, took Lex
and I out to dinner to celebrate Christmas. She also invited two of the
other English teachers, Jade and Milly. Jade is probably my best
friend in China, and we all had a very good conversation over a meal of
dumplings and other Chinese dishes. They ordered so much food for us
that we couldn't fit everything on the table and had to put some dishes
on chairs.
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| At the restaurant, trying to make room on the table for more food. |
The students don't get any time off for Christmas, but
Lex and I have a holiday today and tomorrow. I gave a Christmas lesson
yesterday, and my students went crazy. I showed a picture of Santa to
one of my classes and they started to clap and cheer. Apparently many
Chinese children do know about Santa (they call him "The Old Person of
Christmas"), but some believe that he only gives presents to American
children. I had one of my classes decorate a paper Christmas tree (much
like the one my family had when we lived in the little white house and
didn't have room for a real tree). They all made ornaments with
pictures of what they wished for. Most asked for money or candy; they
asked their Chinese teacher if their wishes would really come true, and I
guess the ones who wished for candy will get their wish sometime, but
one kid drew an elephant...
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| Decorating the Christmas tree |
All of my third grade classes gave me an apple wrapped in
tissue paper. The Chinese word for apple is "ping guo" and "ping" also
means "peace" or "safe," so people often give each other apples on
Christmas Eve.
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| An apple from my third graders |
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| A card from one of my fifth grade classes |
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| My Christmas tree and gifts from home and my American friends |
I spent Christmas Eve at Pizza Hut with my American
friends. We exchanged gifts and indulged in pizza and mashed potatoes.
Pizza Hut is on a large shopping street in Baoding and the street was
closed to cars last night. The street was lined with venders selling
masks, apples, and anything sparkly or flashing. People were walking in
the street, setting off fireworks, forming roller blade chains and
lighting paper lanterns. My friends and I decided to sing Christmas
carols, which we did with considerable gusto and plenty of stares. Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures of the festivities on Yuhua Street.
With the magic of Skype, many gifts from home and my
students, a marathon of my favorite movies and the prospect of mac and
cheese for lunch, my Christmas has turned out much better than I could
have hoped.
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