Sheng Dan Kuai Le!

...Also, known as Merry Christmas! I hope that this post is finding you full of Christmas cheer! I have had a good, but very different, Christmas over here in China. I spent all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day hanging out with some of my foreign friends. We did the usual...ate, played games, ate, watched movies, ate, sang Christmas carols - did I mention that we ate?

My international friends (from left): Sonja from Germany, me, Carrie who grew up in Africa, and Natalie from the U.K...


I also got to talk to a lot of my family on Skype that day! :) The different part was the lead-up to Christmas. By the time Christmas Day got here, despite all of the eccentric decorations that are everywhere, it just didn't feel like Christmas. Maybe because I wasn't in Iowa buried under a foot or two of ice and snow! I have come to fully realize and appreciate how we celebrate Christmas as a season in the U.S., not as just a day. Yes, there were some pre-Christmas activities going on here but it was just missing something - I guess I was probably missing all of you!

Tonight I went to a Christmas service at a Three-Self Church (Patriotic Movement) - you should Google it if you want to find out more! A couple friends from my school went with me. The whole service was in Chinese so they helped to translate some of it but the most beautiful part was the choir. They sang around 15 songs and they were amazing, it was a really neat Christmas experience.


Yesterday I celebrated Boxing Day with Natalie. The name of the holiday comes from the tradition of opening boxed gifts on the day after Christmas but Natalie says that doesn't really happen anymore. We spent it looking much like the guy to the right - another day of eating, watching movies and just hanging out. I think I'll be bringing this holiday back to the U.S! :)