We had a fabulous time – I so enjoyed having her here with me! We had a game night with Tony and my roommate, we spent a day shopping together and we celebrated Christmas Eve in a very unique way (see below). She left on Christmas afternoon, the time went too fast!
Now for Christmas Eve… My NGO in China was asked to participate in a big charity event that night, proceeds going towards one of our projects which helps disabled children. So, we rounded up some people who were willing to participate and plans began. The event was hosted by one of the big movie theatres in town which happens to be located on the busiest walking/shopping street in Tianjin…especially on Christmas Eve. You see, young Chinese people know that Christmas is a big holiday so they want to celebrate but they have no idea HOW to celebrate so they all go out to this walking street, put on their best Mardi Gras mask, bunny or demon ears and they walk around…in the freezing cold. They don’t have it exactly right, do they? It’s a big spectacle and one that I don’t actually enjoy but I went because it was for a good cause! J
We started the night at our friend’s house so that we could practice (our part of this event was to sing four songs right before midnight). There were 14 of us and we laughed, practiced and prepared our songs. Then, at about 10:00 pm we left for the walking street. It was chaos! People everywhere and a HUGE stage set up –totally not what I was expecting! There were “snow makers” on either side of the stage which were spitting out soap bubbles, which I suppose did look somewhat like snow, and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” country-line dance style being blasted from the speakers. This song, by the way, continued to be blasted for the next two hours…
By the time we were ready to perform it was close to midnight and the crowds had died down a bit…but the wind had not died down, it had picked up and was blowing fiercely. Suddenly, the stage was swaying and the “snow” looked like someone had put it into a blender and opened the top in the middle of the process. It was FREEZING. So, what could we do? We put on our happy faces and got on the stage to sing our four songs. It was a weird mix of people…several Americans, some Chinese (including YiQi and Tony), a German, some Dutch and a Canadian. We attempted to sing three songs…it was hard because the wind was so strong that my hair was stuck to my recently applied lip gloss and we couldn’t hear the guitars so I’m sure none of us were singing together! Even in the midst of this poor performance, people flooded from everywhere to watch the foreigners attempt to sing in Chinese. They had to bring in a whole line of cops to guard the stage.
But the night is not finished yet! After singing Tony, YiQi and I hurried to find a taxi before everyone started looking but it was already too late…no taxis available and on a cold night like that we knew it was going to be very difficult. So, we headed to a corner where there were no people waiting and by some miracle, a taxi came around the corner. I flagged it down and we were walking towards it when I saw some fast movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked to be sure and confirmed a quick, black figure going for OUR taxi! So, I took off running, leaving Tony and YiQi in my dust. I reached the cab before that other boy and was so hot…if any of you have ever played a game with me, you know I’m competitive. J I turned around and started yelling at him in English, giving him a real piece of my mind for trying to steal our taxi. The nerve! He “lost his face” in front of his friends because a girl…and American girl beat him…take that! J
We finally made it home, talked with my family on Skype, opened our Christmas presents and crawled into bed around 2 am. What a night to remember!
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