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Published: December 27th 2009
Sometimes when I'm clicking where I am for my location on here, it totally freaks me out when I hit Asia. Again, with the "How crazy is it that I'm in China?!" Four months down, and it's still nuts.
Christmas Eve began at about 7:30 in the morning or so. I woke up, got dressed, and called the fam because they would be there for Christmas. I didn't get to talk to everyone before Jessi knocked. Jession was with her, and we walked to the gate together to meet Stella. We took the bus into town and went to the open market.
The open market = interesting. Jessi needed to buy chicken and beef. I watched them cut up a dead chicken.. luckily, it was dead. There were tons of live chickens also, and there were people killing them. We went over to get the beef, and the guy had a ton of raw meat just laying around on a table. We got the beef and then got it ground. It was really gross..
We went to this fabric shop so Jessi could get a dress made. The one she had made is really really pretty. It won't
be done until the 2nd of January though. The lady who owns the shop won't actually make it.. someone else who is really good at traditional Chinese clothes will.. and that person won't be back for a few days. The shop owner is really touchy feely with us when we go. The last time we went in October she played with my hair. This time she played with my hat and told me it was good because it kept my ears warm. She also grabbed my hand and said I had good skin.
After we finally got out of the fabric shop we went to this bakery. Jessi and I were hungry, so we tried this chicken wrap thing. It looked pretty good, and the first bite or so it was. The more we both ate it, the worse it got. It had some kind of funky sauce on it, and the wrap was sweet. It was weird. I threw most of mine away.
I think after that we went back to campus. I stayed and talked to Jessi for a little while, and then I ended up running and getting some fried rice for lunch. Jessi asked
me to buy eggs for her since I was going out. She gave me money, and I went. I got the rice and then headed to the store. I bought a drink, and then I went and looked for eggs. I didn't see them, so I said, "Ji dan" for eggs. The lady pulled something out from in front of them. I meant to tell her I needed 15, but I said 50 on accident. Sometimes I mess up... I used to mess up writing my numbers in kindergarten. I would put 51 for 15 because in the word, the five comes first. Anyway, she put a bunch in a bag and went to get a second crate when I realized what I had done. I had to write it down because, for the life of me, I couldn't think of how to say 15. We got it straightened out, and I went back.
I sent Kyle a message asking for either Jessi's DVD player or his charger so I could show a movie. He said I could have both if I would come get them. I ran up there after I ate, and he sounded all groggy and
had his hood over his head. I apologized for waking him up. He said that someone else had sent a message, so it wasn't all me.
I had some students come over around 1. Gostop and Mary came. The plan was to watch Home Alone, but they asked to play Uno, so we did. They enjoyed it. I think Mary had a little bit of a harder time with it, but it was fun. We played a few hands, and then they left. They're really cool. I especially like Gostop. I asked Jamey about his name when we first started classes with the freshmen, and he said he thought it was Gustav. Haha. I have a hard time remembering if it's Gostop or Stopgo.
I don't remember doing anything else until my students came over later.. around 4:30, I guess. They brought me fruit - bananas, oranges, apples, a fruit I never can remember the name of, - and peanuts. There was a ton. There were 5 students, and they each had a bag. They didn't want to watch a movie either, so we played Uno. There was one girl who was sooo nervous that she just couldn't
stop talking. It wasn't that she was even talking in sentences... she was just mumbling and making noises. She was sweet though.
They left, and then Jessi, Kyle and I went to town to eat. We went to Yi Pin Tian Xia. Jessi had gone there and gotten some tong cu li gi and said it was absolutely amazing. She also said the yu xiang rou se (the fish flavored pork) was good. So we got those two dishes and the fried green beans. It was really good... like Americanized food.. the pork was breaded and kinda crunchy and really sweet. It was pretty expensive, at least more expensive than I usually pay, but totally worth it. Alex and his fiance saw us as they were walking by and they stopped and said hi. There was also this kid in there who had the longest and widest rat tail I've ever seen in my life.
After dinner we went to Jing Hua. Oh man, was it crowded. Jessi got everything she needed, and then we ended up getting little Santa Claus toys for all the girls we hang out with on Fridays. We had Kyle go stand in
line while we went and got the Santas. When we got up there, Jessi was able to push her way through to Kyle. I almost made it, but I ended up having a lady in between us. I decided to get out of line and go around. I made it all the way around by the time they were through paying. I pushed and shoved and slid between people like crazy. It was nuts. We finally got out of there and went back. Dillon brought me a present from one of Jamey's students... the one who told me she wanted to be my friend because she sees me looking lonely in the hallways of the teaching building. 😊 She gave me earrings.
We all went to Jessi's. She wanted to play Rummikub. I learned with that game that I'm not good at adding in my head. It was pretty funny because Jessi thought I was texting when I was using my calculator to see how many points I had. We only played one game of that and changed to Phase 10. We let Kyle win that hand.. he hasn't won yet. We had a lot of fun that night.
I laughed til I cried at something. I only wish I remembered what it was. I remember putting oak nut shells on my nose and pretending to be an animal. It was fun.
I came home and opened Christmas presents.. some from America that had been sent in a package (thanks LeeAnn!) and one from Jession. It was a cute little statue of a girl all dressed in purple standing in snow.
The next day was Christmas. I woke up around 8:30 or so and talked to some folks back home. Well, I woke up at 6 in the morning to text messages from students telling me Merry Christmas, but I managed to go back to sleep. I talked for a while on Skype, and I had a student come over and bring me a present. It was a scarf she had made. She was so sweet. 😊 It was really soft and pretty. I got off the computer and took a super quick shower. Then I got a message saying that there was a package for me. I left my apartment at 9:52 and got back by 9:58.
I had students come a little after 10.
They called me from right outside my door.. like I heard Sally through my door telling me they were there. haha. I opened the door and they came in. They said they wanted to watch a movie, but only stayed for like half an hour.. so I called my sister and talked to her for a little while.
I went up to Jessi's and all the foreigners had breakfast for lunch. Jessi had made biscuits, scrambled cheese eggs, french toast, muffins, and fruit salad (with the fruit my students brought me). It was really good. We ate, and then I ended up staying late with Kyle to help her clean up. Then I helped her make chocolate chip cookies and I cut brownies for her. I was supposed to cut 12, but I ended up only cutting 9. I can't count at all. It was pretty funny. It worked out well though.
I left and made Christmas cards to give to the English department and Foreign Affairs. Jessi knocked and we went and passed out brownies, cookies and cards to Mr. Peng, Chen Mae, Sophia, Nikki, Robert, Nicole, and then we also gave Nahoko and Ms. Tokudome some.
I ran home for a few minutes, and then went back up to Jessi's because the girls would be there at 4:30. We gave them the Santas and then Ruth and Jane gave us (Jessi and I.. they took Priscilla's to her apartment) presents. Ruth gave me this super awesome pillow that turns into a blanket, and Jane gave us combs and mirrors. It was awesome. Then we studied together. We finished around 5:40.
I stayed at Jessi's for a little while. We ate some Christmas cakes she had. They were supposed to be fruitcake with icing on top.. you know, like Little Debbie cakes. They were okay.. a little funky.
I ended up leaving about 20 til 7 because I had my usual students coming over then. They each brought me something - Washington brought me an apple, Sissi brought me jelly beans, and Cindy had brought me the scarf earlier. I told them I was really tired, so we played Uno and then I turned on HBO so they could watch "Another Cinderella Story". They liked it. They left about 9.
The people who live across from me knocked on my door while the
movie was on, and my students from 0901 had brought me some kind of present while I was gone and left it with them. I'm not sure what it is, but it's supposed to be good..
I bet I went to bed about 11.. which is really good considering I never go to bed that early. It was a really good day, and I got about a million text messages wishing me a Merry Christmas. Here are some of my favorites:
"Hello!IamKellie!MerryChairmasEve!IHopeYouWillEnjoyYouself!haveAGoodnight!Bestwishestoyou! (This was sent on Christmas Eve.. oh wait, Chairmas Eve. 😊)
I replied telling her thank you and to have a Merry Christmas. She replied with:
"That'sAllRight!ILikeYouVeryMuch!YouMustHappy!Happy!Happy!"
"Hello, Ms Brenda! Merry Chirstmas! Good luck to you! I'm Dylan."
"Mary christmas, Brenda! May you happy every day!Will we visit you tomorrow?I have repared a christmas present for you .I want to give you tomorrow. May I ?"
I replied and told her Merry Christmas and said that they would come over if they wanted to. I also told her she didn't have to give me a Christmas present. She replied with:
"I have already repared it! It reprent my heart,I hope you can accept it."
(She's the one who gave me the scarf 😊)
"Ms Branda ,I am Tiffany,I wisheswith you:Christmas Day!"
"Merry christmas!julie's best wishes to you!keep smile everyday!"
"My name is Kellie.Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!happy!happy!happy!"
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Amy
non-member comment
Great Christmas
Thanks for sharing your photos and stories of your holiday in China. It sounds like you had a great day and that your students care for you very much.