I have you now!

Sheng dan kuai le! Try saying that ten times fast. Though wishing a seasons greeting in Chinese certainly has its own charm, I think I'm going to stick with the good old fashioned Merry Christmas. And the season continues to be a merry one in out little corner of northern China. It seems that all the Chinese people are hugely curious of discovering more about Christmas from all the Americans. Although there are a lot of decorations, santa hats, trees, and strange tasting "gingerbread" houses, the holiday turns out to be a little on the hollow side for most Chinese. Like getting all dresssed up to go for a big date with nowhere to go, Christmas here seems to be all for show.

Last week we were invited to an English Corner on one of the campuses of Hebei University to discuss what Christmas is all about. It was an awesome opportunity to discuss the roots of the Christmas holiday and get past a lot of the fluff that they see in American movies (their fount of knowledge for most foreign subjects). We had a great time reading parts of the Christmas story from the books Matthew and Luke while Chinese students read aloud with us. There were a few tricky parts to explain, i.e. virgin birth and Herod did what to all the babies??, but overall they grasped the main themes quickly. Following some questions we talked about singing Christmas carols and lead the students in "Silent Night" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."

The Christmas madness didn't end there as the next Friday Jon and Ryan organized a movie night at their college in order to show "It's a Wonderful Life." We were worried that not many students would be able to attend as we had given them only short notice in the form of 12 text messages to Jon's students saying "Movie Night! Bring your friends!" I should've realized by now that one thing China never lacks is people and we were not disappointed as the room filled up once again. Watching "It's a Wonderful Life" with my family around Christmas time has been one of my favorite holiday traditions and I truly wish they could have been there last Friday to see the reactions of the students. They adored George Bailey and the room was filled with their collective laughter at his antics as well as scowls at old man Potter. My favorite moment occurred at the end of the movie when George is about to be arrested by the police but all his friends come to give him money. The first to do so is Uncle Billy with a huge basketful of cash and as he poured it out the students in unison began to clap emphatically and cheer for him (or possibly could have been for the sight of a mountain of cash, who knows).

Watching this movie always makes me reflect on just how grateful I am for my life. Last week in classes we were talking about injuries and how to stay healthy. Through teaching this lesson, I shared stories of all the stupid ways I had injured myself in the past. The students were dumbfounded when I told them my front teeth are fake and I knocked my old teeth out while falling from my bike or when I showed them the huge scar on my arm from my snowboarding accident in high school. My favorite story to tell them was about my brother Peter, who had to get stitches twice in the same spot (and within mere months of each accident) due to a baseball bat's backswing that he caught in the face and running headlong into a wall while chasing a balzac I had thrown at him.

This upcoming week will be filled to the brim with Christmas lessons and parties. I personally cannot wait to see what it is like to play a game of white elephant (or greed or dirty santa, everyone seems to have a different name for this game) with Chinese friends!

P.S. If you're interested in coming to China but don't care about teaching, try out this fantastic new weight loss program! Evidently China is a great place to lose weight due to the drastic change in eating habits that it induces (who would've thought?).

Who's scruffy-looking?

The deep Chinese chill has begun to set in but you won't find anyone hibernating here. Instead of burrowing deep into my den for the winter, I have decided to face the cold head on. My going outside gear now often includes but is not limited to: long underwear bottoms, jeans, long sleeve undershirt, sweatshirt/sweater, jacket, two pairs of socks, shoes, gloves, scarf, and hat. While this may not seem overly impressive to many of you, you must keep in mind that in years past I would often still be seen wearing sandals at this time of year. However, not even my hobbit feet could brave the great wall wind that blows down to Baoding.

Even with all these wintry wards, (can you tell I've been on an alliteration kick lately?) I have not completely managed to shut out the cold. Last Thursday was undoubtedly the coldest temperature to date. While the temperature alone would have been bearable, there was a fiercely strong wind that made the cold blow right through every layer you could stack against it. While riding my electric bike with Jon and Ryan to our weekly lunch meeting at KFC, we could not help but let out a few wild yelps at the sting. Encouraged by our mutual frostbite, we desired no longer to subdue our discomfort and proceeded to yell battle crise like savage indians the rest of way to lunch.

If bearing the cold is the price we must pay to welcome the holiday season than I am confident that we bear it gladly. Both I and the rest of team Baoding have had our spirits uplifted by the prolific signs of Christmas fast approaching. I was unsure how much Christmas time would be felt while we are in this foreign land, as both Thanksgiving and Halloween were treated as very minor affairs. It seems so far that Christmas is in a whole different league. Everywhere we go there is a jolly Santa peaking around the corner at us, a christmas tree with incredibly ridiculous ornaments, magnanimous displays of holiday lights, and even a massive gingerbread house!

It seems that the Christmas spirit has spread all over. Trips to the supermarket have been greatly enhanced through the workers all donning little Santa helper costumes. Walking down aisles that are practically bleeding tinsel while listening to a ridiculous Chinese version of "Santa Claus is coming to town" has put an abundant amount of holiday joy into my heart. I even went so far as to create a Christmas wish list powerpoint for my mom after she chided me on not being able to think of anything I would want.








In addition to my regular routine of teaching and hanging out with students, visiting the local coffee bars and dvd shops have become my regular rendevouz of choice. The coffee shops are always a great semi-warm getaway and usually pretty empty, allowing a perfect time for chatting or reading. There are always new dvd stores to discover and I was recently overjoyed to find 5 seasons of one of my favorite tv shows, Monk, on dvd for a mere $3! To top it off, last Saturday night we were invited to go bowling with one of our teaching colleagues, Sophie and her husband. It was an awesome night of relaxation and fun, not to mention that I bowled a 145 and 161 (even without my lucky bowling ball). All things considered, I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to have so many new experiences during this holiday season.