Christmas in China

      For this blog I'm going to be talking about what Christmas was like for me in China. Now, one thing you have to understand is that Chinese people don't really truly understand what Christmas is all about. I mean they know its time for exchanging gifts, that its the day that Jesus was born, etc, but Christmas in China truly lasts for literally one or two days, unlike in America, where it starts two or three months before the actual day. With that being said, if you are expecting to have that warm fuzzy feeling, pretty lights, and generally happy people all around for two months, you are going to be sad, because for me the feeling of Christmas was around for about two weeks. Also, if you are expecting to hear a ton of Christmas music around, you will be disappointed too. You can expect to hear jingle bells on loop everywhere you go, because that's really the only Christmas song they know. Well, actually, those two things aren't entirely true. If you go to Starbucks every day for those two months, then you will get about the same feeling we have back in the US, but who can actually afford that? haha
      Now, for all of you back in America, or whatever country you are in that celebrates a good old fashioned Christmas, you might think that all of this sounds really depressing, but its actually not. I was actually working up until, on, and after Christmas, so I didn't really have much time to think about it. Plus, if you are a foreigner working in China, the people around you are probably going to have events set up trying to make you feel right at home during the holidays, and, I have to say, it kind of worked.
      I was invited to a Christmas banquet for the foreigners in Haining that was held in a super luxurious and fancy hotel, that was probably one of the nicest events I have ever been to. It really reminded me of my parents' company's Christmas parties that we used to go to when I was a kid (minus the monkey king spear twirling performance....I don't think I ever saw that at those Ontario Systems Christmas parties). To me, it was just the greatest thing! It was so fancy, I felt like I was at a wedding, and the buffet was just the greatest buffet I have ever seen in my life, and when I say that I'm not exaggerating at all. They had turkey, fried noodles, a long row of different Chinese food, as well as a long row of different western foods that I've never tried before. In the middle they had a long row of desserts from every different culture, many of which I've also never seen before. Then on the far end they had a whole other buffet that I was too full to visit that had sushi and other things. The best thing was that sitting in the front was this elderly Japanese man, who got himself pretty drunk, and at the end, when most of the people had left, he got up on the stage and started doing karaoke. Afterwards, he came over to our table with a handful of rose pedals and threw them up in the air and yelled "Merry Christmas!" It was fantastic. As a gift, the Chinese government people who put on the event also gave us big boxes of chocolate truffles, that were amazing and aided me in my winter weight gain. Thanks for that!

I thought it was super funny that they called me distinguished madam lol

with roast duck in the background, yes!

      The week before Christmas, Hui took me to Shanghai to buy my Christmas presents and visit a Christmas fair. If you know me, you can guess that we went to the Disney store! After we finished shopping, we headed over to the mall to eat at a Thai restaurant, because I haven't had Thai food in forever. It was authentic and great. The Christmas fair was a great chance to see some Christmas lights, and get in the Christmas spirit. It was a medieval themed Christmas fair, so you'll see pictures of us shooting arrows, as well as a food vendor dressed as a court jester. It was really fun, and I bought a big nutcracker! We also ate gyros there, which is another food I have really been missing. All around, it was a fantastic day!

the great tsum tsum tree 

      As far as the week of Christmas goes, it was pretty busy  for me. I mean, it was actually more Christmas stressful like during November, because we needed to buy all the presents and get them shipped to America, but I just had so many things scheduled, and so much going on. A couple days before, on the 23rd I think, our international class wanted to have a Christmas party, and they invited me to organize the whole thing. We did a gift exchanging game, and ate fried chicken, which was a special treat for them, because they usually are not allowed to order fast food, because its not healthy. What really impressed me was that the class bought a real Christmas tree, I mean like a real tree! I don't think I even know anyone in America who still does that. Way to go all out, class. Awesome!
      I also got a really great gift from my bestie, which was the cutest friendship necklace ever (we really have a thing for the friendship necklaces). It said you've got a friend in me, and it had a little cowboy hat on it. Yeah, we are the best of friends forever just like Buzz and Woody. Yeah, I really loved it, and I am so going to wear it when we hang out this summer. I can't wait!

one of my gifts from Hui, a chip and dale sweater from the Disney store!

      Now its time to talk about Chinese Christmas traditions! Yay! There aren't many of those, because, to most people, Christmas is just another holiday, plus we don't get any break, but China does in fact have one unique Christmas tradition that centers around a certain food (which is similar to that Japanese tradition of eating KFC on Christmas, but not really, because I just wanted to mention that haha). On Christmas, Chinese people exchange and eat apples. This is because the Chinese word for Christmas Eve is 平安夜 (pingan ye, peaceful night), which has a similar character to the Chinese word for apple, 苹果(ping guo). During Christmas time, apples are super expensive, and you can see some of them have some designs on them. I have no idea how they got the design on the apple, and I received one, so I can tell you they taste the same. I celebrated Christmas by telling my students the story of A Christmas Carol, and watching my mom's favorite Christmas movie, Elf, which they really enjoyed.

      On my Christmas Eve, my dear friend, Junlin, came from Nanjing to visit me. I invited another friend over, and we had hot pot together and chatted all night. It was a great time. The next morning Junlin, Pikachu and I video chatted with my family, and we were sad to find out that my package hadn't made it in time for Christmas. Then, suddenly, as I was about to get on the train to go to Hangzhou, Hui called me and said the package was ready to be picked up, so I picked it up and headed to Hangzhou with it. It was a huge package, so the people in the post office made a handle for me to carry it along with my suitcase. That was a fun time! haha
      In the evening Hui got off work early, so we went out to eat. Going out to eat for dinner on Christmas Day was, apparently, another Chinese Christmas tradition, because it was crowded, and the road was full of traffic. We had a nice Christmas dinner wearing our matching Christmas sweaters, and then we walked around to see what we could see. All the Christmas lights were great. I don't know about you, but seeing a giant Christmas coke bottle just fills me with all the Christmas feelings. Finally, I'd like to mention that, unlike in America, there is no due date for when you have to finish putting your Christmas away, so as of right now (April 26th), a large portion of the places that decorated for Christmas still haven't taken the decorations down.

pikachu skyping with my family

my giant package

activities in the mall

matching!

Christmas dinner

a Star Wars lego display

Hui's company even had Ant Financial themed Christmas lights

Hui's favorite Christmas gift!

My favorite Christmas gift!

      Well, that's all for this post. I can't believe I finally got it done! The internet everywhere I've gone has just been horrendous! I hope it won't take me an entire week to do the next post.