Sheng dan kuai le.
Merry Christmas!
Coming to China, I knew that Christmas would not be the Christmas that I am used to. I mean, I knew that it wouldn't exactly be just me and Carly roasting peanuts over the flame of a tea light candle while singing carols, softly, to ourselves but I also knew that it would not be anything like the day of food, family and celebrating that I have at home. I guess, besides the fact that it would be somewhere between those two extremes, I didn't really know what to expect from Christmas this year so, I decided that instead of trying to make Christmas happen the way that I thought it should, I decided to just take Christmas as it came.
On Christmas Eve, instead of the night with family, snacks and matching pajamas, I had a party. An English Corner party! Instead of the bread, cheese, cookies and trail mix that we usually have on Christmas Eve, we had seaweed, SUPER delicious egg tarts, homemade soybean milk and candy. When I usually wrap presents and listen to carols, I was, instead, listening to performances by people on guitars, singing and even people dubbing over video clips with their own voices. We also got to teach them how to do a Yankee Swap (which acually just ended up being a mess but it was a happy, Christmas cheer filled mess, so it was ok!) So, no, it wasn't like most Christmas Eves but it was still good.
On Christmas, instead of waking up and going downstairs for cocoa and stockings, I woke up and went to work. Instead of being greeted by the uncontrollable barking and jumping of the world's cutest craziest yorkiepoo, I was greeted by hundreds of "Merry Christmas" screeches and hugs from some of China's cutest (and craziest) Grade 2ers. When normally I would decorate a Christmas tree, I dressed up like a Christmas tree, instead. And a day that is usually over in the blink of an eye, turned into a weekend long celebration as the foreign teachers held their own mini Christmas on Saturday. We filled stockings and wrapped presents for each other! We went to the newly opened Starbucks (the first ever in Lin'an) and drank Christmassy drinks and listened to the Christmas music they were playing. We sang carols, lit a Christmas tree scented candle and ate chocolate until it was coming out of our ears. Then, we treated ourselves to a Christmas feast on Saturday but instead of the turkey, stuffing, and green beans, we ate sweet egg baozi ( that were made to look like cute little pigs) , curry and noodles! It was definitely not the Christmas I'm used to ( and I definitely missed the Christmas that I am used to ) but it was a very good day nonetheless. (Also, I am incredibly thankful for everyone who was so willing to help us celebrate and let us teach them about things like Secret Santa, Yankee Swap and all the other tradiitons that we have at Christmas time.)
*I'm having trouble remembering that Christmas is over. Partly because we didn't really do anything that typically signifies Christmas or the Holiday season (like eat festive foods or watch festive movies), and partly because I didn't actually think that I would make it all the way to Christmas! Before I got to China, I wondered if I could actually do it and after arriving in China there have been countless times where I didn't think I could or just didn't want to. One way I got through those times was saying "You just have to make it to Christmas! That's only 4 months! You can do it!" I didn't realize that "making" it until Christmas meant 4 months of learning to love the same kids that made me think I wouldn't make it until Christmas, frequenting a coffee shop so many times that the workers have beomce less like baristas and more like friends and flagging down a taxi so many times that some drivers already know where we want to go before we get in. I didn't realize that it meant builidng a little bit of a life in a place where I never even expected to live. Now that Christmas is over, I find myself, when those same kids are making it seem like I won't make it very long past Christmas, saying "You just have to make it to...." but I no longer have a way to finish it. I'm not ready to be counting down to June just yet (because I really, really, really love China) so, instead, I have started saying "You just have to make it to dinner" or "You just have to make it to the end of the day". I had no idea that the months before Christmas would be as filled with goodness as they were (or that they would pass so quickly) so I used Christmas as a marker to get me through the times that weren't so good but now that I know just how much friendship, adventure, and joy that 4 months can hold, I'm not going to wish away the 6 that I have left. Thankfully, Christmas, and the amount of people who went out of their way to make us feel loved during the Christmas season, made me realize just how important the good times and even the not so good times, the times I was just waiting for Christmas, were. By counting down to Christmas, I wasn't getting through the harder times -I was wishing this year away, wishing my time in China away! And now that I realize it (and now that I realize just how close my time in China is to being over), I won't be doing that anymore (like a New Years resolution, I suppose)! So, when the day starts to get hard or I feel like I want to be done, instead of hoping for Christmas or June, I just hope that we are having something good for dinner.*
