Christmas Eve!
I woke this morning with mixed emotions. I had plans so was not completely saddened by the lack of family but knew nothing is near a real substitute.
A Christmas Apple
I had only one class which was my favorite so all the better. My class gave me the Chinese traditional apple. Apparently that is the big Christmas
tradition here. The apple is suppose to symbolize peace. Two of my boys gave me Christmas cards and one girl wrote me a letter.
I’m not going to lie I was a little saddened that the only Christmas cards I received were from Chinese students. Really not even an email?
Quite a varied selection! Homemade to classic.
I’ve never been one to display cards but I’m quite proud of my Chinese Christmas cards so they are now up!
After class I went to Katie and Thomas’s to finish up the Christmas presents for the Qingdao group. I don’t want to ruin the surprise but I’m way excited to give them. Katie and Thomas’s apartment was decked out for the holidays and as usual Katie was baking so pumpkin spice filled the air. Ohh the goodie filled packages, she always kindly shares the spoils.
The fireplace above the radiator, classic!
The chef herself, Pumpkin bread, yum.
Next year I'm going to buy a Christmas tree I actually missed not having one.
June - Katie and Thomas's Chinese tutor
Thomas wasn’t about to let Christmas Eve deter him from his Chinese study. June was they were all kind enough to let me join in on the lesson which I found very enlightening. Turns out I’ve been saying xue 学 wrong this entire time. Well better late than never.
June was also kind enough to walk me through the ticket process for the train tickets I had to get later. I was hoping to have Wendy write it all out for me but she was unable to meet me for lunch.
I left Katie’s around 5 and headed to the train station to pick up tickets for our Qingdao trip. I was so proud of myself I did it all by my self with no Chinese note. For the most part he got it I think although he didn’t let me finish my speech, he just motioned for the train number which I had written down. So now I the official ticket getter for Sundays since the train station is just up the street from me.
At 7:00 Shiggy (Japanese teacher) and I met up with Bonnie and Ferd at the Weifang Family Restaurant. We had a delicious Chinese dinner. My favorites were Egg plant of course, caramelized sweet potatoes and the cold wasabi chicken. I have to admit I’ve come to love Chinese.
After dinner we all went out to meet to the local hangout hoping to run into some other foreigners. Boy did we ever. So I met 6 more Canadians, 2 more Americans, Jimmy the French teacher was there along with a few Ukrainians. We all exchanged numbers and had a fun filled evening. Shiggy and I stayed out until about 12pm.
I know horrible quality but just couldn't leave it out.
So while out for the evening the waiter brought us a box of sparklers which everyone proceeded to light and wave around like crazy. Both Bonnie and I had a good laugh about the excess precautions we are taught as kids when lighting sparklers. Boy do the Chinese break all those rules.
Bonnie ran into some old acquaintances and they gave both of us all each an apple. We also received a toy key chain.
Out with Bonnie!