Well my weekly blog has turned into a monthly one, but hopefully a little news is better than no news to those of you reading. This month has been one of ups and downs. The newness of the adventure has at times worn thin replaced by a lack of appreciation for certain parts of life here. Specifically the cold weather. I have given up on riding the bike and gone back to the crowded bus each morning. The other thing I don't enjoy is the very Chinese custom of spitting. It is unbelievable to me that two cultures could view this habit in such polar opposite ways. I am trying really hard to get over this one, but it's tough!
Anyway, moving on to more pleasant matters. The Christmas season has been interesting for me. Some things were just like home, others sooo different. I made the decision to stay in China over the holidays mostly to save 1,000 dollars. It has definitely been educational staying here. At school I planned to do many of the same types of things we did in the US leading up to Christmas. That bombed when I tried to do a writing assignment about a favorite family traditions. I discovered that less than half of my students even celebrate Christmas. Many of them even being from Christian families, don't actually celebrate in any of the ways that we Americans consider normal. This was a shocking revelation for me. It really made me appreciate so much more the special things about the holiday season that I have always enjoyed with my family. Even the secular things like decorating and gift giving, that have nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas, are such a special part of the whole backdrop leading up to it. I did enjoy having the freedom for the first time in my teaching career to actually teach right from the Bible the Christmas story.
The pastor at church pointed out that here in China we are more likely to hear the words Merry Christmas than most cities in the US. It is a sad Irony that even though the words are known, the meaning is not. There are Christmas trees and lights and decorations everywhere. (Unfortunately large gaudy tinsel seems to be the decor of choice. The more colors the better seems to be the general decorating philosophy!)But, most people have no idea there is anything more than Santa Claus. At School we had a "Secret Santa" gift exchange among the teachers with a party for the big reveal. I was appointed to the decorating committee and spent quite a bit of time stressing over working with no budget and very limited resources to make the lunch room festive. A bunch of Poinsettias saved the day!
My class chose to have an international pot luck over a pizza party for our class Christmas party. That was a whole new adventure. Apparently the wonders of the cupcake have not yet arrived in China either. I had about 6 kids bring cakes to the party. We also had some Korean Sushi, some Korean Rice Cake and noodles, and some Chinese Dumplings. The only American food represented was pretzels and potato chips. I also had a Christmas party with the group of friends that I have become closest to over the past four months. We had a wonderful time exchanging gifts.
On top of all the Christmas festivities, grades had to be completed for second quarter report cards before we could leave for break. Procrastinator that I am, I had stacks of ungraded papers all over my desk. I could not help but think of my days at Armstrong when Harriet Baker and I were always the last ones to be finishing grades up. My fifth grade teammate across the hall and I were the only teachers left in the building at 7:00 in the evening on the last day of school frantically trying to get grades done. Somethings apparently never change, even if you move to the other side of the world. Well, I finally did get finished and even have plans mostly finished for when I go back to school in two weeks.
In the meantime, I am very excited about some travel within China to a much warmer climate in the southern part of the country. Maybe I will have more adventures to share when I return from that journey!
Anyway, moving on to more pleasant matters. The Christmas season has been interesting for me. Some things were just like home, others sooo different. I made the decision to stay in China over the holidays mostly to save 1,000 dollars. It has definitely been educational staying here. At school I planned to do many of the same types of things we did in the US leading up to Christmas. That bombed when I tried to do a writing assignment about a favorite family traditions. I discovered that less than half of my students even celebrate Christmas. Many of them even being from Christian families, don't actually celebrate in any of the ways that we Americans consider normal. This was a shocking revelation for me. It really made me appreciate so much more the special things about the holiday season that I have always enjoyed with my family. Even the secular things like decorating and gift giving, that have nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas, are such a special part of the whole backdrop leading up to it. I did enjoy having the freedom for the first time in my teaching career to actually teach right from the Bible the Christmas story.
The pastor at church pointed out that here in China we are more likely to hear the words Merry Christmas than most cities in the US. It is a sad Irony that even though the words are known, the meaning is not. There are Christmas trees and lights and decorations everywhere. (Unfortunately large gaudy tinsel seems to be the decor of choice. The more colors the better seems to be the general decorating philosophy!)But, most people have no idea there is anything more than Santa Claus. At School we had a "Secret Santa" gift exchange among the teachers with a party for the big reveal. I was appointed to the decorating committee and spent quite a bit of time stressing over working with no budget and very limited resources to make the lunch room festive. A bunch of Poinsettias saved the day!
My class chose to have an international pot luck over a pizza party for our class Christmas party. That was a whole new adventure. Apparently the wonders of the cupcake have not yet arrived in China either. I had about 6 kids bring cakes to the party. We also had some Korean Sushi, some Korean Rice Cake and noodles, and some Chinese Dumplings. The only American food represented was pretzels and potato chips. I also had a Christmas party with the group of friends that I have become closest to over the past four months. We had a wonderful time exchanging gifts.
On top of all the Christmas festivities, grades had to be completed for second quarter report cards before we could leave for break. Procrastinator that I am, I had stacks of ungraded papers all over my desk. I could not help but think of my days at Armstrong when Harriet Baker and I were always the last ones to be finishing grades up. My fifth grade teammate across the hall and I were the only teachers left in the building at 7:00 in the evening on the last day of school frantically trying to get grades done. Somethings apparently never change, even if you move to the other side of the world. Well, I finally did get finished and even have plans mostly finished for when I go back to school in two weeks.
In the meantime, I am very excited about some travel within China to a much warmer climate in the southern part of the country. Maybe I will have more adventures to share when I return from that journey!
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