If Only in Our Dreams...

"I'll be home for Christmas, you can plan on me. Please have snow, and mistletoe, and presents by the tree." (Sing it Mr. Buble), "Christmas Eve will find me where the love light gleams. I'll be home for Christmas,

If only in my dreams."

This song has never meant as much to us as it does this year. We are excited for a China Christmas and our first Christmas on our own. However, that being said, there is no replacing home, family, friends, and the Western Nut Company. I'm actually feeling more in the Christmas spirit than I expected, which I am grateful for. To celebrate we had a Christmas party in my class, the Branch Christmas party, HP company party, BIT staff party, BIT department party, friend "west-side" party, made lots of Christmas candies, and still have Christmas Eve festivities and a fun Christmas day dinner! Needless to say, we are well-taken care of and are still enjoying a wonderful Christmas holiday.

Most people are surprised to hear that Christmas is even recognized in China. Well, Mao is probably rolling over in his mausoleum, but they do. They are of course not celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, but the commercial celebrations and decorations are everywhere! It's definitely much more popular in a city like Beijing, but we have appreciated the twinkle lights and ceramic Santas sprinkled throughout the city for the last month. We got our hands on a few tacky decorations to make our apartment feel Christmasy - we live in a world where a little bit goes a long way. I mean hey, who ever said your Christmas tree had to be bigger than a breadbox? This is what we are referring to as "O Tannenbaum":

So Alex's company party was last weekend and it was quite the experience. The party was only for the finance division at HP China-Beijing, so there was about 250 people there. And can you believe it, Al and I were the only two foreigners. The party was complete with a co-worker can-can line, devil-horn headbands, silly string, smurfs, a live band, and door-prizes galore. To say that the Chinese party atmosphere is different, would be a severe understatement. The week before the party one of Al's co-workers approached him and asked if he would be willing to help with the party entertainment. You guys ever heard of i-pod idol? Well...He explained that Alex would be on stage, with headphones on, listening to a Chinese song that only he could hear. He would sing along with the song they played (in Chinese) and the audience would have to guess which song was playing.

Are you dying? We were...Couple thoughts.

1. They think it will be that bad?
2. What's the hurt in everyone in finance knowing his name and seeing how cute he is?
3. This would have discrimination written all over it at home. "Ooh, let's put the guy who doesn't speak any English up on stage so everyone can laugh at him..."

Alex is such a good sport and I think all his co-workers were really impressed with his willingness to make a fool out of himself. :) We both dare you to look up a Chinese song on the internet and try this - it's impossible!

The other highlight of the last couple weeks has been Christmas with our students. Last Thursday I planned a little Christmas party for my writing classes to give them a taste of the holiday season. I asked my students to each bring a small gift so that we could play a little yankee-swap, and I gave each of them a little goodie bag filled with fudge, truffles, and toffee. Oh, did I mention the goodies were homemade? Cause yeah, they were. By me. In China. In a toaster oven. Can't stop this girl. I was worried they would be too sweet for them, but I think they all really liked them! I was surprised because we actually both got a couple of gifts and cards from some of our students as well. I had two girls give me awesome chocolate boxes because they said I talk about chocolate in class all the time. lol.

There is one class which has me for writing and Alex for speaking. They are all so sweet and we really enjoy the students in this class. Today they gave Alex a couple of sweet Christmas cards that read as follows (Al's is the best):

"Dear Whitney, Merry Christmas! We like your writing class very much. It is our great honor to have you as a teacher. You are the best teacher in BIT. We do hope you will have a wonderful Christmas in China."

"Dear Alex, Merry Christmas! Many girls are jealous of Whitney because she has you. So handsome are you. We know that you won't teach us next semester. We will surely miss you. We love your class. Anyway, best wishes for your new job. And don't worry, we will be nice to Whitney when you are not in BIT!"

We love our students and Al has really enjoyed teaching this semester. I'm looking forward to continuing to teach and Alex is going to really miss them!

We're happy that it still feels like Christmas here, but we are constantly remembering why it is we are celebrating. No amount of decoration or music can replace the importance of the birth of our Savior. And in fact, I think that having less decorations and festivities has helped us to really focus on why it is we celebrate what we do. It is especially important for us this year to keep this in our hearts and minds and enjoy this wonderful time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!