China is CRACKING DOWN

The past month China has been seriously cracking down with the internet. In order to blog, go on facebook, youtube, gmail, US news sites, etc. I have to use a VPN which allows me to get through the "Great Firewall of China". All was good until November/December when they decided to start blocking the VPN's. Anyway.. the reason I am telling you all this is because I haven't been slacking on my blog... I JUST CAN'T GET ONNNN. Why am I able to blog now?? Because I am in HONG KONG. Hong Kong= America. Well, to me and probably any other foreigner who lives in China and comes to Hong Kong from time to time.

So... what have I been doing the past month? Other than freezing to death... by the way I can see my breath WHILE I SHOWER. Insane. I did get a heater though. It's like a little radiator. I met another foreigner at a Christmas party. He's Canadian and in his 50's. He pays for his apartment and said last winter his electricity bill was through the roof with his heater so he was more than willing to give me his heater... FOR FREE. I took it and ran. Not really... but I definitely took it with open arms.

Geri and I at the Dirty Santa party

I may not have to pay for my electricity... but I have learned quickly that I can't have my heater on and blow dry my hair; I can't have my heater on and use my electric tea kettle; I can't have my heater on and do wash... Basically, heater on= be warm and don't do anything else. Apparently the first time my power went out at 5pm and I had to run down the stairs to the 2nd floor with wet hair, in the cold, to turn my power back on wasn't a big enough lesson... nope. I've had to do this about 5 more times now.... I'm getting better now though. Well, now that I have a sticky note on my blowdryer that says, "TURN YOUR HEATER OFF".  Oh, to live in China....

The past month has been Christmas parties on top of more Christmas parties. My first Christmas party was "Dirty Santa" at Fran's apartment. We each bought a gift and then played dirty santa (everyone picks a number, first person picks a gift, opens it, second person either steals a gift or opens a new one... etc.). The night was a success and ended at the Cowboy Bar. I swore I would never go back, but I did. At least it's a good place to practice my Chinese.

Playing Games

The weekend and week before we were leaving for our break Henry and I had 6 Christmas parties... SIXXX. Do you know how much drinking that entails?!? After the first party I told Henry I was never drinking red wine again... well, that lasted until the next night. And that was pretty much a cycle for an entire week.

We always make fun of our students for saying "I played with my roommates this weekend." instead of saying, "I hung out with my roommates this weekend." Well, now we know why they insist on saying play, BECAUSE THEY LITERALLY PLAY with their roommates or friends. After our Christmas dinner with our bosses we went to Henry's friend's Christmas party. We arrived late because of our dinner and down the hall we heard a bunch of screaming so we decided they must be drinking and having a good time. NOPE. These adults, our age and older, were actually playing. It was like being at family camp, minus all the families and the youngsters. It was so funny. So when our students say they "played with their roommates" we now know they actually played.  I would try and explain the games we played but I don't even know how...

The sweetest little girl with James

The Sunday before I left I had a mini Christmas lunch at my house with Katrina, her fiance (now husband... apparently they already got their license but their wedding is in May? He went from boyfriend to fiance to husband in one month!), Christine (a teacher I met at a Christmas party Friday night) and her little 1 year old daughter. The only reason I am telling you about this lunch is because of the little girl.... I am obsessed with her. At first she was extremely shy and then she went into my bedroom and spotted "James" my bear and took it. The entire time she walked around hugging him and dancing with him, it was the cutest thing. For lunch I made pesto pasta with chicken and then Christmas cookies for after. I was nervous they wouldn't like it but they all loved it! Even the sweet little girl. I just started eating food with pesto like 4 years ago? so I was impressed she liked it. Although, she enjoyed the cookies more... my kinda girl! Oh also, the funniest thing... she couldn't stand up on her own because she had too many clothes on to stay warm.

It's been a successful holiday! Keep reading to hear about my first Christmas in Ma'anshan!