Christmas in China (or, alternately) How Do You Like Dem Apples?

I am so thankful that the internet connection has been (mostly) good enough for me to do the things I need to (eventually) since we've been back from our winter break.  So, I'll fill you in on what Christmas was like here before moving on to posts about my travels during the break and Chinese New Year and such.

Although this was not my first Christmas away from loved ones, it was my first one spent in a foreign country, namely one that does not especially celebrate the holiday.  It was a little strange to "get in the Christmas spirit" when nothing (outside our apartment) was decorated or festive, and no carols were playing anywhere we went.  In the same breath, it also made it easier to avoid homesickness.  Although our contract does generously allow for Christmas Day as a holiday, it fell on Sunday, making it a bit of a non-issue.

Naturally, my students were curious about the holiday because they are aware of its commercial importance in the West.  I had well over 500 students last semester, and had the opportunity to share the historical and cultural significance of the holiday with each class, as well as current traditions.  In an interesting break from local tradition, the foreign teachers were also invited to sing carols at the end of an annual (not holiday related) student event.  Our fearless leader even found sequin Santa hats for each of us to don for the occasion.  Oh, joy to the world.

Like any other class topic, some of my students were more interested in learning about the holiday than others.  A couple of my classes even came to our apartment for a short, little Christmas party.

Many of my students embraced the festivities with gusto, wanting to hear all about the Christmas Old Man (literal translation from Chinese for Santa Claus) and bringing me gifts.  I was touched, if not slightly confused, when the first student brought me an apple.  I thought perhaps she'd heard that an old tradition in America was to give apples to teachers and she thought that it'd thereby make the perfect Christmas gift.

Fun card and fruit (including an apple!) from some of my students.

Later, in a different class, I talked about having a gift exchange with the students and encouraged them to all bring one wrapped item the next week.  As they were leaving, one student practically winked as she grinned widely and asked if she should bring...an apple.  I thought to myself, "What is with the apples?!"

By the end of the week, I had my answer.  As well as many, many more apples.  

These came all at once from a group of students.

Apparently, the gift of apples has become a bit of a Chinese Christmas Eve tradition.  The Chinese word for apple is "ping guo" and sounds similar to the word for peace and safety (also "ping").  So, in essence, by sending someone an apple for Christmas, they are wishing them peace and safety.  Pretty sweet, huh?

The university was so kind and threw us a Christmas banquet a few days before the holiday to help us celebrate.  They catered in some Western style food (hence the plates stacked with white bread and the bottles of Pepsi).  It was really nice to be able to share a special meal with some of our new friends.

Later, on Christmas Day, the foreign teachers all met together for a Christmas brunch and to share some of our own traditions from home.  We had several breakfast casseroles, muffins, fruit salad, sausage balls, and other goodies.  We are definitely learning how to make things work here!

We spent time together singing carols, reading the Christmas story, and having a white elephant gift exchange.  My illustrious winnings included these lovely items:

So, although I certainly missed my family and friends in the states, I did not feel at all unfortunate.  Plus, the good thing about being overseas during the holidays is how the blessings seem to drag on.  For example, I started receiving cards in early December and just this week (yep, mid-February) I received an amazing Christmas package.  I kinda feel sorry for those of you who only get a month - tops, of seasonal joy.  Heh.

The Boyfriend Post

I know I've mentioned it a lot in past posts, but my trip to Changsha was simply that revolutionary to my living situation here.  The morning before I left, my friend (who is happily married and a mother of three beautiful children) exclaimed, "I have to introduce you to my boyfriend!"  I was understandably intrigued as she went into the living room and started to dig through a trunk.  She pulled out what appeared to be a water/ice compress...and a cord.  She went on to explain that you plug it (him?) in for about five minutes and it (he?) stays warm for hours. HOURS!

This was big news as - rumor has it - no official buildings (including schools) south of the Yellow River (one of the major rivers separating China) have heat.  Although our regular apartments do have some heating units, none of the student dorms here or any rooms at the other campus do; everyone just layers up.  We tend to do the same so we'll be better able to handle both the outdoors and the classrooms on a daily basis.  So, having a boyfriend (the name stuck as we didn't know the Chinese word and "water pouch thingy with coils that heats up and stays warm" seemed a bit long) became a quick matter of necessity.  It also became a quick source of endless entertainment in the form of slight misunderstandings and absolutely ridiculous jokes.

Some of my favorites have been:

~Peter, our waiban (foreigner handler) in wait, overheard me saying I planned to buy a boyfriend at the local "mall" and hoped to spend no more than 20RMB (about $3).  Not knowing what I was referring to, he quickly and adamantly jumped to the defense of mankind with, "We boys are not so cheap!"

~David righteously proclaimed that his would be a "wife" (instead of "girlfriend") as she would keep him warm at night.  Arianne and I actually found him the perfect one (a cute little thing with curly hair - though none of the students can quite figure out why his is so girly!), so he has us to thank for that.  I do regret not having snapped a photo of the happy couple.

~I was heading into the city nearby for supplies necessary to survive the winter (you know, like butter and spaghetti sauce) and asked Arianne if she needed me to pick up anything.  She answered that she'd like me to keep an eye out for boyfriends and to give her a call if they seemed to be at a good price.  Our local friend overheard and immediately exclaimed, "Oh! Me too! Me too!"

~While trying to find the perfect boyfriend (Arianne had already found hers - Frgo), I lamented not being able to find one as cute (yet subtly masculine) as hers...at least until I met "Gip."

Definitely cute.  And subtly masculine.

~My student gave me a boyfriend as a Thanksgiving gift.

That's right, "Cute Panda."  Every girl should be so lucky.

~Over time, our boyfriends begin losing their warmth.  Or, in a worst case scenario, they wear out and risk exploding without warning.  Naturally, that means we ditch 'em in search of one that makes us feel happy, safe, and warm all over again.

A Very American Thanksgiving

I know, I know.  It's the middle of February.  Not exactly turkey season and deck the halls for most people. I'm in the process of getting caught up before our new term begins, though, and realized I had not done any holiday posts.  So, I thought it might be interesting to revisit how we did things here (and I maybe already had this one written up).

Considering that the celebration of American Thanksgiving is strictly, well, American, we (the foreign teachers) knew full well that we would need to teach our normal load of classes that Thursday.  We were also asked to judge an English competition that night.  So, we made plans to attempt a traditional meal the following Sunday afternoon.

I chose to celebrate the actual holiday by setting up a Skype date with my family.  The call came sometime around 4 or 5 am China time and the connection was not amazing, even at that hour.  But, it was still so refreshing to hear everyone's voices and see my precious nieces flit across the screen.  The day was also filled with well wishes and texts from my students - very touching considering the holiday's an entirely new concept for many of them.  One student even brought me a present!  (I'll need a separate post for that gem.)

Homesickness did threaten to rear its ugly head on Friday as I missed being with the fam in person, then hitting the sales with my dad that morning - a bit of a father-daughter tradition.

I wasn't sure how things would go on Sunday, but was cautiously optimistic, despite Arianne and I being appointed over all things pumpkin: roasted root veggies, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin pie.  I nervously took charge of the pie(s) and must say it actually worked out quite nicely.

The pies in question:

With Arianne at the helm, of course the other dishes were amazing.  She even made a type of "cranberry" relish that was stellar.  (I lamented to probably only all of my classes that we hadn't been able to find cranberries in China - with the exception of crazy expensive craisins.  Two of my students took it upon themselves to rectify that and came back with these crazy, little, red, sour apple things that grow only on mountain trees.  So, not exactly cranberries from a bog, but they somehow managed to work.)

The other foreign teachers pooled together and we had turkey (quite the ordeal and expense - but ever SO amazing!), dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin soup, rolls with butter(!), gravy, roasted root vegetables, a Waldorf salad, the "cranberry" relish, lemon curd, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  I'm sure I'm probably forgetting at least a thing or two, and it may not sound like a big deal to those of you that celebrated in the states, but it was truly phenomenal for us here.

 These guys are no fools - they know where to hang out.

In the true spirit of Thanksgiving, we gave thanks for all our provisions and even invited the two Canadians along to join in the feast.  (They brought the dressing - of course they were invited!)  It was indeed a special day, and so much more than we could have asked for or felt was deserved.

Annnd, we're back!

Ok, so no matter that it's been about two months since my last post.  There were certainly a few internet connectivity issues, final exam situations, and maybe a teensy-weensy six week holiday involved.  (I know, right?!)

Anyhow, I'm back to my home base again and desperately trying to get caught up before I start teaching again next Monday.  So, in the meantime, I'll leave you with both the hopes that this term will allow me more time to keep everyone updated and a sneak peek of this happy, little escape: