Kristmas in Karamay

Merry Christmas! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We had the unique experience of celebrating it here in China. We missed all of our families and friends terribly but are thankful for our opportunity to be here. It was quite different celebrating the holidays where there is not much festivity. At least that is what we thought at first. While America starts Christmas right after you cut the Thanksgiving turkey, China seems to wait until the Eve or just before. We were excited to find trees, lights and pictures of Santa in various places. We learned that businesses are the ones that really decorate, not so much people's home. But our home was quite the exception. We did our best to make the holiday come alive in our apartment. As you can see from our pictures, everything turned out to be quite cozy.

Josh and I got our fill of parties - Chinese parties that is. We went to three on Christmas Eve (each lasting about 3 hours). We've learned that to be a guest at a party here you must also perform. Josh and I sang at the first one (yes, it is true, Tiffany sang and was actually applauded, but then again they enjoy Beijing Opera so anything would have been okay). Then all of the foreigners hosted a game for the kids at the second party and then we all sang Jingle Bells at the last party. 

 

They enjoyed our voices so much that after we sang at the last party, we were requested to sing at a neighboring party as well. Ahh, the life of a foreigner...or show pony, sometimes we forget what we are. All jokes aside though, we are grateful for their including us in their festivities and making us feel very special. Of course, we were not the only entertainment - there were many other performers from singers, kids dancing, games to belly dancers.

This Christmas we added another furry member to our family. One of the kindergarten teachers at the school here gave us a young kitten!. She couldn't take care of it and her husband thought of killing it, so we adopted her. Her name is Bell (as in Jingle Bells, a popular song here) and she is a kitten through and through. She has been a ton of fun to have around and even Josh enjoys her antics when she goes crazy or just snuggles in his lap. And we always get a good laugh when she attacks herself in the mirror or when she gets all fluffed up in seeing her shadow.

As Christmas is a relatively new celebration here in China we are reminded of how fortunate we are to have been surrounded by the story that is so familiar to us. May we remember to think of those who do not know and hope that our lives can reflect the Christmas spirit of hope, generosity and joy throughout the year.