Having no snow and no turkey makes for a very different Christmas!
Jodi & Steven had a small gathering at their place on Christmas Eve. It was fun - mostly because a few people were more than a little intoxicated and there was some pretty funny dancing. I have some good video on my camera that will come in handy for blackmail purposes!
Jodi & Steven had some wonderful apps out for everyone - meatballs, cheese and some fruit. Someone brought over chicken feet, which are popular with the Chinese, but I'm not really interested in them.
Christmas Day was good. Richard and Emma came over as we had gifts for them. Emma knit me a scarf and bought Max a toque. She is a freshman student, but her English is quite good. Richard is definitely the most interesting of all of my students. Her English is good enough to make up some wild stories and tell jokes. She will graduate in January, but she hopes to stay in Zhangzhou so she can spend time with me before I come back to Canada in the summer.
Jodi and Steven came over for dinner - we made some Christmas Spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. A far cry from the usual holiday dinner, but it was so good!
Later that night, I called home to my grandparents and to my grandma! It was so good to hear their voices! Max called home to his mom and we also chatted for a bit.
Sometimes I don't feel so far away.
On the 26th there was a small earthquake here. I was home alone and after a few days of not feeling well, I thought that maybe it was hitting me all at once. At first it felt like I had sea-legs, but then I noticed that the tree was shaking and then the door opened too. It only lasted a few minutes and there was no major damage here - other than the internet being knocked out for a few days. In Taiwan it was a 7.2 and there were some injuries and deaths. We were lucky not to have been hit so hard, but it was still a scary experience.
New Years was a little strange too. We went over to Mr. Hong's and had dinner and drinks. Many people were coming and going throughout the night. The 31st isn't celebrated the same way over here. Max was more than a little under the weather, so we left a little early and rang in the New Year with a tall glass of OJ at my place. The next day, we watched the ball drop in NYC on the satellite. And that's when it really felt like the New Year for me.
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