Okay ladies and gentlemen, gear yourself up for this one. Because I am so slack when it comes to blogging I have lots of fun, crazy, interesting and praiseworthy things to update you on! Not to mention lots of fun photo’s to keep you entertained. We are actually going to start with the newest events and work towards the older ones from the past couple of weeks. Why, you ask? Well not because I want to try to be witty or cool but simply because there is a process to blogging here in China that out smarts me every time. So, when I uploaded my photos which is step 1 I forgot I had to upload the newest ones first to make them last on my blog. In other words, it’s backwards. After the hours it took just to get the photos up I decided to try something a little different. For those of you who enjoy particular order I apologize in advance! So lets begin shall we…

Christmas in the classroom...

What better place to begin then with some of my adorable students!? Since the beginning of December I have been teaching my students Christmas Carols/songs leading up to this week. This has been a great way to get them to loosen up and be a little silly. I have really enjoyed being able to laugh with them and show them a less strict side of myself and of the classroom. This week I brought my guitar with me and taught them all Joy to the world. Sharing with them the story of a King who was born in a lowly manger. What was crazy was when I finally got this chance it was like this secret that had been welling up inside me bursting to come out. It was great just to share His joy in His story. At the end of class I gave the students paper to make a Christmas card anyone they would like. Over all I would say it was a successful month of teaching!

How sweet is he! Working on their Christmas Cards.



Gingerbread extravaganza...

Last night the girls and I got together for some pre Christmas fun! With some fabulous goodies that arrived via some awesome Mom’s back in the states we made a gingerbread village, drank hot chocolate, ate some peppermint kisses and listened to some festive Christmas music.

Thanks Mom for the hot Chocolate which made this picture/smile possible! :)

My Peppermint creation...I have to say when I heard gingerbread houses I was extremely hesitant because my track record is a little rocky when attempting gingerbread architecture. However for people like myself this mini village version was awesome! They were the perfect size. Although its hard to believe from this picture, my house really was a MESS in the beginning and I'm pretty sure I finished with more icing on me than on the house but the peppermint covered it well and I was pretty proud of my finished product.


Our finished product!

This week has been more difficult than I expected being away from home. At random points it will just hit me and I’ll tear up but after doing some fun activities it started to feel more like Christmas. It was just what I needed to cure the homesick blues! I am missing home and the traditions of the holidays but I am so grateful for the opportunity I have here and the wonderful people He's placed in my life, near and far!

The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is to sing loud for all to hear...

Last weekend we spent our Saturday evening out on the square with between 250-300 high school students singing Christmas carols! It was a blast. It was too complicated to try to explain to my students because their English is so limited but it was great to see the students that came from Leslie and Camille’s school (#1 high school) and Paul and Erin’s school (#3 high school). We honestly had no clue if any students would actually show up and weren’t really sure of a game plan until about five minutes before we arrived. It turned out to be a blast! It was so cool seeing so many students eager to hang out with the foreigners and sing some Christmas songs. Because this is not something that normally happens in the middle of downtown (singing in English/forefingers gathered for all to see) we drew quite a crowd around us. After we sang through the songs we knew the photo ops began and turned into a full on out photo shoot for most of us. Don’t worry we had prepared mentally for this ahead of time and were ready with our best smiles!

These last two pictures were of our favorite Waffle man in town! We went and ate dinner with him after caroling to warm up and eat something good! He is so funny and loves it whenever we come by, considering he sees us often because we love these things! My favorites are chocolate and banana.
Oh the weather outside is frightful..

Whats better when its cold outside then something warm to eat?! A couple weeks ago we had a chance to go out to eat with some of the English teachers at one of the top primary schools in town. Our friend John Randall and his family are here in Huangshi (they just so happen to be the way Dad got me here to begin with!) and he is a teacher at the school. We ate at a really good hot pot restaurant. It was so good to hang out with these sweet teachers and new friends!

The way hot pot works: You sit down at a big round table with a rotating top, they place all the food;ie. meat, veggies and carbs on the table and you choose what you want to cook in your own individual pot of boiling broth. I guess you could compare it to a dinner fondue, like at the melting pot. Its super delicious but takes some getting used to. Figuring out how long to cook what and when.. lets just say I got to wrong more than I got it right the first time but it was fun and yummy!

Making Mexican Happen in China...

Last but not least of the photos is of a girl night we had two weekends ago. We decided we were going to make Mexican food happen and it was delicious!! We made chicken nachos, with Velveeta salsa dip(from stateside), black beans, and fresh salsa it was amazing!

Hilarious story about the chicken for this meal... You see in China as in most other places outside of the West does meat a little differently. I volunteered to go with our sweet Chinese sister Dawn to get the meat, little did I know what I was in for. We waited until the night of, so I knew we couldnt get frozen chicken because it would take forever to thaw. So I tell Dawn we need to get fresh chicken, she politely says "okay, lets go, I'll help you!" like she always does and we take off. I knew we'd be heading towards the meat market because it is a common stop for the people in town on their way home to make dinner. I pass by it often cutting through the streets from my house to downtown and you can smell it a mile away. That was enough to keep me away until this point. I knew I needed to go and help but was not necessarily looking forward to the experience. Mainly because the market is known for selling dog meat. :( We arrive at our destination but I realized Dawn wasn't going in, so I thought, okay well she knows what shes doing I'll follow her. The next thing I know she stops in front of some cages with live chickens staring and clucking at me.. yep. Her exact words being TOTALLY serious were "you want fresh chicken right?" Oh goodness. I can not begin to tell you how I proceeded to explain to Dawn I did not want to know my dinner while it was still alive nor see them kill it and was determined there had to be another way. She laughed at me and I asked her if we could find it already off the bone. Thats when we walked into the actual meat market. Gross. The smell is enough to knock you off your feet if you're not ready for it and the meats literally just hanging out. But you know when in China... Dawn proceeded to go to every vendor making sure she got the best deal/chicken in the place while I was just wishing she would grab anything so I could get out! haha. The whole thing was hilarious and so true of the cultural differences!

Spring Festival..
Some more exciting news on the fore front is that I will be starting my break for China's spring festival on January 3! This is a month that the students and teachers have off to celebrate the coming season and spend time with all of their family. The reason this is so exciting for me is because this means I have a month to explore Asia! I will be gone for almost three weeks stopping in Southern China, Vietnam and Thailand. This is such an awesome opportunity to travel and see new places and new things along with staying focused on pouring out and proclaiming His love over this side of the world!
As you are getting all the preparations ready for Christmas I am prying that you would be filled with a peace and a joy in the understanding of just how faithful He is. This season has taken on a new meaning for me here and its something I will never forget.