First Christmas Together
With the two bigger parties out of the way, the foreigners were able to sit back, relax, and enjoy Christmas (even if it was only briefly without days off work... boo....). Don't get me wrong! I LOVE throwing parties--especially Christmas parties (if you knew me in high school, you might recall the annual Christmas party each year... Good times...). But I also enjoy a more intimate and quiet celebration the closer we get to the actual day of Christmas. That being said, I adored the two big parties--the Christmas for Kids in Fuyang and the party for our students--they were just what I needed to get me into the holiday mood.
A nice small group of some of the foreign teachers and some of our close Chinese friends came together for a small party on Christmas Eve. Most of us were either off work or managed to move our classes around in order to make time to be with each other that night. I think it was a huge help for me to be able to spend at least a little time with other foreigners. Last year, Christmas Eve went completely unnoticed by me and Rachel (kind of hard to celebrate on a 16 hour train ride from Beijing). Even though I am still far from home and my family and the traditions that I have grown up with, it was nice to return to a normal(ish) Christmas Eve. We were able to talk, hangout, drink some nice wine (hard to come by over here... the struggle is real), and sing some Christmas carols! Of course, my favorite part of the night was getting to sing "Stille Nacht" (yes... AUF DEUTSCH!!) by candlelight... I don't know why, but it always gets me in the Christmas mood.
After the party, Adam and I decided that it was time to return to Cangqian. Deciding it was too cold to walk into town for our beloved street food (my months in Florida have made my blood thin and me weak), we ventured into the school store (past the Santa Claus buying beer), and bought some goodies (chips, cookies, drinks).
Following the Limpert family tradition, we decided to exchange our gifts that night. Our sneaky days of ditching each other to go down town definitely paid off. Christmas Eve was a hit. My presents were beautifully wrapped... Sorry, the presents I GAVE were beautifully wrapped (I didn't want you to be confused by that). The presents that I got were creatively wrapped.
Death was on my mind... until I found out he had bought me yarn...
After ripping through the gifts, destroying my room, and chowing down on Christmas cookies (thanks mom!!), I think it was safe to say that it was a successful Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day was almost a carbon copy of my Christmas celebration last year (sans KTV... sadness). After sleeping in, I called home via Skype to introduce my man to my family (the whole family) for the first time. I kept reassuring him that my family isn't bad and they're not crazy. Well... THIS is what greeted us on the computer.
This is why I can't have nice things.
Now I don't know how to convince him that my family does not belong in the looney bin! I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less... It just reminded me of how much I freaking love my family... Goofballs that they are... ♥
We decided to travel downtown for our Christmas day. Originally we were going to just walk around West Lake, since the first time we went there, it was nighttime and, therefore, we couldn't see anything. However, being in China, it was nice and hazy and at noon we still couldn't see anything so we decided to stay on the K25 and head on down to one of my favorite places in Hangzhou--Hefang Street!!
We spent hours walking around Hefang Street (and hours riding the buses). After a small Christmas miracle that got us on the return bus first (yay seats!), we journeyed back towards Cangqian. We stopped for a delicious dinner at Papa John's (don't you dare judge... pizza is like lobster and filet mignon out here) and returned back to Cangqian tired, full, and happy.
We decided to be brave and experimented with making hot spiced wine (Adam had some cinnamon and spices left over from his Thanksgiving spiced cider). This is the result:
We'll work on it.
All in all, I think it was a wonderful Christmas day. Lack of snow and time off of work/school does seem to take away from the holiday spirit that you try so desperately to feel. But honestly, I am willing to sacrifice a "normal" Christmas for the chance to be on such an adventure in China, knowing in a few years, I will probably be returning to normalcy.
Even if that wasn't the case, I would still be perfectly happy with my Christmas celebration. I have been able to get the best of both worlds--big parties with lots of people and small, quiet parties with just a handful of friends.
And even if I didn't get to have those wonderful experiences, I know that I would still get to celebrate the holiday with someone who has come to mean so much to me. Hopefully this is the first of many Christmas celebrations with Adam (if my crazy family didn't scare him away). I cannot wait to look back at yesterday and know that this was our first Christmas together. I cannot wait to start our own Christmas traditions. I cannot wait to celebrate Christmas with actual snow outside and not a pollution-y haze that we pretend to be snow.
I hope everyone had a wonderful, warm, blessed Christmas with your family and friends. I hope you got everything that you asked for. I hope you told the people around you that you love them. I hope you are happy. I hope you are healthy. I hope 2013 treated you well and that 2014 treats you even better.
Merry Christmas!!
Until Next Time,
Amanda
PS: Tomorrow (12/27) marks one year since I technically met Adam for the first time sitting on the bus to Xiasha campus... If I believed in coincidences, I would point it out... Either way, I think it's too cool.
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