Day 119 Celebrations Abound

Though BNDS is a school of primarily Chinese National students, the mission
here is to prepare our students for college in the Western world.  In fact, this
time of year many of our seniors are receiving their letters from applying for
Early Decision at colleges and universities mostly in the US, UK, and Canada.
(Think Dartmouth, Cornell, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, MIT, UCLA, Purdue, etc.)
As part of their 'world education', the school holds an International Day
highlighting the customs and culture of a given country.
Can you guess which country was featured this week by the flags?

MEXICO!!!
And I was so happy to have Mexican food catered to
the students and faculty in the cafeteria at lunch :)
I was also happy to see this guy, whom Len and I
met at his restaurant in a hutong on the northeast side of
 the city.  The fresh pica was amazing! The only thing missing
 was a tasty margarita on the rocks to top it all off! lol

This is my friend Mahoma, who was instrumental in the
planning of Mexico's International Day-
it's his home country :)

All of the following pictures are from our BNDS Christmas party.  I have NEVER attended a Christmas Party like this one!  I mean, they rolled out the red carpet for the faculty and staff.  It was incredible!  As we entered the foyer to the ballroom, we were each handed our first glass of champagne.  It was the first of many glasses of champagne ;)

We had imported cheeses, meats, and crackers during cocktail hour.  You have no idea how tasty it was.  For me to find a decent cheese it's two exchanges and an hour's subway ride across the city. So, unless it's been months since you have had a decent brick of cheese, only then can you appreciate having a platter of cheeses spread before you. It was pure heaven!  

But wait!  The main course! I nearly cried when they brought out our dinner- ROASTED TURKEY! DRESSING!  POTATOES!  SWEET POTATOES! VEGETABLES! BASKETS OF BREAD!  Oh. My. Good. Lord.  The meal was topped off with blueberry cheesecake, too. I had been feeling so homesick for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner- neither are celebrated in China.  (My Mom, bless her heart, said to me, "What?! You didn't celebrate Thanksgiving in China?!  No, Mom, we all had to work- the Pilgrims didn't land in Asia :/ )  I ate myself silly the whole evening, and didn't feel the least bit guilty about it!

While the beer, wine and cocktails may have helped the evening along, it was so much fun to see and hear everyone laughing and dancing and kicking off the Christmas season.  Christmas is not a holiday that the Chinese celebrate, since it is a Christian holiday.  In fact, the kids were in school Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, business as usual. For the first time though, BNDS gave all the Western teachers these two days off work, plus Friday, to get a five day mini vacation.  Do they know how to treat us right, or what?!  Seriously, I cannot even imagine how much money was spent on this Christmas banquet feast for us all.  It was soooooo nice, y'all :)

This is my friend, Lloyd, looking dapper in his tuxedo!
Lloyd is responsible for ordering textbooks and materials for
our classes, he helps with equipment issues in the classroom
(every classroom is equipped with a smartboard), and if you
ever need a movie, even the most obscure psyc related film,
he can get it for you.  If he doesn't already own it (he has
over 1000 movies in his personal collection), he's got
connections for a bootleg copy :)  Go, Lloyd!

Me and my Honduran friend, Alejandra :)
The picture may have been blurry due to the champagne- oops.

Jarrod, my Calculus teacher friend from the US, was
chowing down on the leftover sweet potatoes for dessert :)

Brandon (Chemistry teacher from Indiana!), his wife, Marie, from the
Philippines, and baby Calioppe, who is the very best behaved little
girl I have ever seen, besides my Emily and Ellen :)

John heading back for more....seriously, why are
all of these pictures blurry?!

Matt (Naval Academy and Harvard grad) is
planting some Christmas sugar on his sweet wife, Kacie.

This is Chase, one of my seven office mates.  He is my
'Second Best Man on the Ground' in China!  He speaks
very good English, and is an invaluable resource for me :)
He teaches me silly Chinese line dances- move over Electric Slide!

Some of my besties here in China, Ali from Honduras, and Zuong from Vietnam :)

There was much singing of Christmas carols, and dancing the night away!

I love this lady, Betty. Not only is she the head schoolmaster, but
we are about the same age and enjoy sharing stories of my
children and her only son.  She wished she had been able
to have a large family, but she was bound by the One Child Policy.
She is from the cold artic city of Harbin, China, up near
the Russian border.  You will see her beautiful city when
I share pictures of our New Year's trip to Harbin.
It was the coldest I have ever been in my life- not even joking.

There are 70 teachers in all in the International Department, from all over the world.  What a great bunch of people :)

And this is my "Best Man on the Ground" in China.
This is my good friend, and office mate, Edwin.  He is a
Physics teacher (and still single, ladies!) and he is one of
the kindest people I have met.  He sings beautifully, too!
He's such a happy person, and a dedicated teacher.
He's awesome.  He reminds me of my big brother,
Kent, who I know I can always turn to when I am in need.
Edwin drew me a map to the hospital, and gave me a
much needed hug when I got the news from the nephrologist.

When the dinner party broke up at 10:30pm, lots of folks headed to KTV.  KTV is karaoke, and the Chinese LOVE their karaoke.  It's also done very differently than back home.  There are huge KTV buildings covered in neon lights all over the city.  But rather than a typical bar atmosphere, you can choose the size of room you want to rent for the night.  With that, you also choose what snacks and drinks you want to be served, and then I guess you sit around and take turns singing to each other.  I would rather sit in a dentist's chair!  Karaoke is not my thing, so I politely bowed out and called it a night. I guess many were at it until the wee hours of the morning, while I was fast asleep :)

Besides, a group of ten of us had a brunch date at Lilly's the next morning.
It was the most delicious Western breakfast I have had since I have been
here in Beijing.  I now know where to go for my favorite meal of the day!
We had to get fortified at breakfast to do our best bargaining at the
silk market- we were all on a mission to do some serious Christmas shopping!

Cheers, y'all!