实事求是

I am sorry to have not written much in awhile.I feel like I have had things to write about then they disappear from my mind. More than anything, its getting near Christmas. I feel like my internal clock is calling on me to start doing something for the season. Its funny to see some of the department stores and buildings around here have Christmas decorations put up. There is even a life sized singing Santa in my dorm building. I've had many Chinese ask me about Christmas. There are some major misunderstandings. Some thought you are supposed to dress up like a witch or wear black like Zorro. I can not guess how these ideas got into some people's heads, maybe people are confused about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and New Years coming right after another or it had something to do with a Hollywood movie. Hollywood movies are like the voice of America. Many Chinese, and I suspect people around the world, see America through Hollywood's lenses.

My English school is going to have a big party tomorrow night. I am scheduled to work, so I will be in a room doing Christmas related tongue-twisters, games, and I will teach the students a Christmas song or two.

Fortunately I get Christmas Eve and day off! No work, so I will sleep in. I may not be so lucky on New Years Day. China's New Year won't be until January 29th I think. It is a major holiday in China. I will have nearly 5 weeks off from January 13th to February 20th for the Winter Holiday. I feel like I could use it. I have started to feel burned out. I would like to feel rejuvenated again and study hard next semester. I also won't need to work so much next semester, because I won't be saving up to pay for another semester.

I went to several department stores to find Christmas cards and went from department to department without much luck. Finally I found some cards that I could send out. They will be late, but they are on their way now.

I felt better about using the post-office in China since I got a card from Grandma and Grandpa. I was hesitant to use the Post Office for a long time because my address was unstable and I didn't even understand which counter to go to at the Post Office. It was just too much trouble. The Post Office looked like mass confusion to me the first time I went in there. My friend from Sweden, Bengt helped me out.

The weather is deceptively cold here. The sun is shining and the sky is blue, there is no snow on the ground, but the high temperature may not rise above zero.