Christmas and Then Some

Fri Dec 21
Tonight was the school’s Christmas party/show. My kids did so well. I’m so proud of them. It’s the first time they’ve been up in front of parents and they were so cute. They sang Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. I got Corrie to take video of it on my camera, so it’s preserved for posterity. They also sat so quietly while the other classes preformed. There was no misbehaving at all. I was seriously impressed.
Otherwise, my entire world has involved gearing up for Christmas. In school we’ve been making decorations and cards and all sorts of Christmas-y stuff. Outside of school, I’ve been shopping a lot. I decided to buy my roommates presents. I also found a store nearby that carries yarn, so one of my roommate presents is actually a scarf. I know it seems ridiculous given that the temperature last night was 20 degrees Celsius, but Diana’s always cold, so it’ll work for her.
The warm weather is so weird. I wore open toed shoes and a skirt (with no stockings) today, quite comfortably. I miss snow. And stupid Sam actually gets to go home for Christmas. He flies out tomorrow, but he’s been rubbing it in all week.

Sat. Dec 22
Michelle had a small gathering tonight. It was sort of a Christmas/going away party. She's heading home to South Africa for the holidays. It was a lot of fun. I got some cut pics of everyone. We all had a little bit to drink, and ended the evening by watching the Lion King. T and I turned it into a sing-a-long. He actually knows all the words. It was great.

Tues Dec. 25th
Christmas Day was even less Christmas-y than I had expected. It was a great day, tons of fun, but not exactly brimming with traditional Christmas things. The most traditional thing happened this morning, with my roomies opening their presents and the mad rush to get ready for brunch. The mad rush was due to the fact that T and I went out last night after Mass and both wanted to sleep in.
Mass was actually pretty boring. And I don’t know if it’s just that I’m not Catholic, or something about the Church here, but I just didn’t feel the spirit (or whatever it is that you’re supposed to feel). It was interesting from the point of view of something I’ve never seen before, but I was a little disappointed. I wonder if a Mass at home would feel the same way. After Mass, we were going to go to a club, but by the time we got there, neither T or I wanted to go, so we saw I am Legend instead. It was superb.
Brunch this morning was fabulous. The food was amazing. There was even salad, with real lettuce (which is practically non-existent here). And I’m not even going to start with the desserts. The whole thing was over 10 hours ago, and I’m still full. We were a little disappointed, though, because as good as the food was, there was nothing really traditionally Christmas-y there. No turkey, or stuffing, or potatoes. Nothing. But pretty much everyone was there, except Katy, and she joined us later at The Shannon.
I think everyone should include an Irish pub in their Christmas day activities. We had so much fun. We spent about 5 hours there and no one had more than 3 drinks. Of course, we started with a round of shots, to toast Christmas. But then it was just like any other time in a pub. We talked and laughed, and napped. (The benches were really comfy and there were a lot of extra cushions.) They even had a traditional Christmas dinner. But it was expensive, and we were all too full for another big meal so we eventually went to a different restaurant where the others could get a bite to eat.
The group had been gradually decreasing in size throughout the day. The few of us left decided to head home after dinner. We were going to watch a movie at Michelle’s, but after talking to my family for a while, I decided to bail. I figured I’ll need a good night sleep, because I work the rest of this week and T and I are going clubbing tomorrow night.
It was great to get a chance to speak to everyone. As homesick as I am, and missing the family, I’m trying to make myself feel "the spirit of the season". So I’m listening to Bing, which is close to making me cry. I forgot that "I’ll be Home for Christmas" was on this disc. I was having a hard enough time with "White Christmas". I miss everything about Christmas at home, but I’m doing my best to enjoy the experience here.

Sun. Dec. 30th
Christmas is officially over, with the exception of me actually getting any presents. None of my packages have arrived. We finished the Christmas unit at school on Friday. On to the next. Right now, we’re trying to figure out what to do for New Year’s. The rest of the group wants to go watch the fireworks of 101, but I think we should go to a party or something. Oh well, I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow.
Yesterday I went to the National Palace Museum with Emily. It was amazing. The building itself was massive and beautiful. We didn’t even see the regular exhibit that they always have. We went to the special exhibit with Baroque art. Some of the paintings were kinda boring, but some of them were fantastic. I couldn’t take pictures inside the exhibit, but I took a bunch around the grounds and stuff. That was the other thing. The museum has the most spectacular garden.
Emily also introduced me to a couple of traditional Taiwanese foods that I had never tried and taught me some more Chinese phrases. The food was this weird pancake/egg thing that was really good. She taught me the name of it, but I can’t remember.
I’m healing up well from my fall down the stairs on Wed. I’m still covered in bruises, but they hurt less. And the swelling in my wrist is almost gone.

Wed. Jan 2 ‘08
Well, I survived New Years. Didn’t get to see all of the best fireworks, but I did convince the group not to stand around in a park. Also, it didn’t rain. It was a good night, and far more like at home than Christmas was, although we never did have a countdown.
We went to a place called Forkers for dinner. It’s yummy gourmet burgers (or chicken breast for those of us who don’t eat red meat.). The desserts were good and the artichoke and spinach dip is to die for. I even had a cherry beer, which was pretty good for the first half, then the beer-y aftertaste started catching up and it was not so good after that.
From dinner we went and stood on one of the main streets to see the fireworks from 101. I got a couple of pics. Then in the other direction, the Living Mall also had fireworks. I got video of those. We had gotten split up on our way to the fireworks, so we had to wait until our cells had service again before we could meet up and move onto the next stage. The next stage involved a Japanese bar where we all did 1 shot of Tequila before going on our way.
After the Japanese bar, half the group decided to go home, and the rest of us went in search of a different bar that wasn’t too packed. Because there were 9 billion people trying to get home from the fireworks, we decided not to wait for the MRT, but to walk to a different area. Luckily, 7/11 is open 24 hours (selling alcohol) and there are no laws against drinking in public here, so the party continued while we traveled. We eventually ended in Ximen-ding and had one last drink before heading home.
The next day, we were going to do dinner as a group (knowing that no one would be up in time for lunch) but then laziness struck. Instead of going out to dinner, Di, T and I decided to just stay home in our pj’s, order a pizza and watch movies. It was such a great day. We goofed around and it was just one of those days where it felt like I was back in school and cutting class (which I never did).
Today was back to school. I got a new student on Monday. He seems like a good kid, but he doesn’t know all the routines yet, so he’s a little disruptive. I keep reminding myself that it’s not his fault, but it’s really hard not to release the inner harpy. Since it was our half day, Katherine and I went to a tea house in Shilin. The best thing about this tea house is that from 2-5pm, you pay a set price (of about $8) and get all you eat and drink of cakes and tea. And the cakes are fantastic. It’s my new favourite place.
I’ve received 1/4 of my Christmas packages. I’m hoping that the others will arrive over the next couple of days. I love the bookmarks that Lucas made. They’re so cute. I seriously almost cried when I opened the card. Yes, I am that much of a loser.

Fri Jan 4th
I should be done for the weekend, but I’m subbing for Michelle tonight. Her class is pretty good. I subbed last week too, so now they know me, at least. I’ve also agreed to sub for Jackie on Monday, so yay money.
Today was such a long day. Art days are always a ridiculous amount of work for me. I either have to do a ton of prep beforehand, or I have to watch the kids like a hawk and hear "Teacher Val! Help me please!" 9 million times. Plus my boss has been on my case lately. And it’s not even anything I’ve done. It’s just that Sam (her favourite whipping boy) has been away, and apparently I get to be the scapegoat in his stead. Thank God he’s back on Monday.
Yesterday was pretty much same old, same old. Watched a movie. Learned the Chinese word for peanut butter. Dropped my laptop on the floor. It was ok though, no damage. All and all it was an ok day. One of my girls saw me snap my fingers, so she’s been trying to do it all week. She finally made a sound yesterday. She was so excited. But she wants it to be loud like mine, so she’s still practicing.
No packages again today. I’m holding out a lot of hope for Monday. I just hope that the last 3 don’t all come at once. That would suck to have to carry home and T’s not even subbing anymore to be able to help.
Went out for drinks after work with T, Jason, and Richard. 0204 makes a spectacular tequila sunrise. So much grenadine.... mmmm.... We only had a couple of drinks, and now I’m at home, about to watch National Treasure 2.
I’ve tried to post the videos of the Christmas show with this entry. I don't think it's worked. At least, nothing said it worked... but then again, nothing said it didn't. So, if they're here; Yay! If not... *shrug* I guess I'll try again later.