Christmas Part I

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun this year. During the morning some of our friends came over and we decorated cookies. For being their first time decorating cookies they did a great job!

In the afternoon, we went to the RT-Mart to get a TURKEY for Christmas Dinner! We have never found turkey in China but one of my friends knew we were on the look out for some during Thanksgiving so when she read the ad for the local grocery store she called me right away. Even though it was a bit pricey we ordered one. They rotisserie roasted the turkey so we didn't have to worry about cooking it at home in our tiny oven. We did, however, have to cut off the head and feet before we served it. It was our first time carving a turkey but we got all the meat off so I think we did it right. Anyways Christmas dinner was fabulous, not just because of the turkey but because of the other yummy food the teachers brought.

Later that evening the DIC (our bosses) took us out for a Christmas dinner and then we went bowling. It was so much fun and a new social activity to do in Baoding! Yippee. The bowling alley was really nice. It was only 8 lanes but very traditional.

Christmas was full of spending time with friends and opening presents. In the morning we opened out presents. Josh came down and we did our traditional stockings a little later. We then went over to Rena's who was having a Christmas brunch party and more presents. I then went to hang out with one of my friends whom I haven't been able to spend much time with because of her schedule and my schedule but we finally were able to really connect. It was very nice. That afternoon some more friends came over and we did presents and played games. Later we carved the turkey and then had Christmas dinner and Secert Santa exchange. Though out this holiday we have felt so blessed through our family and friends both here and back in America.

We hope your holiday was full of joy and happiness just as ours has been.

To see some pictures from Christmas click here

Off and On

Its interesting to see which websites will open on which days here in China. I have so much blogging to catch up on...I am behind, not because I have been lazy, but because the Internet is being slow or the actual blog site won't load. Tonight it seems like it is working pretty well. I will try to put up as much as I can...
Last weekend was a busy one. I(Katie) went to Beijing with my lovely coworker/American/teacher/friend Rena for a quick trip.That afternoon Curtis spoke, along with Josh and Rena, to students about the psychological effect of stress on college students. Curtis told me that when they introduced them they said "This is Beautiful Rena, Handsome Josh and Smart Curtis!" When he told me I could help but laugh...the Chinese are funny. I think since being here I have had more men compliment me on how handsome my husband is then I would have ever imagined! Yes, that's right- the MEN tell me how handsome he is, and of course I fully agree!
Later that evening we went to an English Majors performance and got to see many of our students from the past year and spend time with friends while the underclassmen performed To see more pictures from the English Majors Performance, go here Sunday, Curtis taught his random class he tutors every now and then, we did our weekly fellowship with Josh and Lindsey and Lindsey made some amazing egg-enchiladas
Afterward Curtis got to do homework and I got to go see the Men's National Volleyball match! Oh I was soooo excited! Sorry I couldn't put all the pictures up. it would have taken FOREVER!!!!
More Volleyball Pictures:click me!
Yes, today was Thanksgiving and it was a wonderful day...I made homemade pumpkin pie again and it was even better than last year, mostly because I had all the right ingredients this year (ha ha). I also attempted to make green bean casserole but didn't realize that when the recipe calls for a can of cream of mushroom soup, and the can says condensed, you DON'T add the water that it instructs on the back of the can (that's only if you are making soup!). So we had green bean casserole soup! It was still pretty good. Curtis made his yummy Candied Yams and Mashed Potatoes and gravy. Josh made some really good chicken for us all to enjoy instead of Turkey (no turkeys in China) Lindsey made some tasty homemade stuffing, apple-crisp, and gingerbread (haven't tried yet- we were too full!) and Rena made some corn, fruit salad (my fav), and really yummy pineapple. So bringing it all together we had a yummy yummy Thanksgiving meal. Lots to be thankful for!