Merry Christmas!

My Christmas in China was the perfect blend of eventful and relaxing. I spent the 24th and 25th in good company, but avoided everything related to holiday stress.

On Christmas Eve, I met up with my friends Breckan and Vince for lunch at Taj Mahal, a quaint little Indian restaurant with delicious food. We had lamb curry, cheese naan, and fried rice...

We then met up with our friend Ivan and went to Gulin Park for a special barbecue...

 I shared with them the very special American tradition of roasting S'Mores. They thought they were delicious, but a little too sweet...

Later that evening, I met up with some friends for some delicious, traditional Chinese food. We had fried taro, spicy sour fish with cabbage, lamb with curry, egg and mushrooms, spinach, and tofu soup. Afterward, they came over to my house for a small Christmas party... 

On the 25th, I spent a fantastic Christmas with a few families in Old Nanjing. First, I went to the Cao residence and brought gifts for the kids, Katie and James: Santa hats, Disney stickers, and a Santa shoe filled with chocolate. They were thrilled, and then I remembered why I love Christmas so much. It's so much fun to see the look on someone's face when you give them a present.

We had a delicious Christmas lunch of squid, teriyaki fish, roast duck, roast beef, and lamb soup with cabbage...

The Cao family got together for a Christmas photo (the guy in the back is 95 years old, the oldest resident of Old Nanjing)...

James, outside playing after lunch.

Katie and another neighborhood girl playing house

Auntie Yang was excited to wear a Santa hat. Possibly one of the kindest women in Old Nanjing, I was thrilled to spend Christmas with her this year... 

After lunch with the Cao family, my next stop was Wang Xiaohong's clothing shop. I brought her some perfume (not pictured), and black sesame candies and two chocolate bars...

I also brought some Nanjing roast duck for the Christmas dinner...

While I was waiting for Wang Xiaohong to finish up for the day and cook dinner, I took a walk around the neighborhood. I saw today's newspaper, which had a big picture of Santa on the cover...

Here is another one of my little friends (小朋友), Hannah, in Old Nanjing (her Dad, Guo Yifan, was the one that helped me find my new house). Much to her delight, I also brought her stickers and chocolate. I brought green tea for her parents... 

Here is some salted fish drying in the sun. It was so random I had to share it... 

 I took a walk to the park by the river next to the city wall to practice some Qi Gong...

 The park was crowded... old men were playing cards...

 sleeping by the river and relaxing...

old women were playing cards...

Later I returned to have Christmas dinner with Wang Xiaohong, her son, and her friend after she closed down her shop...

We had the roast duck with a cabbage and meatball duck leg soup and rice... 

When I got home, I got a package from my parents full of Christmas cookies and a pair of warm slippers! It made my day to open the package and find hand-written notes, Christmas confetti and tons of homemade, delicious cookies... the box was full of ginger snaps, sugar cookies, and lemon cookies! It was the perfect gift! My Mom and Grandma really know how to make me smile...

I could tell my Mom made the cookies using the cookie cutters I had grown up with. I shared the cookies with my roommate and will bring some cookies to share with my friends.... 

It was a great Christmas and I was really glad I got to share some American traditions with my friends at Nanjing University and in Old Nanjing. Everyone in Old Nanjing is getting really excited for me to move there next week, and I'm really looking forward to living in my new home. They say that it will be so convenient with me right next door because they can just call me over for dinner instead of having to make plans ahead of time. I couldn't agree more. Today, my friends told me that they're even more excited to celebrate Chinese New Year with me now, since they'll have the opportunity to share their own festival traditions. Everyone is doing everything they can to help my move go smoothly. For example, Guo Yifan will be bringing his car to help me move next Saturday, and his wife wrote up the contract between the landlord and me. Stay tuned next month as I dive into the next stage of my research.

p.s. I use the kids' English names because I use pseudonyms for everyone anyway and it's a good way to protect their anonymity. Thanks for understanding!

Wishing all of my readers, family, and friends a very, very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I wish you all the best in the coming year! Stay in touch!

礼物- li3 wu4- literally, "courtesy thing," aka gift