Christmas 2009

Marilyn's cheese ball.

Acting out "Ten Lords a-Leaping"

The singers for "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

Santa's Beard contestants.

Santa's Beard contestants.

Santa's Beard demonstration.

Getting ready for Santa's Beard game.

The three teachers welcoming their students.

The boys at the party.

The party-decorating team.


Alfred dressed in his best suit and shiny shoes to help decorate for the party. He said since it was the first time to come to my house, he should dress appropriately.

Going to decorate for the Christmas party.

Marilyn and me with the assistant president of the university and two ladies from foreign affairs dept. They took all the foreign teachers out for a nice Christmas dinner.

We had some ladies over for a small Christmas party. They are also teachers in our department.

Joseph pointing out his lyrics to "Silent Night"

Students love wearing my Santa hats

Students in class

圣诞快乐 shengdànkuàile and 新年快乐 xīnnián kuàilè!

That is to say: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Every year I see and hear more and more familiar signs of Christmas in China. Christmas trees and Santa faces are in many shop windows. Familiar carols play over and over in the shopping malls. During one recent meal at Pizza Hut, we must have heard “Jingle Bells” about 50 times. It’s not unusual for a restaurant to put one song on repeat mode for the whole day or week or season. Western Christmas traditions are present in the commercial venues and churches but certainly not in peoples’ homes.

In class last week I taught my students “Silent Night.” I gave them a copy of the lyrics with random words missing in each line and asked them to guess the missing words while listening to the song. Some of their tries at the lyrics were fun.

“Silent night, only night”

“Sleep in heavenly sleepy.”

“Sleep in heavenly deeping.”

“Christ the savior is all.”

“Christ the savior is home.”

“Holy infant so tender and wild”

Christmas was very busy around here. Marilyn and I did our second annual Freshman Christmas Party for our 500 students – all boys! Yes, we are crazy! We had the party on Dec. 23 in one of the big rooms in the Student Activity Center on campus. We played some games, sang some carols, and watched Charlie Brown Christmas. I was so nervous about it all, wondering how we would fit 500 students in a room for 250, and if they would have fun, and if the movie would work, and if the PowerPoint would work, etc. But everything went well. The students seemed really happy about it all.

On Christmas day the foreign teachers were allowed to cancel classes! Yay! So we cancelled classes and traveled to Xiaogan – about 2 hours away by bus. We spent the holiday there with our teammates and some other friends visiting from the USA. In all there were about 10 of us. We sang carols and exchanged gifts while remembering the birth of our Savior. We even had a cheese ball (thanks Marilyn) and a real fruit cake (thanks Jane) among our many delicious snacks for the day. Even though we were all away from home and family, it felt cozy and happy being together for a “very Xiaogan Christmas.”

So another year comes to an end. They seem to go by faster and faster. The end of this school year will be the completion of my fifth year in China. I can’t believe it. I continue to love teaching in China and feel so blessed to have this opportunity. Why not come and visit and see all the fun I get to have every day!

I’m so thankful for the amazing gift of Jesus Christ coming to earth for us. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 圣诞快乐and 新年快乐.