SUNDAY SNAPSHOTSSS (many photos!)

I taught my last class on December 23rd and had two days off for Christmas, but since then it's been busy, getting exams ready and giving exams. I just gave my last final this past Friday (January 2nd). Here's a bit of what I've been up to as the term winds down ...


All the students at our university have to learn to ice skate. It seems like a Harbin tradition. Now that it's the end of the semester, many students are selling their ice skates back to the school store. I bought a used pair and I've gone twice at the ice rink on campus (a large flat field that they flood). I hope to skate on the Song Hua River sometime this winter.


Lindsay and I ice skating. Yes, it's as cold as it looks. Ice on my eyelashes and I think you can see our breath in this picture. But is good fun and good exercise.


第十届哈尔滨冰雪大世界。The 10th Harbin Ice and Snow World. The other foreign teachers at my school and I braved the cold to see this last Sunday evening. We lasted 2 hours. I think I wore the 4 pairs of pants! Good thing, because they had ice slides there!


Me at the 10th Harbin Ice and Snow World. A note about the fake fur on my hood. I had this jacket in the states, but never zipped on the fur. But here, it's worth it. It helps block the wind. And it's totally the style here!


We also treated some of our close mutual friends to a holiday dinner last week.

But it's hasn't been all fun this past week. End of the term means it's also time to grade exams ...

I'm done with my stack of 32 English second-majors. But now I need to tackle my 83 freshman English majors Oral English exams (pictured here: as thick as my Lonely Planet travel guide). Before I could grade the exams, I had to have a lesson from our Chinese teachers. This year, the foreign teachers have been asked to follow the same format as the Chinese teachers. It's meant that we've spent a lot of time in the English department office, but it also means that we've got to know the Chinese English teachers a whole lot better! Now ... I wonder how long it'll take me to grade these exams ...

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

Merry Christmas!

I miss being home for Christmas, yet I was still filled me with joy as I celebrated with friends over here. I spent it with the other foreign teachers at my university and some other close foreign and Chinese friends. We went to a wonderful dinner at noon the Shangri La Hotel and then walked along the banks of the frozen Songhua River.


On the banks of the Songhua River.


Me and my friend, a student from Canada, ON the frozen Songhua River.

COOKIES, CARDS, & CAROLS

So... my apartment is a mess of card clippings, sugar, flour, and chocolate, and things are really hectic with planning finals, grading, teaching. But, since I don't have a class to teach tomorrow morning, I thought I'd share with you all a little bit of the fun that I've been having in the midst of all this busyness.

I've been throwing Christmas cookies, cards, and carols parties for my students last week and this week. ... Right now I've had 5 groups of 11 over (on 5 different nights). I've got 6 more parties to have before next week.

Here some students in the process of making and decorating cookies:

You can hear one student, frustrated with sticky icing, saying (in Chinese), "Chopsticks are better." ... Chopsticks actually do work well for icing cookies! We tried it last night.

Most have my students have never baked before, or cooked very much for that matter, but the cookies have turned out very well! As you can see from the picture.

Before we eat them, we must take a photo!

And this is what it look like 3 minutes later:


And now it's time once again to clean up. ... I guess I'll just HAVE to lick all the spoons covered in chocolate.

p.s. Is it just me, or was the turn-around between Thanksgiving and Christmas abnormally fast? I really feel like Christmas has snuck up on us this year!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

Before Thanksgiving, I had one of my smaller classes (this class actually started at 30 something, but is now down to 8 because it is an ungraded course) over to my apartment to bake apple pie and apple turnovers.

Some reactions to apple pie: "It's so big!" "It's sort of like making a dumpling." (referring to the apple turnover) and of course... "Mmmmmmm."

And no, I have not forgotten about the turkey story yet. I don't think I'll be able to write it up until after the holidays though. These next two weeks are going to be a whirlwind of baking cookies, having parties with students, teaching, writing my finals and giving them. I'll be done with the majority of my classes on the 23rd, but I give one final on January 2nd.

I can't believe it's already December. Oh, and yah, it's cold here. Last Friday, the high temperature was 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 Celsius). Today it warmed up to 20, and it felt good. ... It's not even winter yet though. ... and I think the sun went down at 3:30 today. ... I sorta like the cold though, when you're wrapped up in layers and your down coat, you feel cozy. I'll post a picture soon of what I normally look like when I go outside.

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT

It's hard to find turkey in China ... so when some other teachers and I happened to spot 4 live turkeys near our favorite Korean restaurant, we asked the man who owned them if he'd sell one to us. He said they were his pets, but that he would sell. (I think he was really being a smart entrepreneur.)

We had to chop the turkey into pieces to fit it into our mini-ovens. Here's a picture of my team with the turkey re-assembled. (You can also see it on my blog.) Let's just say it was quite an adventure ... i'll post a full story when I get the chance!

I'm thankful for all of you, and for turkeys!