Christmas with the FAO

Last year the Foreign Affairs Office Christmas Party was one of the the highlights of the whole Christmas season. This year was no different. Last year we introduced our FAO colleagues to the idea of a White Elephant gift exchange and they loved it. When we told them we wanted to have a party this year, they were thrilled and couldn't wait for the White Elephant gifts. We introduced them to some fun "western" snacks too. The deviled eggs and pumpkin soup were a hit. All of us foreigners really love our friends in the FAO and are grateful for all the assistance they give us. They put up with a lot of mafan (trouble, but the Chinese word is broader and better than any English word we have) from all of us and the Christmas party was one small thing we could do for them to try to show them how much we appreciate their hard work.

Beth, Katie, Amy, and me

Jian, Carrie, and Daisy

Brad and Yang

Sophie, Ally, Kristy, and Vicky

Points to Brad for his creative wrapping. I loved it. :)

Big, big points to Christy who (all on her own) wrapped up 4 goldfish in a bowl for a present! We couldn't believe it. The fish got stolen several times but ended up at Beth's house.
Yang won this lovely muff. I think (and hope) he donated it to Daisy, his wife.
Katie and me with Ally. Ally volunteers her time to tutor Katie and me in Chinese every week. She's a great teacher and a ton of fun and she has the cutest giggle. Katie and I have learned so much from her and we have so much fun in class every week.