"Wow. Thanks. You Really Shouldn't Have . . . "

One cultural difference that's immediately obvious when you live in China is the different opinions about what makes a good gift. Birthdays, holidays, recovering from an illness . . . it doesn't matter the occasion, American and Chinese people will have very different ideas about what presents to give. In all honesty, most of the presents I receive from Chinese people leave me either baffled, cringing, or laughing. I'm going to chalk it up to a cultural rift rather than criticize them for it. They certainly mean well and have good intentions, especially my students who (as is true of students the world over) don't have a lot of extra money. It is, after all, the thought that counts.

Here is a sampling of some of the gifts that Katie and I received this year from Chinese friends and students.

This is a "fruit fork tree." It was all in pieces and I didn't know what it was or how it went together when I opened it. Aubree figured it out. The little green "leaves" are actually tiny forks which are used to serve pieces of fruit to guests. I guess you put the "tree" out as a center piece and then pull out a "leaf" when you want a bite of fruit. Personally, I'd rather just use toothpicks and not have to wash tiny forks, but it is an interesting idea.

Katie got this picture frame which she actually likes (Katie's alter ego is Hello Kitty). It is still rather funny. It's a pink plastic frame that's shaped like Hello Kitty's head. The glass slides in behind it. You can take out Hello Kitty's face and put your own picture in or just leave Hello Kitty in it.
This year I received this interesting figurine and snow globe. I can't figure out what's in the snow globe. A shell maybe?? The figurine has a plant, some sand, and scrolls in it (haha, I'm still figuring the figurine, too).

I got this stocking hat from a friend. I liked the colors and receiving a new hat fit in nicely with my 2007 Hat Resolution (see previous post); however, it's so tall! It stands out about 6-8 inches from my head and has a huge bobble on top.

Two pairs of gloves from students. The one says "I like style glove!" with a paper face of a girl with "hair" glued to it. The other pair of gloves has a large bunny head (like a pillow) attached to each glove.

Here we have Katie and "Violence Bear" (a direct translation). This present was picked out for her in Hong Kong by a student. It's a plastic bear dressed as Spider Man with movable arms and legs. Let's say I'm shopping in Hong Kong and I see this toy on a shelf. My first thought would be, "Perfect! I'll buy that for my 26 year-old, female, American teacher." Umm, no. We have no idea why Katie got Violence Bear or what she's supposed to do with it. I've known her for four years and never known her to be violent (except before the Bears/Colts Superbowl).

I actually got this for my birthday. It's a scrunchy (yes, a scrunchy . . . haven't worn one since junior high) with a faux diamond broach attached to it. The picture is deceiving because the thing is massive and so gaudy! I never wear things like that in my hair and thought it was funny that the person that gave it to me seemed to think it was so fitting for me.

This was our Christmas present from the Foreign Language College. A crystal rooster attached to a crystal base . . . because I was born in the year of the rooster. The thing is scary. And it is really heavy. Katie and I both got one. In a way, I can see the rationale behind this . . . something Chinese and specific to the year we were born. But, think about the practicality of this gift. This was given to two foreign teachers who plan to pack all of their belonging and move home at the end of the year. It's heavy. It's extremely fragile. It's oddly shaped making it hard to wrap or pack. Exactly the kind of thing I want to try to carry home in my suitcase. One of the roosters already broke off its base.

Ahhhh, the tea sets. Your birthday or holiday is not complete unless you receive a set of cups. One of these sets was from my birthday but three of them were given to me and Katie for Christmas. I already had two in the house from previous birthdays/holidays. And, I've already recycled at least two maybe three other tea sets that I previously received. Please notice the cups that have pigs painted on them and ears on the lids. The students know I love coffee so they're probably just trying to pick something they think would be fun and useful for me. But, group mentality strikes again and they ALL end up giving me tea cup sets.
Some of Katie's students gave her this wooden boat. Yeah, we don't know what to do with it either.

Like I said, it's the thought that counts. Our Chinese friends probably feel the same way about the gifts we pick out for them.

By the way, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is a good way to deal with Chinese gifts. Otherwise your house will become overrun.

Christmas Day

Chinese Christmas with my fabulous friends. So much wrapping paper. So many gifts. So much thought and creativity. So much love and care.

圣诞快乐

Merry Christmas! My Christmas Day 2007 is nearly over (it's 11:00 p.m.) and I'm sitting here astounded at how blessed I am with an amazing family and the absolute best friends anyone could ask for. I cannot even begin to describe how amazing my Christmas with Katie, Beth, Brad, and Amy was. We opened presents for 5 hours straight. And it wasn't just that we had went overboard buying stuff for each other (even though we did do that) but the most amazing part was the thought and creativity that went into making and creating personalized, special, meaningful gifts for each other. I can't even begin to describe it. It was amazing and my heart can't take anymore. And my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law are just as amazing and I can't brag on them enough. The presents that my parents sent are more than I could ask for and my sister is the sweetest and best friend in the world. As with all of my China Christmases, I'm sad at not being home and I get a lump in my throat when I see pictures of my family and I'm not in them. But, the blessings that have come today and this whole year in China reinforce to me that I'm right where I'm supposed to be, even on Christmas Day.

Katie, Brad, Amy, Beth - Love you guys and thank you more times than I can say. We are bonded for life and this definitely was . . . "the best day ever."

Mom, Dad, Kara, and John - I miss you all so much (and the dogs). I love you all and although I've said it so many times, I know I have the most incredible family anyone could ask for.

To my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins - I miss all of you too. I love all the Christmas memories that I have of Christmas Eve's and Christmas Day. The food, all the people, the presents, the games . . . I'll see you all again soon and am looking forward to having a "Christmas in July" gathering with everyone. Grandma, can we make cut-out cookies this summer?!

To others who sent boxes and cards - everything was much appreciated! Thank you so much.

I'll have some pictures soon and some other fun posts about Christmas gifts. Merry Christmas and goodnight as Christmas closes on this side of the world.


O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease,
Fill all the world with heaven's peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

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.

Party Every Day!

Sorry for my lack of posting, but I really literally have barely had a minute to sit down and do anything the past two weeks. I'm in the middle of exams for my students and am also trying to invite all the students over for a Christmas party. On top of that, I have my part-time L'Oreal job and am trying to shop for and make Christmas presents. Busy, busy . . . but a good kind of busy. I'm sure everyone is feeling that way about now.

I always love inviting the students over to my house to share Christmas with them. But of course, if I'm going to invite one class or one group then I really can't get away with not inviting them all. With more than 150 students and an apartment that, at most, can hold about 25 students at one time, that equals six student parties. Katie also has about that many students and has been having them all over too. We've had a party at our house or had other friends over almost every day, sometimes twice a day. I figured out that between my students, and Katie's students, and all of our friends we will have had about 300 people in and out of our house in the last two weeks!!!

For my student parties we've done a gift exchange. The students have usually never done something like that before and have a great time with it. Here's my favorite gift this year. It's a "you zi" (in English it's a "pomelo" - a large fruit that's like a cross between a grapefruit and an orange, they're really common here in the fall and winter). The student who brought this drew a face on it and then stuck two lollipops in it to make ears! So funny. And it was the biggest and heaviest present which made all the students curious.

The students always tell me how much they enjoy coming over and I'm glad that they can see our Christmas tree and get to do something fun. I also get to share the true Christmas story with them while they're over.

Christmas Boxes!

On Thursday, I got three Christmas boxes delivered to my door. One each for me and Katie from Ruby Neier who's my adopted church grandma. And a box from Bob and Debbie Dillon, also from my church! The boxes were so great! Katie and I decided that they needed to be opened right away instead of waiting for Christmas. So much great stuff!! Homemade sugared pecans in pretty Christmas jars and great smelling potpourri from Ruby. Lots of wonderful food, coffee, drink mixes, etc. from Bob and Debbie. And, I got a new Colts sweatshirt, this one is the pink girl's-version :-) Katie and I immediately made a pot of coffee, ate sugared pecans, set out out the potpourri (we didn't put it on the coffee table though because we're not sure our Chinese friends will know what it is and we're afraid that they'll think it's a snack), and tried our new slipper-socks that Debbie sent. Thanks so so much to Ruby and the Dillons! Getting a box here is so nice and so much fun.




P.S. I think Bob and Debbie's box has the new China Post record. It was post-marked the 5th and I got in on the 12th! That's super fast to get a box shipped half-way around the world.