Have I mentioned that I love my school?

The Friday before we left for Christmas vacation, my boss handed each of us a bottle of French red wine and a box of chocolates.  They said it was a token of their appreciation for all of our hard work so far this year.  Then they told us to meet at the gate at 5:30 so they could take us out to an all-you-can-eat Western style banquet with free-flow beer and wine.  This was, of course, after a day of receiving sweet gifts from my sweet students with accompanying cards thanking me for being their teacher.  When was the last time teachers were treated so well in the States?

The banquet was complete with a lovely mix of Western and Chinese foods, great friends, and Christmas carols played on the saxophone and sung by expat teachers trying to create some semblance of tradition.  Oh, and I broke a wine glass because I "cheersed" with Kevin too hard (I don't know my own strength).  Luckily, everyone thought it was Kevin who "cheersed" too hard with me (which could have been caused by me shouting, "Kevin, why'd you do that?!" shortly after the "cheers" occurred), so it wasn't as shameful as it sounds. 

Then, the next day we went to dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant called Isabella Trattoria (highly recommended if you're ever in Shanghai and craving Italian) with a few close friends.

I love this picture because everyone is paying attention to something other than the picture being taken of them!

Chris and Meredith in matching outfits (so Chinese!)

The food was divine, the wine delectable, and the company delightful.  All in all, a wonderful Shanghai Christmas celebration!

The Wednesday before we left for Hong Kong, Adam and I exchanged Christmas gifts and opened the gifts our wonderful parents sent us (thanks!!!).  Here is our tree:


After that, Adam and I were set to pack our bags and get ready for our trip to Hong Kong.  Being the irresponsible, hedonistic duo that we are, we decided to go out with friends for one last Shanghai hurrah before leaving town and put off packing until later.  We went out for Korean barbeque with our neighbors.  Much sliced sizzled meat was eaten, and an inordinate amount of soju (Korean rice wine, similar to Japanese sake) and beer consumed.  Sensible packing was not going to happen that night.

On the way home, Adam decided to use his Chinese to speak with the cab driver.  He got in the cab and promptly announced (in Chinese), "Hello master.  My name is Adam.  I like chicken meat.  What time do the eggs get off work?"  Fifteen minutes later, the ladies at Kedi (like 7-11, where we went to buy more beverages, of course) were giving us strange looks for repeating Adam's Chinese monologue over and over again and cracking up.

Back at home, Micah and Rachel (some friends who came to Hong Kong with us) delivered their kitty to Brian and Joslyn's (our across-the-hall-neighbors) apartment.  Adam crawled under their couch with the cat and stayed there for thirty minutes while Elaine and I begged Will (our downstairs neighbors) to let her get a puppy.  He, like my boyfriend, was stone on the subject.

In the morning, when we awoke dehydrated and headachey, we threw some clothes into a backpack and set off to Hong Kong.  Love this time of year!

Merry Christmas and happy travels!

<3 ali