This week did not many exciting events. It was a cold and foggy week for the most part. It has been in the 40's with some mornings in the 30's, but without the sun it has not been too fun to be outdoors. We are preparing for finals here, so we have gotten to learn all kinds of new things.

This weekend, we had two more Christmas parties for our 06 three year students. It was really fun. We had to make another batch of cookies on Friday to prepare for the parties--another 80 or so cookies six at a time in our toaster oven. They are not quite like the ones at home, but they are chocolate chip cookies. On Saturday, we went out shopping to get some things for the parties. For some reason, every time we go to the market, I have missed the dogs that they are selling there. I mean dead dogs with their skin taken off that they sell for food. Now they are abundant and everywhere, laying there with their tongues hanging out and skinned. But at the grocery store, we were finally able to see a little sign of Christmas as it is at home. The store was totally outfitted for Christmas, they had small and large Christmas trees all over, each worker had a Santa hat on and they were playing all of the Christmas caroling favorites in English and Chinese. This gave us a chance to sing and shop at the same time. I don't know if they change the music when we come, but whenever we get there they start playing songs in English. They are usually rap songs with lyrics that I hope they cannot understand. Once we got home, we made supper and found that our gas was all out, but luckily we had just finished making everything. On Saturday, we had 17 students who came. Our Christmas tree is now virtually full of ornaments and our stash of cookies are again waning. We watched our wedding movie again, which has become a great way of teaching about American culture, but also sharing about church and some of our beliefs. They leave wanting to get married themselves. We have gotten a few Christmas cards from students and a few gifts, which are really fun. They often give us chocolate, but it is just not the same as American chocolate. On Sunday, another 16 students came and it was very similar. We shared some of the songs that we had written together on the piano that we were given. It was really fun to be able to share those things with them. We again watched the wedding video and it is fun to see so many friends and family members on film and to see the exciting events over again. But we have watched it about four times this month!!

Well, this week, we are performing with the other American teachers in a Christmas program for the English department. It should be fun to share some Christmas songs and get a chance to celebrate with the whole department. We have some of our finals this week, but most classes are preparing for their CET tests on English proficiency. They are very nervous, because it is rather important that they pass. It will help get better jobs. We will be off to Guiyang for a large Christmas party this weekend and stay until Christmas day there. In the forecast, they have snow possibly coming on Christmas eve, so that could be very fun to see. They do not get much snow here ever, so the students are excited. Well, we hope your Christmas seasons are being blessed by the real reason we have Christmas. The gift of Jesus who came to allow us a relationship with the Boss. Enjoy!!