Happy Christmas Everybody!
Or as we say it here, 祝你们圣诞快乐!I really am in the Christmas spirit, even all the way over here, you know, with all the forgiving and being happy and thankful. Actually Nanjing is pretty Christmas-themed right now. As my Chinese friend explained to me: It is a shopping time! Whatever the reason for all the decorations, I really like it. Even my apartment building has a Santa Claus face sticker on it, with a Christmas tree. I'm going tree-less this year, unless you count the little "Waldorf'-inspired paper tree I made for myself when I was bored. Yes, that is what I do when I am bored. But I also received some presents from my lovely family, and I am going to Skype with them on Christmas. I am also not going to school on Christmas Eve or Day. I pretty much refused, and I wrote a heartfelt and guilt tripping letter to my Chinese teacher (in Chinese) so he would have to let me go. It worked!
I have an AFS Christmas party tomorrow, and the other exchange student program, WFU, was also invited so I get to hang out with my American friend Mira! We have been spending time together every weekend and she is really great! We have a ton of fun together. A lot of times we try to do non-Chinese stuff together because we just need that little break, and so far we have succeeded pretty well. Maybe 3 weeks ago we went to the "foreigners restaurant," and we simply talked for 5 hours. It was wonderful because I don't have my sister or Teal to talk to anymore, in person.
Then Mira's mom visited her, because she actually works in China at least twice a year. Her mother was very sweet! We went and saw the Memorial to the 300,000 Nanjing people who were killed and tortured by the Japanese back in WWII. It was... very, very sad, and also very graphic. Part of me cannot help but feel resentment towards the Japanese when thinking about this horrible event. Many of my classmates here hate Japan because their grandparents or great grandparents were killed by them. It really wasn't a pretty museum at all. I did notice, however, that the Chinese said they were the ones who won victory over Japan, when I clearly remember it was America who invented the Atomic Bomb... interesting, huh? But enough history talk!
Last weekend Mira and I went and saw the Life of Pi, which I LOVED! I just read the book about two weeks ago, and while I did notice a few differences, I really enjoyed the movie as well. Then we went to Pizza Hut. It was yummy, although I think that the crust might have been slightly deep-fried. It was pretty awesome, though! The salad was not good, however. The two American things Chinese cooks really, really cannot get right are salads, dressings, and milkshakes. They make their milkshakes icy, with chunks and stuff...not too good. This weekend Mira and I are having a completely Christmas day. She has brownie mix, I have Christmas lights, pancake mix, candy canes, and music. We are going to have so much fun!
School has been good! Very tiring, but good. My Chinese class is a lot harder now, and I think I may have two classes tomorrow to make up for the missed one. I really love them though. I love learning everything new, and I especially love at the end of the Chapter when my teacher, Mr. Ding, will ask me tons of different questions and I have to answer in Mandarin. Speaking is my favorite part. I am definitely best at writing, though. I can now write long paragraphs in one class time, so that has improved, and I make fewer mistakes. It is quite different from last year, back in the US, where my foreign language class was my least favorite class. Now it's not only my favorite, but my entire life! And I officially know three of my classmates' Chinese names. Chinese names are hard, well for foreigners that is, and I feel super awesome to know that many.
This Friday my class at school has this "run around the lake thing," which I really don't want to go to. It's not that I don't like running, or that I don't want to spend time with my friends, it is that I don't like running when it's BELOW ZERO OUTSIDE. It was -2 degrees today! Celsius. I know, that's only around 30 degree Fahrenheit, but still, I thought my face was going to fall off. The wind is like piercing icicles! I have to have my hands in my pockets or they quickly become numb. Luckily we have a heater-ish thing in our classroom, so I can thaw out.
I really miss my lovely family, and while I love all of you so so much, I just want to say this to two very special people. First to my family: I love you so, so, so much, and while I miss you more than I have ever missed anything before, I know that next June will be even more special. I think about you every day, and I always tell people about you, (especially my Fifi) and I hope you have the best Christmas ever. Now to my lovely Teal:) I love you so much, and I miss spending time with my bestest friend in the whole world. You are such an amazing person, and you have taught me so much, which I now pass on to my fellow Asians. But in simple words (haha)... Eat them tater tots for me!
我非常爱妳们,祝妳们圣诞快乐!
爱,
格蕾丝 or India
Or as we say it here, 祝你们圣诞快乐!I really am in the Christmas spirit, even all the way over here, you know, with all the forgiving and being happy and thankful. Actually Nanjing is pretty Christmas-themed right now. As my Chinese friend explained to me: It is a shopping time! Whatever the reason for all the decorations, I really like it. Even my apartment building has a Santa Claus face sticker on it, with a Christmas tree. I'm going tree-less this year, unless you count the little "Waldorf'-inspired paper tree I made for myself when I was bored. Yes, that is what I do when I am bored. But I also received some presents from my lovely family, and I am going to Skype with them on Christmas. I am also not going to school on Christmas Eve or Day. I pretty much refused, and I wrote a heartfelt and guilt tripping letter to my Chinese teacher (in Chinese) so he would have to let me go. It worked!
I have an AFS Christmas party tomorrow, and the other exchange student program, WFU, was also invited so I get to hang out with my American friend Mira! We have been spending time together every weekend and she is really great! We have a ton of fun together. A lot of times we try to do non-Chinese stuff together because we just need that little break, and so far we have succeeded pretty well. Maybe 3 weeks ago we went to the "foreigners restaurant," and we simply talked for 5 hours. It was wonderful because I don't have my sister or Teal to talk to anymore, in person.
Then Mira's mom visited her, because she actually works in China at least twice a year. Her mother was very sweet! We went and saw the Memorial to the 300,000 Nanjing people who were killed and tortured by the Japanese back in WWII. It was... very, very sad, and also very graphic. Part of me cannot help but feel resentment towards the Japanese when thinking about this horrible event. Many of my classmates here hate Japan because their grandparents or great grandparents were killed by them. It really wasn't a pretty museum at all. I did notice, however, that the Chinese said they were the ones who won victory over Japan, when I clearly remember it was America who invented the Atomic Bomb... interesting, huh? But enough history talk!
Last weekend Mira and I went and saw the Life of Pi, which I LOVED! I just read the book about two weeks ago, and while I did notice a few differences, I really enjoyed the movie as well. Then we went to Pizza Hut. It was yummy, although I think that the crust might have been slightly deep-fried. It was pretty awesome, though! The salad was not good, however. The two American things Chinese cooks really, really cannot get right are salads, dressings, and milkshakes. They make their milkshakes icy, with chunks and stuff...not too good. This weekend Mira and I are having a completely Christmas day. She has brownie mix, I have Christmas lights, pancake mix, candy canes, and music. We are going to have so much fun!
School has been good! Very tiring, but good. My Chinese class is a lot harder now, and I think I may have two classes tomorrow to make up for the missed one. I really love them though. I love learning everything new, and I especially love at the end of the Chapter when my teacher, Mr. Ding, will ask me tons of different questions and I have to answer in Mandarin. Speaking is my favorite part. I am definitely best at writing, though. I can now write long paragraphs in one class time, so that has improved, and I make fewer mistakes. It is quite different from last year, back in the US, where my foreign language class was my least favorite class. Now it's not only my favorite, but my entire life! And I officially know three of my classmates' Chinese names. Chinese names are hard, well for foreigners that is, and I feel super awesome to know that many.
This Friday my class at school has this "run around the lake thing," which I really don't want to go to. It's not that I don't like running, or that I don't want to spend time with my friends, it is that I don't like running when it's BELOW ZERO OUTSIDE. It was -2 degrees today! Celsius. I know, that's only around 30 degree Fahrenheit, but still, I thought my face was going to fall off. The wind is like piercing icicles! I have to have my hands in my pockets or they quickly become numb. Luckily we have a heater-ish thing in our classroom, so I can thaw out.
I really miss my lovely family, and while I love all of you so so much, I just want to say this to two very special people. First to my family: I love you so, so, so much, and while I miss you more than I have ever missed anything before, I know that next June will be even more special. I think about you every day, and I always tell people about you, (especially my Fifi) and I hope you have the best Christmas ever. Now to my lovely Teal:) I love you so much, and I miss spending time with my bestest friend in the whole world. You are such an amazing person, and you have taught me so much, which I now pass on to my fellow Asians. But in simple words (haha)... Eat them tater tots for me!
我非常爱妳们,祝妳们圣诞快乐!
爱,
格蕾丝 or India