'Tis the Season...

Hello everyone,

I have been busy making my classroom as festive as possible for the holiday season as well as documenting all of the materials that I have made over the past few months so that I will have a portfolio but also some security if anyone approaches me about not pulling my weight. I've made the bulletin board festive with papier mache holly berries and a cotton snowman, my lead teacher and I changed the curtain in our entrance from fall leaves to origami snowflakes with hand-strung beads, and we've been hanging garland from the ceiling for days! Did I mention that I made papier mache ornaments for my students (I only have four) and painted their names on with glue and then glittered the heck outta them so that they have something to take home for Xmas?! Phew, I am tired just thinking about it. My lead teacher and I came to blows because apparently I spend too much time on the crafts---we have four students, it gets boring, really, it shouldn't be an issue! I may not be able to paint and draw like my brothers but I can weild a glue gun like nobody!

We had a Christmas Activity and I decided that my class's activity should be to make edible marshmallow snowmen. They were kind of a nightmare but my principal was impressed and wants me to design an extra-curricular course of "Food Art" for next term...guess I'll be working on that during the break. If anyone has any ideas for fun, edible crafts for kids let me know!!

I have plans on Xmas eve (my first day off) to go to a house party with cookie decorating and probably mostly drinking in the afternoon (oh, it's 5 o'clock somewhere!). Then, I'll head to a friend's house to have dinner with her boyfriend and his coworker---no meat on xmas eve because he is Catholic *sigh* but I think there may be some meat pie during the afternoon! yay!

Then, I will frantically clean my apartment Xmas morning in preparation for Xmas dinner that I am hosting for myself and my friend and her boyfriend that I knew in Korea. I have ordered a 6KG COOKED TURKEY to be delivered to my house between 6 and 7pm. 6kg was the smallest one I could get---it's gonna cost us about $100 for the turkey alone but oh well! We could pay slightly less and go to a restaurant for a full dinner and not get leftovers or pay this much and at least get our money's worth!!! So I'm gonna be cooking for Xmas dinner this year again only really all I have to do is mash some potatoes and roast some carrots and onions. Easy, peasy!

It's possible that I'll hit up a cooking class at the Chinese Cultural Centre near me where I'll learn to make hand-pulled noodles and dumplings on the 27th if I can sucker someone into going with me! (These things are really only fun if you have someone to laugh at yourself with)

Other than that, no plans for my break. I've been buying myself all the things that I would get in my stocking anyways, treating myself to whatever I want so that I don't get any more depressed being without a loved one in Beijing!!! I bought myself some UGG boots for $20 and a silk robe (which is fabulous!!! and I have been looking at since I was in Korea!!!!) for $10, Law and Order the ORIGINAL first two seasons for about $25 yay! it's so hard to find, Bailey's for my coffee/tea on the big day (or now bc I'm impatient!), a heat-proof madeleine pan (been looking for one even in Canada---so excited to find it!) for ONLY $10!!!!!, I bought CANADIAN BACON ya!! from the foreign food store and have english muffins so will be making eggs benedict at some point probably with cheap bubbly (55 kwai-about $10!!!!) and OJ, and plan on getting a box of Froot Loops and some more perfume because I'm running low. Perhaps I'll splurge on some clothes for New Year's, I don't know. I have no plans for it yet so we'll see how that turns out. I'm getting a little stir-crazy in Beijing and wish that I had of splurged and made the trip to Kyoto like I almost did but I've got to save up so that I can make it home to Canada if I need to! You can leave the country but your debt still follows you! For now I'll stick to 100RMB ($15-20) brunches with CHAMPAGNE and good meals with friends.
Happy Holidays, everyone.