We are beginning to see signs of Christmas everywhere here in Tianjin! Most people here do not view Christmas as a religious holiday, instead it is an opportunity for a party and to put up pictures of Santa Claus wherever there is space. Needless to say, my kids are not all that sad about seeing Santa Claus everywhere! I was reading an expat magazine yesterday and it tried to describe how the Chinese celebrate Christmas. Basically it said that the older people usually give cards and the younger generations see Christmas Eve as a night to go out and have a celebration!
We have had many opportunities to celebrate with the new friends we are making here. Last Sunday we went to the Sheraton for the lighting of the Christmas tree. Ellie helped sell teddy bears and all of the proceeds went to the Tianjin Orphanage. She was so cute asking people to buy the bears - she sold all of the bears she had and almost all of the raffle tickets. The boys ran around the whole time and ate cake and any other sweet that one of the Sheraton waitresses (who know us very well!!) would give them! I was with the kids by myself because Danny was sick! The kids had fun with their friends and Ellie was very happy to be helping other children!!
This past Friday night Ellie and I went with our friends, Jen, Kevin, and Ty to watch Rachel in her Christmas musical. It was called Christmas in Reverse and the children in grades 1 - 5 from TIS did such a good job singing and narrating stories from the Bible leading to the birth of Jesus. I found it really interesting that they had the parts in both English and Korean. During these stressful days of preparing for the holidays, I'm so glad we got to be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas! Thanks Jen for inviting us!!
On Saturday night, Danny and I had our first "date night" since we have been in China. We got dressed up and went to the Sheraton (yes, again!!) for a Christmas ball hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce and the Tianjin International Committee. It was a packed house and I think I enjoyed myself a little too much!! The thing is, when your plate is empty, the Chinese insist you need more food. I found out the same is true with your glass. I don't think my glass was ever empty which was a bit of a problem by the end of the night. I tried to ask my ayi if I could call her a cab and I'm pretty sure I spoke a little Chinese and a bit of Italian!!!
We've decorated our house as much as we can! Not all of our decorations made it into our shipment to China, but we have a tree, our stockings, our manger, and Snowflake (our elf)!! Snowflake has been a little crazy this year, we have discovered him hanging from string on the light fixture, hiding in the guitar, and peeking out from the branches of the tree. For those of you who are not familiar with our elf, we started the tradition last year with The Elf on the Shelf book. We read our book on Thanksgiving and Snowflake comes that night and then he changes position every night until Christmas Eve. This past Saturday, we bought a hand carved wooden manger scene at a Christmas Bazaar. The detail is exquisite and I like the fact that I don't have to stress out about Cooper breaking anything! 
I do love this time of year. And I have to admit, before Thanksgiving, I was getting quite depressed about spending the holidays here in China. However, we have been showered with so much love and support from our friends and family in the states and our new friends here that I am beginning to feel better. I'm sure it will be different, but I also know it will be a special celebration wherever we are!
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