The heat is on

Literally. It is only slightly, but when I hold my hand within a couple inches of my radiator, I can tell it's on. November 15 is the official "turn on the heat" day, so anything prior is truly a blessing.

Life's been good. I got another care package from my folks, full of socks and Western goodies--thanks, mom and dad :) Monday, of course, was Halloween. I don't have any pictures, but my school celebrated Halloween the way every Chinese Kindergarten should--confusedly. No one in China celebrates Halloween, so, say, carving a pumpkin or going trick-or-treating, both completely foreign ideas to all those involved... kids and teachers alike.

So, who gets to have fun with it? The foreign teacher (me). Monday I carved a big old pumpkin for my kids--something most of them had never seen--they loved it. They yelled when I lit the candle inside and we were all happy because I cancelled class for the pumpkin carving. On Tuesday the kids "trick-or-treated" from class to class... most of the classes, however, responded with a "meyo" when asked for candy--means they didn't have any. Like I said, they had no idea what was going on. I had fun, though. And I got candy.

This past weekend was good, as well. Some of our friends nearby, two American gals named Janice and Karen Marie, held a Halloween get-together for some of their Chinese friends. We carved little pumpkins (again, a first time for the Chinese), decorated sugar cookies and watched Harry Potter. It was cool to hang out with Chinese people closer to my age and they were all friendly and open to talk about whatever. This was Friday. On Saturday, Janice took us to this place called "Be For Time Tea," this place where you spend 18 kuai (just over $2) and get unlimited drinks--great tea, sodas, these yogurt-drink things, coffee, and ice cream. We stayed there for like two hours, played cards, and had a good time. Some CTF friends will be in Beijing this weekend and we may just go back.

The pictures below, by the way, are from the party Friday night. Me and Ryan are carving in the first one, and then the crew (minus Janice and Karen Marie) displaying our finished products. Just in case you're wondering, I do wear other sweaters besides that brown one.

Hope you all had a good last day of October, whether you dressed up, ate some candy corns, celebrated a one-year anniversary (congrats, Scott and Jaime!), or nailed some 95 theses. Take care!