Christmas Time in China!

When I was a little girl, my dad always wanted me to be an actress when I grew-up. In the depth, of my 7-year old, as I performed "Baby, Baby" for everyone in my family, I think I wanted to be a singer. Well, for now I am neither of those things, but in my current employment, I have to opportunity to practice my acting and singing skills on a daily basis! The latest practice came at the Christmas party we got to throw with the students and teachers on old-campus. We decided we couldn't let the season go by without throwing a proper Christmas party, complete with friends, a tree, food, dirty santa (white elephant, yankee swap), and of course the Christmas pageant. What better way to tell about the Christmas season than acting out the birth of Jesus?
Each of the team and our friend Cameron had a part in the play. Unfortunately, I didn't get to be the mother Mary, but I did get to play the part of the angel who shares all the good news to everyone! I think I like being the role that brings news of great joy. My hope is not only to do this when I am acting as an angel in a play. The students loved our play and enjoyed hearing the story of the birth of Jesus. The picture to the right shows us acting out the play.
So, now that my practice for acting is complete, it only leaves the need to practice my singing. Oh, but in China these opportunities are never far away. This past week's practice was especially wonderful though because it was singing Christmas carols in my class. I had the honor of teaching a Christmas lesson in my classes for these past weeks and of course, singing had to be included. I made the students sing the Twelve Days of Christmas and broke them into twelve different part for the days. Whenever it came for their turn they had to stand up and sing their part for the classes. Most students really liked it, although some were not loving the standing up and singing part. After working the students up by singing the Twelve Days of Christmas, I always calm them back down a little with Silent Night. Standing in front of my students as they they sang Silent Night always filled me with so much joy. Besides just singing in this class we also read the Christmas Story. Complete with the angels visit, Mary being a virgin, and Shepard's going to visit the baby Jesus! What a sweet time in class!
Not only have I been celebrating Christmas in class, but also with my IECS family here. The Baoding team knows how to do Christmas. We woke up and all came together for french toast and ham. Followed by a few hours of presents! It was amazing! Later in the afternoon the rest of the IECSers joined us here in Baoding! So fun! Em and me were in charge of the big dinner for everyone, so we spent the afternoon getting the food ready and had many helping hands from the boys. Ryan is quite the chef. We later opened even more presents with the rest of the IECS team. Reflecting on the day just reminds me more and more of how blessed I am!