Holly, Jolly, Xmas

I have definitely been slacking on the blogging lately, for that I apologize. Yesterday I finished my final exam and this morning I saw Sarah and her father off to the airport. It has been a very busy couple of weeks, but it was great to have some familiar faces around during the holiday season.

My exams consisted of me sitting in a classroom sans heat for 6 hours everyday listening to 2-3 minutes speeches from my students on a range of categories from environmental concerns, education reform, newspaper articles and even original stories. It wasn't the most exciting experience, at all, but it having Sarah around made it bearable.

Sarah, her father, mother, and stepfather arrived in Nanchang early last week. I met them in Shanghai and then came back with Sarah a few days early while her parents visited in Shanghai. Going to Shanghai really made me miss civilization. That's not to say that Nanchang isn't civilized, just that it isn't "western civilized." Shanghai is full of beautiful architecture, clean streets, and a great variety of food. As a cherry on top, no one stares at me in Shanghai. Oddly I took this as kind of an insult more than a relief. I think when I get back to the states and no one stares at me that my confidence will be shattered haha! Sarah's mother and stepfather went on to visit Xi'an and had a great time. Once everyone finally arrived in Nanchang, we had a nice lazy vacation....mostly because there is nothing to do in Nanchang and I was in the middle of exams. Regardless, I had an amazing Christmas celebrating with Sarah and her family. I got some great gifts and a pile of books, which is just what I wanted! I also got some great cold-weather gear from my parents including a great new North Face sweater. Thanks to everyone for the gifts! Needless to say, I was very sad to see Sarah leaving today. I wanted to sneak back to the US. On the other hand, it feels pretty nice to be done with exams, and I'm excited about my upcoming travels.

As of last night, my travel plans for this holiday are shaping up to be pretty amazing. Max has to go to Hong Kong to extend his visa, so Matt, Janice, and I are going to head down south with him. After Max settles his visa problems we're going to head to Maccau for a few days. I'm really excited about the possibilities for some new foods in both of these cities. I don't know much about Cantonese food, but I've heard good things. I think at this point that Janice is going to head back to Nanchang, but I'm not sure. After our time in these autonomous regions is over, we are going to down to Hainan, which is an island off the southern coast of China. It's often referred to as the Hawaii of China. I'm psyched about some warm weather, sand, and coconut beverages.

If we ever leave Hainan, we are planning to head up to Kunming, which is known for its landscape. Finally, we will head up to Chengdu, which is known for many things. Firstly, pandas! Other than that, I'm not too positive what the city has to offer. I need to do some reading. I have heard that it is a big city with plenty to do for very reasonable prices.

After things start to get finalized, I'll update. Head over to my picture website to check out some pictures from Shanghai, Guilin, and even from my last week of classes.