I am glad I got on the bus early because I got a seat. All these people had to stand for a long time.

This is the Christmas morning spread. Hao Chi Ma? Yes, it tasted very good. I really wasn't hungry for lunch.

We wish you a merry Christmas.

And this was the road on Christmas Eve.

Like I said, we got a little crazy taking pictures at the bus stop, but it was fun. And aren't you impressed by the recycling bin. My friend had to stand in the middle of the road to take this picture.

While waiting for the bus I smelled a familiar scent wafting through the air. Let me just say, be glad that you cannot smell this photo. This is a Chou Dofu vendor (translated as Stinky Tofu). It does not disappoint its name.

Christmas Eve we went out dancing with Santa Claus. Since Asian children don't believe in him he has do something. If you didn't get any presents from him it may be because we kept him out too late. Sorry about that:) No but really, he really was a dancing Santa. Ta Xia le wo yi tiao.

Not being able to have caffeine kind of takes the fun out of going to a coffee shop, but the vanilla milk shake was good (no it is not an ice cream shake, it is a milk shake).

My roommate and I went to a coffee shop Christmas Eve night and they randomly had a little golf shop set up downstairs. Here I am practicing my putting, but I don't think it every went in.

Fish Tale

I was at my friends house the other day and some people came in and started talking about a fish that their friend had caught. He caught a 60kg river fish. Now that is big! Bigger than me and most Asian females. I just can't imagine a river fish being that big. Well, then I was invited to go dinner to taste the fish. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the fish, but the part that was cut up looked like a lot of fish. It was cooked in hot pot, a big pot of boiling broth that you eat of at the table, and I actually didn't like it very much. A lot of the pieces did not look like fish at all. It seemed to have a pork texture with a fish flavor. It was also very fatty (fish is not supposed to be like that). As normal, people felt the need to keep adding pieces to my bowl, so I got to eat part of the tail. The tail doesn't have any meat so you basically are just sucking the skin off the bone.
The funniest part about this story to me was that everyone kept talking about it. The conversation at dinner kept being, "So how big was the fish again?" "126 jin, wow, that's bigger than. . ." Anytime a new person came in the room the same conversation would pick up. I am really surprised that the fish did not grow during the conversation, but I did find out that it was supposedly 20 years old.

My parent and friends and family from the states sent me a Christmas tree kit. I taped the tree to the wall above my bed and it goes almost to the ceiling. The ornament have pictures of friends and family. It is great! Thanks to those of you who contributed.

I feel sorry for this little baby. Can he breathe? Around here they think a baby cries because he is hungry, but maybe it is because he is hot and wants to move his arms. Well, Keke has a cute little face and I did get to see that he has a full head of hair.

My friends had a baby last month so went to see the baby. The custom here is such that American women probably would not put up with. Mothers are not supposed to leave the home for an entire month after the baby is born. She must stay at home eating only chicken, eggs, and a sweet soup called Sugar Beer that has brown sugar and eggs in it (pretty much nothing else). My friend asked me about the customs in America and she was jealous. She is really tired of staying home and eating chicken. The mother is also not supposed to wash her hair or shower for this month, but my friend was rebellious on that point. Normally the Husband's mother is supposed to come to take care of the baby and the house but Eric's mother passed away so he has to do the household duties, like shopping, that Helen cannot do.

Fruit plates are quite elaborate and decorative out here. This time we had a dragon protecting our apples and oranges. He looks fierce but it is fortunate he doesn't bite cuz it was good fruit. (made out of a watermelon rind if you can't tell)