So what's been keeping me so occupied for the last two weeks have been:
1) Cookies. All kinds of cookies. Chocolate. Peanut butter. Peppermint. Lemon. Sugar. Pinwheel. Some drizzled with chocolate. Some rolled in mint crumbs. Some decorated with royal icing and amateur piping. I lost count of how many I made. Fortunately, cookies and all things involving baking are wildly exotic here in China, so if I mention that I need helpers, I get immediate responses. Sounds exciting until you take into account, though, that Chinese people - for the most part - are completely unschooled in the art of baking. It's no exaggeration that some of them have never even handled butter. So...eager help doesn't always mean faster turnout. Nor does it ensure that their cookies will look anything like the photos online. In fact, assume that their batches could double as ink blot tests; no one sees the same thing twice.
2) The boss kept her promise. She came over to learn how to bake. We made fudge brownies from a box mix that she brought with her, and I also taught her a classic sugar cookie recipe. It was a big moment that's taken four years to materialize. I have never seen a Chinese woman - or man, for that matter - find such delight in operating a hand-held mixer. She squealed. SQUEALED. And she's already ordered one for herself.
3) Christmas day was a steamroller. It began with service at our fellowship, every pew being filled by people. I will give credit to the Chinese; their body size and lack of personal space qualifies about 50% more attendance than foreigners trying to maximize the same amount of seating. Our service is flanked by two other services, both in Chinese. The first went into OT, thus pushing ours back, which meant the final service was delayed. They weren't happy. Standing outside in negative temperatures didn't do anything to alleviate the situation. There were other things I noticed that day -- workers dressed in Santa suits during the first service -- that were unsettling to someone who has been brought up with very clear boundaries between secular and sacred. I would be eager for someone to explain that perplexity to me and more than eager to share my thoughts with them, in return.
4) Christmas evening was spent singing Christmas carols with students in the dining hall. More or less a yuletide choral flash mob. Our grand finale was sung by candlelight, intruded upon only by camera flashes.
5) Final exams have almost finished. I have no guarantee that I will see the same students next semester, which saddens both me and them. Those freshmen sure are lovable.
6) Tickets for Thailand have been purchased, sort of. I know when I'm going, and I know roughly when I'm coming back. I've booked the outgoing flight but am still hammering out details about the incoming itinerary. Some friends and I are thinking of paying a visit to The Soldier while he's home. If so, we will be the only foreigners - moreover, foreigners with fair skin and hair - in his entire village, population 40,000. I really really hope we get asked to be in a parade.
