Christmas in China...
I successfully completed my first Christmas in China! Needless to say it was different from Christmas in Canada or in France, but it was none the less memorable.
Lunch on Christmas Eve consisted of a wonderful spicy chicken burger and fries in an over-packed KFC, and dinner was spicy fried rice. But the best part was the foreigner's party at the big university in town. There was food, performances by the foreigners (dancing, singing, poetry, KTV, etc.), and some dancing right at the end of the night. I should add that a friend got stuck in a bathroom at the university during the Christmas Eve party, right before she was to perform. She closed the door and the button to make the door open broke so she was stuck. Luckily there was someone nearby who was able to break the door open!

On Christmas Day I went to morning mass at the local cathedral. I heard from a few people at midnight mass the previous day there were 200+ cops outside the cathedral, only letting in people with "Christian Certificates". Mass was interesting as it was all in Chinese with some Latin sprinkled in for fun. I was able to sing "The First Noel" in English though. Just before I went for lunch a student came up with a package for me from my parents that had just arrived in the mail. Talk about perfect timing! I had lunch with a group of foreign friends, then we spent the rest of the day chatting, walking, and drinking coffee/tea.