Present stockings!
My tree! I fully decorated it and then I put all the ornaments in stockings for gifts and replaced them with a single strand of silver tinsel with snowflakes!
These were the base for ornaments and to use for English Corner where we made animal themed ornaments. Kids love it when we craft.
Winter decoration so I do not feel compelled to yank it down Jan. 1.
These are some of the 15 or so snowmen I made to give as special gifts to certain people. I figured it was the best use of a large bag of white rice I could think of....LOL
And then there was the company Christmas party. I work at my school for the company. I love my school, I have less than no use for my company. For that info, I need to start at the beginning.
When I arrived in China, I was met by a man with a small sign that I assumed had misspelled my name. He spoke no English and I had no clue where I was going after that. I arrived on a Friday evening and Monday I was at the company being told where I would be working. I was then put in the school and expected to hit the ground running. SGC (Scooter Girl China) was next door and worked with me. It seemed a match made in heaven. She helped me with my dental issues, my medical issues, and helped me open a Chinese bank account. But, and there is always a big but, when the crazy started to show, it became a nightmare.
Working in the same office and living next door, became too much and I informed the school I was unhappy. I begged to be given at least a new office and was informed that there was no place else to put me. I asked if I could move my computer into the library so I would at least have a quiet place to prepare lessons and was informed that was not an option either. So, I started looking for a new job. I told the school that it was not the school or the kids, but I had to look out for myself. The main teacher liason not only understood my situation, she agreed she would not have lasted as long as I have. So, I interviewed and was shortly made an offer.
I informed the company that I was not happy and asked for my housing allowance so I could move out, or to switch schools. I had already made known my problems to the boss, so I was surprised when nothing happened. A week later they had a "chat" with SGC and it only escalated her...odd...behaviour. The reply from the company was that this was nothing more then a "personal issue" between us and I should be grateful for all she did for me so don't let the door hit me on the way out. If I chose, they would consider my letter a letter of resignation. On that note, they could not seem to timely respond to my emails or concerns, but they called me about 7 times to find out if I was attending the company Christmas party. Did I mention they failed to pay most of us on the 10th, yet the Christmas party was scheduled for the 16th and we were constantly reminded they spared no expense? I had no intention of going until I was informed by my school to not worry, that the situation would change with the new semester :-) I went to see what would transpire....oh what a show!
This is my buddy Chris. He is of Chinese ancestry, but was born and raised in the UK. People just assume he speaks Chinese and nope, not a word! He is the first person I "hosted" for dinner when I made chicken noodle soup. He had mentioned he just wanted a proper pasta and I said, guess what? He was eternally grateful and happy as hell to move out after 2 months when his wife arrived. I miss him and his funny little accent!
From the left, Michael, a company man who really means well but doesn't always speak the truth; a 3 other teachers, Charlie (still a bff) in the white shirt, me, behind me is the head of the company and another worker; 3 other teachers living in the dorms (Charlie escaped and is happy to be out), and finally, Rose. She is the "boss".
These are 3 of the 5 women I work with. The other redhead is Victoria. She is from England. The gentleman is Kimbar (?) and is he a vice-principal(?), Phoebe, and Christina. Christina is my liason with the school and one of the greatest people I have met.
So, the food was AMAZING! Most of it was Western and I stuffed myself silly. From the moment I walked in though, to find I was seated across from SGC, I asked the bartender for white wine (they are HUGE fans of red in China...no pun intended) and made him fill the glass. I then arranged to sit with another school so as not to be near her. They were drawing raffle prizes through out the night and I was impressed with the prizes. Headphones, Kindles, and the grand prize...I 1100rmb phone. Of the top 10 prizes, teachers at our school won 3 of them. I won the phone. It was very contrived and obviously rigged. All I could think was, "Great, just what I need, a new phone. Glad I bought the exact new phone I wanted before I left the States." If it would work outside of China, I would ship it home to Ian. I am told they DO NOT work outside of China.
So, with our principal in attendance and the actual owner of the company as well, the MC (Joel, a married man living with his small daughter and pregnant wife in our one room dorms), handed the mike to SGC and told her to sing. I immediately left as I just couldn't watch what was likely to be a train wreck. According to those who stayed, it was embarrassing and her dancing afterwards was even more so. Apparently she was the ONLY person who danced the entire evening and her moves were not appropriate to do with Joel's small daughter joining in. Nuff said.
So, I did the good foreign teacher thing and attended the NYE party at the school. They sat us at big round tables outside and we were given a big bowl of...layered stuff?...to share. No clue what it was, but I was starving. They performed all sorts of skits, think parody stuff about students and other teachers, and apparently it was hilarious. I can confirm nor deny as it was all in Chinese. I again won a raffle prize, a very large thermos, and this time it was not rigged. I spent ALL and I mean ALL of January 1, 2016...in bed. Well, in bed, on the toilet, or on the floor next to the toilet. Apparently I got food poisoning. The other foreign teacher agreed that she felt awful the next day, but she was drinking the red wine they served. I had 2 glasses of white and 2 beers. Hardly the stuff of massive hangovers. I googled it and sure enough, all of my symptoms matched....wooohooo happy freaking new year! I figure if I start the year out at the bottom, it has to go up, up, up....right??? I want to say my new year started off with a bang, but it was more like a puke and a sigh...LOL HAPPY NEW YEAR! The up side is that I live in China and THEIR new year is not until Feb. 8, so I have a chance to do it right!
