Christmas in Jinhua!

Aside from missing my family like crazy - the students made this Christmas in China a very special one.   It all started when I walked into the classroom and they had given the very plain classroom a very MERRY CHRISTMAS makeover. AWESOME.  Not only are their notes in the advent calendar some of the most special warm fuzzies I have ever read, they then took the time to make this Christmas decorating very imaginative, and related every decoration to our inside jokes with our class. One of my most favourite Christmas presents.

To Ms. Killens, Merry Christmas, You're not alone, were here with U, like a circle!

We then skyped my parents, and Ashley opened her Christmas present from me, what I was not expecting were the tears to start flowing in front of the students. Ashley on the big screen, crying, me in the classroom, and the whole fam jam there to support.  It was wonderful.  The students understood, and I'm pretty sure it made them love me more. ;)

If it weren't for these students, this Christmas might have been a pretty lonely affair, BUT it wasn't.  We had a staff Christmas dinner, a little gift exchange, and most importantly, lot's of love was felt from everyone around.  It is not the same as Christmas at home, or Christmas in Banff, where there are so many of us there, who love and know each other so well, but the students did their best, and I love them for that.

Thinking back to my time in Africa, there was no skype, there were no phones (that we could use), and most of the time we had limited access to email.  This time, being so far from home, I have so much access to various forms of communication with people in Canada - and all over the world that it is hard to keep up!  I got to spend Christmas Eve and  morning with my Mom, Dad, Ashley and Dan, Christmas dinner with my brother and his family and even spend some time in Nelson with the Walker's! It is absolutely wonderful to have the ability to see everyone via skype, it makes the loneliness around the holidays a little easier to cope with.

Ten years ago (I cannot believe it has been ten years since I travelled to Africa!!) I didn't have this luxury, maybe that was a part of travelling that made the moments with family more precious. Don't get me wrong, I definitely do not want to give up Skype for any reason, but I think it is important to remember that it wasn't that long ago that finding a way to communicate from overseas was really hard, so treasure those moments with friends and family, embrace the time you have with them, because well, you never know when one day, when the Chinese government decides to shut down the internet, I will be back to the old school way, letters and phone calls.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone, please enjoy the photo's of some of the most creative, thoughtful students out there. I love and miss you all! xoxo

This is what I walked into Christmas Morning!! Beautiful!!