However, I wouldn't know. Historically, China Doll HATES New Year's Eve. Sorry to all those with with whom I've spent a lovely December 31st into January 1st, but I do get a little down around the new year. I think part of it is how dangerously sentimental I can be. For example, moving out of my childhood home and into a new one was quite difficult, which is fairly understandable. What is less understandable is how, in my time off this week I have been doing a second round clean up of my room still finding remnants of Grinnell Corps fellows past, and I had trouble throwing away the to-do list of the former fellow. I thought, "Wow! Her to do list! I wonder what she was thinking? I wonder when she wrote this? I wonder if she got stuff done, since only the first thing on the list is crossed off? I wonder, I wonder, I wonder?" And then I wondered if I should keep it, for posterity's sake. And then I thought, "China Doll, throw that goddamn paper in the garbage." Perhaps it's the history major in me, but I have serious problems getting rid of anything.
For this reason, the passing of an entire YEAR is quite difficult for me. I get mopey and distant. So this year, I had planned to go to Shanghai to celebrate, since it seemed like all of Nanjing up and left for those two days. But then I realized that was a dumb idea, because it would be quite an expensive trip (and I could be saving up for my trip to.... wait for it... THAILAND!) and I don't really like NYE anyway, so why spend the money?
On December 28th, NDFZ had a New Year dinner for the staff. It was actually at the same place where I had my first banquet, so it felt very apropos. There were performances (in Chinese) by the staff, which were apparently very funny judging by how hard the teachers laughed, but I wouldn't know. I spent the evening conversing with Sophie's parents, as they couldn't follow the dialogues either. Although at one point the faculty engaged in a "Guess that Tune" activity, and I won a stuffed animal snail for knowing "Unchained Melody!"
This may sound strange, but this was the first banquet at which I felt like my language barrier didn't present a problem. Sophie and I weren't at the center of attention, so I didn't have to listen to endless toasts in Chinese and I didn't feel the pressure to keep track of who toasted me so that I could toast them back (Chinese etiquette is a bit different.) And I wasn't relocated to a separate room for English teachers and speakers. Obviously it's an honor when the teachers and principals toast Sophie and me, and it was incredibly kind when they sat me with other English speakers so that I wouldn't be bored, but it makes me feel like a nuisance and inconvenience. I was more inconspicuous at this event, and I felt like a regular member of NDFZ, which was just a nice feeling.
But onto my mellow New Year's Eve: Anna, Lela, Anna's roomate Jessica, and I had a fancy dinner at a surprisingly good burger place called Blue Frog. We had a great time, and it felt really good to eat Western food, since I never do. Plus, my super nice waitress in training forgot to put my order in (which was okay since I had already shared a plate of chili fries with Lela and was not super hungry) and her boss told me my meal was on the house. I got to save even more money!
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| Classy Lela |
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| Classy Me |
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| Jessica's sliders |
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| Glowing Mai Tai |
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| Evil kitty, as Anna calls him |
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| I don't usually like cats. Or animals, for that matter. But Marbles is just SO CUTE |
Grandma is not the only one! Happy New Year. Love, Aunt Benna
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