Well it is absolutely freezing here at the moment and is actually snowing.....not settling on the ground as yet but snowflakes are wafting through the air!!!

The past few weeks have seen me attend a few Christmas celebrations despite it not being a recognised holiday here in China. It is a normal working day for the Chinese people (even had the nerve to ring me about work!!) but that hasn't stopped them grasping the commercialism and hype surrounding Christmas and using it for all its worth. Shopping centres are ornately decorated, christmas carols are playing and it all looks the part...its just the people themselves dont really get into the spirit. Had to take a photo of one sign over the doorway to a shopping centre in Suzhou which loudly proclaimed Merry Christmas in big letters but then had "hell" written numerous times as well ?!?!? Still working out if there is some subliminal message in that!!!!

Saturday 15 December saw me attending the Australia China Alumni Association Nanjing chapter launch party with Christmas celebration. It was a fun night despite the power going out for about an hour just as they were about to serve dinner!!! Oh well we just had a few extra drinks, met some other Alumni from various Australian universities and generally tried to get into the Christmas spirit.Our dinner was a mix of Western and Chinese cuisine - roast turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, salads but also friend rice and chinese style prawns!!! As a bit of fun they also provided us with fairy bread which made many of the Aussies laugh. It was my lucky night as besides making some new friends I also won a Christmas hamper!!!! Went home a happy girl

Sunday 23 December saw me invited to the Jiangsu Provincial Government Christmas Reception for Foreign Experts. Sounds terribly grand doesn't it?!? Anyway each year the govt put on this reception for us in recognition of our contribution to China. There were about 300 people present and we were wined and dined in grand style. Once again the cuisine was a weird mixture of Western and Chinese influences but I did manage to get my roast turkey and ham. We were entertained by some traditional Chinese performances conducted in both Chinese and English and we were all given Christmas presents - stuffed toys!!! Well I got given a panda and a santa so I guess that covers both east and west!!!

I headed off to Suzhou on Christmas Eve to spend the festive time with my American friend - Christy - as we both figured why sit at our respective homes alone. Had a great night out on Christmas Eve starting with a Korean BBQ dinner with drinks at a few western bars afterwards. We were definitely covering all bases as our party consisted of an American, an Aussie, An Irish and a Slovakian lady. Lots of laughs as we talked about our different experiences and cultures and how/why/where we fit in China!!! Christmas day saw us heading out for an international buffet luncheon which turned out to be just different foods from different countries not traditional Christmas foods from anywhere!!!! We had a bit of a laugh and then decided that given our experiences to date that traditional Christmas offerings always seem to have a different twist on them here so we really hadnt missed anything. Just sat around drinking and talking last night as we thought about our respective families.

Headed back to Nanjing on the train this morning. Thought Suzhou was cold until I got back here to the snow.....don't think I will be venturing out again today. Hoping to be able to Skype with the family tonight and find out how everyone enjoyed their Christmas especially in the lovely warm Aussie sun......hmmm.....so jealous :)

Bye for now. xxx