I have one funny story, and one sad story to share. Two interesting cultural incidences. Funny first...So last night, we were hanging out with some Asian friends, and asked them, "What do people put on their Christmas trees?" A lot of them were throwing out answers, but one of the guys leaned over to my friend Owens' and said, "There are four things that go on a Christmas tree: ornaments, presents, apples and cheese." I don't think I need to comment any more on this. I almost fell out of my chair when Owens told me what he had heard. Apples? Yes that's hilarious, but cheese? They don't even eat cheese here- how is it even on their mind?

The sad story was that I was going to get a milk tea this morning and as I'm buying one, this cop car pulls up on the street and out jumps a guy in handcuffs being escorted by the policemen. Just so you know- it is extremely rare to see cops here, and especially to see someone in handcuffs! So this was totally catching me off guard. Everyone on the street gathered around as the policemen made this man in handcuffs stand in front of an internet bar with his handcuffed hands pointing to the name of the place, while they photographed him. I asked the lady what he had done/what was going on, and she obviously replied in a language I still don't understand clearly but from what I gathered, he had stolen something from this place. Like he didn't pay for his internet hours or something. Anyways, it was intense- the criminal was being shamed in the middle of the street! That punishment is cruel- I'd rather go straight to jail than have to do that. I thought this was pretty interesting, so I wanted to share.

The commercialism of Christmas has reached the far east, so no worries, there are lights up in random places here and many fake Christmas trees all around. Things have been a little difficult over the past few weeks, trying to persevere through the winter and the holidays. I'm going gift shopping for my friends tomorrow, to buy stocking stuffers and some Secret Santa gifts- so not every tradition is lost when you live out of the country! I'm hoping that will cheer me up, and also spending some time listening and reflecting on the songs we listen to for Christmas every year- my favorite being O Holy Night. I hope everyone at home is resting and reflecting on our incredible holiday we are celebrating right now!

This afternoon, one of our friends from India invited us to come cook with him in his dormitory, along with a lot of other people from other countries . We told him we'd come, bringing American food to cook with them, but ended up bringing a plate full of sweets from a Christmas party we had the night before...I guess a plate full of really sweet food is probably as American as it gets. So we got there and this sweet man handed us a bag, a grocery sack full of mutton and some carrots, and a bag full of unmarked spices and told us to make something American of it. So Lynds, Erin and I traveled up a few floors to the weirdest kitchen ever and scrounged around for some kind of remotely clean pan to cook with. We cut some vegetables on the counter with some knife we found in someone's room, and just started throwing stuff in this skillet. The situation was just so unclean and random, yet hilarious. I was gagging from the smell of mutton rising in the smoke off the skillet. We used a large butcher knife to saute the foods, because no spoon was around. We washed the pan out with laundry detergent before we cooked with it. It was just one of those situations where you step back and just laugh at how you found yourself doing what you're doing at that moment. I loved it.

We got back today from a weekend of hanging out with friends for Christmas time. Our Christmas party last night was incredible- the food was better than Thanksgiving- we had Rotel cheese dip, soups, homemade beer bread with homemade honey butter, eggnog from scratch, and 12 different homemade desserts. We got to sing Christmas carols together and just enjoy the night with games and taking a million pictures by the Christmas tree. This weekend was so encouraging to have family around me, celebrating and anticipating the greatest holiday we celebrate!

There are three firsts for me that occurred this Thanksgiving: it was my first Thanksgiving to be away from my family, my first Thanksgiving to be out of the country, and my first Thanksgiving to plan and cook all the food for the Thanksgiving feast! Our Thanksgiving here was different, but good. Our house was filled with fall-scented candles burning and our table was decorated perfectly for the holiday. We cooked all the same dishes for Thanksgiving- green bean casserole, dressing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, etc. The biggest difference was the turkey- or the absence of the turkey. We had the opportunity to cook one ourselves but we only have one oven with ten other dishes to cook and a kitchen the size of a small bathroom. So we opted for chicken breasts which were great. Thanksgiving day we relaxed all morning and cooked and enjoyed the day. After eating, we all rolled over to the den and watched movies for the rest of the night. It was a great holiday. I do miss spending Thanksgiving with my real family, but spending it with my family here was the perfect alternative. It's hard to be thankful for what you have right before your eyes, so I'm thankful this year for not having what I've always had- comforts, family, traditions. I can now be truly thankful for those things.

We all know that as soon as Thanksgiving ends, the Christmas season begins. This means decorating our home, having parties, and baking Christmas goodies! I'm looking forward to this month! I'm a little sad sometimes to be away from the American celebration of Christmas, but incredibly thankful to finally step back from culture and celebrate why we started celebrating this holiday in the first place.