Christmas Time Part I: Backwards Land

When Halloween rolled around, I had a little class party for my students. I gave them some candy, we discussed "trick-or-treating," and I let them watch "Scared Shrekless." I didn't need to explain what Halloween was about really, because isn't Halloween just for fun? No one really celebrates the dead anymore, do they? You can argue the Pagan or Christian origin of it, but in the end: it's just for fun.

To me, Christmas is a little different. I mean, I know many atheists celebrate Christmas because it's fun too: you give and receive presents, it's one of the few times that the family is all together, and it's a long running tradition, especially in America.  Maybe I am naive in assuming that most Americans at least recognize the religious significance of the holiday- that Christians are celebrating the birth of their savior, Jesus.

Christmas time in China has been so bizarre. I asked my students what they know about Christmas. I received only one answer: Santa Claus. Christmas is like Halloween here. It's just a fun western holiday, that has no real significance whatsoever. To each their own. But at our school, the students, teachers, and parents were obsessed with this big Christmas production (again) having absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. Partytown USA and Oriental Trading company vomited all over the hallways with crappy Santa decorations. The Chinese teachers pulled students out of our classes for weeks leading up to the production so that they could rehearse for it. Here's what the week before Christmas looked like....

And here's what the grand production "What Dreams May Come" (?!?) looked like:

I'm especially fond of this next performance. It was a play by play reenactment of Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" video. And at the end, Michael Jackson unwraps the mummy to reveal........ you guessed it, Santa Claus!

The big finish was the second graders dancing to Gangnam Style. I'll admit, it was pretty adorable.

Josh and I were at our wit's end with how things are done here in China. From leaving the windows open in the dead of winter to changing our New Year holiday (so that we no longer get a 4 day weekend but just get three random weekdays off followed by an 8 day work week) we were desperately in need of a break from China.

Cue "Christmas Time Part Two".............