Our first Christmas party with local friends…

Last night we hosted our first Christmas party here in China.  We invited two Chinese families we know (one was our house-helper’s family).  A friend with our company also helped plan this event and was the main "speaker" since she’s a LOT more fluent in the language than we are.  She invited another Chinese family, so it was a small BUT GREAT group of people. 

We started the evening with some Christmas cookie decorating, then we had food delivered from a local restaurant and we shared a meal.  After the meal, our friend explained in Chinese the story of Christmas, i.e. Jesus birth, and we talked for a few minutes with them about various Christmas customs and their meanings.

In the end, we played the "white elephant" Christmas gift game where each person gets to open a gift (in order) based on the number they draw out of a hat.  We played the cutthroat way where you can "steal" a gift someone else has opened if you want to.  This doesn’t work so well in this culture where everyone is so polite in their gift giving/receiving.  We Americans were the only ones who stole anything from anyone, but that made it more interesting AND it helped get appropriate gifts to appropriate people.  Our family ended up receiving a Christmas coffee mug and some chocolate (that we had contributed to the mix!)  Our guests seemed happy with many of the items that Christa and others purchased here in China and contributed to the game, e.g. ping-pong paddle set, men’s pouch/wallet, small clock, small painted vase, more chocolate, tea, etc.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids also got to open their own gifts.

The highlights for me:

1. Being able to host an event where the story of His birth was shared with others.
2. Actually telling a joke in Chinese and having it received as such, i.e. the person laughed.  I noticed one of the guests wasn’t eating so I asked him, "What, you don’t like Chinese food?"  He laughed and said he did, in fact, like Chinese food, but he said he was, "tai pang le" (too fat) and so he was on a diet.  I don’t know if this was really true or if he just didn’t like what we had ordered and this was his way of being polite?  (The joke was a little funnier to me when I discovered later that he was a cook by profession.  He offered to teach me how to make Chinese food.)  He seemed to have a good time despite abstaining from the food…he ate a cookie!
3. Watching all the kids play together and have a great time in spite of the language and cultural barriers…

I think (even though my hermit ways may often inhibit my motivation) that fellowship with others is at the heart of Christmas.  Think about the diverse group of people Jesus birth brought together.

We hope for many more opportunities like this one!

Here’s a few pictures of the event…