Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve!

I hope you are having a restful Christmas Eve with family, snow, etc. And I hope you are WARM!

People were right about Nanchang--the cold seeps into your bones and never leaves. It is particularly challenging and frustrating when you are supposed to dance ballet with it at 32 degrees inside a theater.

We didn't have to teach today, but we still had to go to new campus for most of the day. We went to the rehearsal in the morning for the worker's union performance, which turned out to be a big, fancy shindig.

During the rehearsal, I slipped on the super slick stage. All the performers before me had tracked in the rain and muck from outside. So then I was thinking about not falling and how my toes were so numb, I couldn't point them. While I was concentrating on that, I totally blanked out halfway through my dance and just stood there. I felt like I disappointed a lot of people, but I was glad it was just a rehearsal.

While we were sitting in the audience watching the other flashy performances, about a dozen of my students trooped in, expecting to see my dance. They had just got out of class and came over as soon as they could. I was sorry to tell them they had missed my dance. And students weren't allowed to come to the afternoon show.

They also brought a bunch of Christmas presents for me, which was unexpected. I left the place carrying an armload of gifts. They gave me a huge stuffed dog, really warm mittens, a face mask for the cold and/or pollution, some pretty cards, and a beautiful, miniature tea set.

Then our team and the foreign affairs office people who are in charge of us went to the cafeteria for an appetizing lunch of boiled greens and 20 times baked cauliflower. I didn't mind too much that there wasn't anything good to eat. We sat there with the cold wind gusting in through the doors, and I could tell we were all getting really run down. So Rachael and I decided to lift up our thoughts to Him like we were having a conversation, because our whole team has been struggling through the past few very stressful days.

After lunch Mr. Li and Amy took me to the school clinic, because two of my fingers on my left hand hurt really badly. They are currently very swollen, red, and achy. We barely made it through the door when a bunch of doctors and eager patients gathered around my hand. A lady doctor just squeezed my finger and looked at it for a minute.

I never found out what was wrong with it. Amy, the translator, said she didn't know how to translate it. I asked her, "Was it from the cold? Was it from a bug bite? Did I hurt it? Do I have arthritis?" She said she didn't know. Then they gave me some smelly oil stuff to rub on one of my fingers. They also gave me some sort of little plaster mixture to wear on it for four days, too.

Then we went to the performance and sat in the audience. We watched as lots of people poured into the auditorium, which seemed more like a damp, cold tomb. But it was hard not to get excited by the excited people around us. Everyone was bundled up, chattering away. Really tall military guys in green uniforms with their chests puffed out stood at attention in the aisles, by the stage, and by the doors during the whole performance. It reminded me of the "Sound of Music" when the Von Trapp family is singing on the stage and they escape soon afterwards. The Nazi soldiers then run out exclaiming, "They're gone! They're gone!"

So our team was all dressed up and we sang a song, half in English, half in Chinese. The crowd of several hundred people was enthusiastic. Then the music for my dance began. I leaped out onto the stage thinking how I should have gone to the bathroom before I started.

At first no one could see me, because the stage and auditorium was pitch black. Someone hadn't turned the lights back on. But I kept dancing. After a few seconds the lights went on and I decided just to have fun and entertain the expectant people. I also spontaneously added some more dramatic arm expressions and made sure to flash a smile every 2 seconds. The stage actually wasn't slick this time, and I just enjoyed dancing for the audience. Thankfully, I didn't blank out at all. The audience started clapping during the middle, just like if I had done 32 fouettes. I could have fallen and they would have still cheered. But I know that I did my best, and was thinking that all of those "Nutcracker" performances from the past weren't for naught. Who knew that we'd spend our Christmas Eve day this way.

And our Christmas Eve night has been quite wonderful. We met in Joelle's room with other Chinese brothers and sisters to celebrate Christmas. We decorated sugar cookies, read the Christmas story from the Word, sang carols, and lit candles. Afterward, we went outside and threw firecrackers on the ground and played with sparklers. We also wrote "wishes" on a big red paper lantern. One of our friends lit a light under the lantern, and we watched in wonder as it floated into the air and slowly sailed away. It was so meaningful to be with other brothers and sisters in China on such a special night.

This Christmas isn't really about getting lots of presents or doing Christmasy things or going to fellowship. It is more like having to totally rely on Him, otherwise you think you might not make it to tomorrow. It's also about remembering the important things in life and how life in Him brings true joy and contentment, despite circumstances or cultural barriers.

Anyway, Sheng dan kuai le! (Merry Christmas!)

P.S. I have received 49 text messages so far from my students wishing me a Merry Christmas. I have no idea how that many people got my phone number, but I guess word spreads quickly.