EF Christmas

Busy preparing for the avalanche of children

Joy and Lilian, two delightful local teachers

Mrs. Morgan Claus

Lilian practicing her face painting skills on Hanna

The front entrance looking jolly

James makes a convincing elf

Tom makes a less convincing Santa

Glitter is serious business

Happy Santa!

I'm so glad this room wasn't part of my job

Look at those quality whiteboard instructions!

At an outdoor bar in Tianzifang

These lovely people sure made it easier to be so far from home during the holidays. The mulled wine didn't hurt, either.

Creepy or flattering?

You decide! Which are these?

-A student's mother offering to let me live in their home so I can teach her child
-Students repeatedly trying to slap my bottom for fun
-Young students assaulting me with full contact hugs, oblivious to the fact that their faces are right at crotch level
-(My personal favorite) A student saying that her dream party would be "at Tom's house, because I want to eat Tom." She's 8.

Yeah, I went with creepy too.

Street food is best food

This greasy, messy, delicious pile has been my go-to meal of choice after work for the past couple months. The noodle vendor and grilling vendor operate in the same parking lot, so I combine their products. The white things on the left side are made of rice that's mushed together into a cake. After being greased up, grilled, and seasoned, it's delicious and crunchy on the outside, and satisfyingly chewy on the inside. The whole thing is incredibly substantial, for $2.50.

I just ate it and I already want seconds.

If I ever need motivation to go to work...

...I'll just look at these pictures again. His English name is Tom, so of course we bonded immediately. He was attached to my legs for a few minutes the first time I met him, until I carried him around upside down for a while. Then he gave me candy.

Photographic Evidence

One of the perks of working for a bigger company is the free stuff we occasionally get. The 'regional team building' event from a few days ago, for example, was a cowboy-themed all-you-can-drink extravaganza. Everyone dressed up, played pool, drank on EF's dime, did some line dancing, and rode the mechanical bull. Good times.

Shifty Bull

Tonight, on my first try, I successfully rode a mechanical bull for over a minute, at which point they powered it down.

Three to five beers later, I successfully rode a mechanical bull for over 15 seconds, at which point I was gracefully bucked off in a dignified manner.

Great success.