Kitty bought a turtle! Meet Doudou (bean bean).
Kitty and her new pal.
Bright lights at the traffic circle near campus.
Ma Jing organized a small lecture series consisting of two lectures from Kitty and I and some lectures from her. We first did a joint lecture about study abroad. This photo is from the week when I lectured about art at Whitman College and Kitty lectured about sports at Whitman College.
Telling the students all about Duckfest.
Harnessing the power of Powerpoint.
Kitty glares whilst I answer a question.
Kitty and her seed art.
Kitty and Ma Jing went on a local TV talk show to speak about the differences between gift-giving in American and Chinese cultures. They sent a guy to Kitty's apartment a few days later to film some fake gift giving scenes. Here I am giving Kitty my fake Christmas tree.
Kitty and I open some fake presents.
Close-up!
Kitty pretends to open a Christmas gift.
Out to KTV with other foreign teachers and the waiban (foreign office) staff after our Christmas banquet.
The waiban staff really know how to sing.
They sang this song about three times, in preparation for some meeting in which they planned to perform it all together.
Celebrating 冬至 Dongzhi with Ma Jing's family. This winter solstice festival is celebrate on the longest night of the year, and we all ate dumplings so that our ears wouldn't freeze off over the coming winter.
We had so many dumplings!
Jens and Sarah had a very nice Christmas party at their apartment two days before the main event.
We had so much delicious food.
A silly moment on the couch.
They even got a Christmas tree!
Kitty and I with all of our Highlights students who came to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.
Me and my students!
Me and my students, with Ma Jing and a snowflake that one of Kitty's students made.
Kitty and I with some students who bought or made Christmas gifts for us. Fanny, the one with the amazing muppet-hair mullet, drew a bunch of anime people for me, who are now decorating my apartment.
On Christmas Eve, we went to the Brazilian BBQ buffet, which happened to be so popular that they were using a megaphone for crowd control.
Kitty and Ali at our Christmas Eve dinner. Santa brought us apples!
Lily and Jeff.
Jeff, Lily, and me.
Kitty bought this fine mask on the street. Christmas Eve in Xi'an happens to be a combination of every single holiday in existence, so it was quite the celebration.
So far, we have Mardi Gras and April Fools Day covered.
Lily and Jeff model their masks.
Me and Lily, more masks.
Christmas Eve was also like 4th of July! There were sparklers and fireworks everywhere downtown.
Jeff and his sparkler.
Witch hats! Christmas Eve is also like Halloween.
Heart balloons! Valentine's Day accounted for.
Candied hawberries.
Pets for sale!
Lily's mask, up close.
Easter bunnies?
This snack stand sells duck necks, and is all over the city.
Santa.
Ali, Lily, Jeff, and Kitty in front of the giant castle put up in front of 1+1.
A balancing act.
Christmas Mickey. Can't escape it.
Lily and the Bell Tower.
My little Christmas tree.
Tang shows off his muscles.
A friendly headlock.
Ma Jing invited us to celebrate her birthday at a brunch with her family. Kitty brought flowers.
A feast!
The flowers again, and lots of food.
We're drinking kiwi juice. Good stuff! Why don't we have kiwi juice in the states?
