Ping An Ye Kuai Le!

"Happy Christmas Eve"! In Mandarin, "apple" is "ping guo" and the translation of Christmas Eve has part of the word "apple" in it..."ping". So what? It has become a tradition in China (mostly for the younger generation) to purchase red apples on Christmas Eve and give them to others as good fortune. I was a little skeptical, but as I entered the local cornerstore the other day, there was a tower of red apples in boxes, shaped like a Christmas tree. I almost bought one,but they were 10 RMB (about $1.50) each, and I can buy a whole bag of them minus the box at the market down the street. So I purchased some red apples (kind of pinkish-yellow really, but Red Delicious apples aren't for consumption in Beilun), and I took them to the Cup O' Joe staff this morning with a hesitant "Ping An Ye Kuai Le". They took them with smiles and Jack explained that a saying in Mandarin about "ping bao" also means protection, so there is also some kind of tradition about sleeping with the apple nearby on Christmas Eve and then eating it on Christmas Day. I smiled and thought, "When in Rome...." so perhaps we will be snuggling up with our apples tonight to reign in protection and good fortune for 2012.

Makes me wonder why we don't have some kind of mixed-up, loosely lost in translation tradition for Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) in the U.S.? The Chinese are much more knowledgeable about International traditions and celebrations than all Americans combined. For example, my Mandarin teacher, Shelley, was giving us a run-down of how to say different festivals/holidays throughout the year. Among those on her list were UN Day, Women's Day, and Children's Day...all Internationally recognized days of honor across the globe. She knew what they were called in English, Chinese and knew the dates they were celebrated from the top of her head. I was ashamed at how little I knew about the important days others' celebrate before I came to China. I have celebrated and learned more about Chinese, Indian, Muslim, British, and German celebrations while here than I ever did in the States. It's been nice to be able to be a part of it all and welcome others to be a part of our celebrations as well.

As I write, I am between cooking pulled pork (yes, Erich did all of the preparation, I am just watching it in the oven), mashed potatoes, brownies, zucchini bread, and green bean casserole for the Holiday Dinner we have planned for the cafe tonight. (Also on the menu, but being cooked at the cafe are: glazed ham, acorn squash, stuffed tomatoes, yeast rolls, wassil (spiced cider) and some other desserts). There are about 20 expats and Chinese locals joining us and contributing a variety of other holiday foods. Most foreign friends left for the holidays, so we have gathered up the remaining few who have to work or just opted to stay in Beilun for a proper holiday celebration with food, drink, music, games and enjoyment of our lives here in China.

We are so fortunate to have spent the past year and a half making friends that we consider family and to be able to spend this holiday season with them. 2011 has been good to us...Erich built a cafe from literally an empty shell of a building and has created a sense of community among the people in Beilun thatwas much needed, I have continued to grow and learn as the art teacher of creative, open-minded international students, and we both look forward to at least another year of adventures in China, as I recently signed a 3rd year contract to teach at AIAN.

I am off to prepare for the festivities...Christmas music and lights to help motivate me (I am my Mother's daughter as much as I sometimes deny it). We will be traveling to Guilin (Southern China) for 10 days to ring in the New Year, so will post again when we return on Jan. 6. Warm wishes of love, life, and happiness wherever your holiday celebrations take you...Ping An Ye Kuai Le (Happy Christmas Eve), Sheng Dan Jie Kuai Le (Merry Christmas), Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year), and all of the other Happy's/Merry's that you might celebrate this time of year :)

(Below are photos from 2 of our holiday parties from earlier this month...a potluck celebration/holiday trivia at our apartment for the AIAN staff and a holiday staff/customer appreciation dinner provided by Erich and Cup O' Joe.)