Saturday and Sunday...

H has minimal Xmas spirit... I never really realized it until this week... (She says it's due to the over-commercialization of Xmas.) I suppose in the past I knew, but I forgot over the rest of the year... Is there anything more depressing than decorating a Christmas tree by yourself or trying to get excited about Christmas around someone who doesn't want to hear Christmas music? Inevitably. But for now I'm enjoying a bitty pity party...

Okay, party's over.

Since I last wrote, plenty has happened. Most of Saturday was spent lazing around in our pajamas (Matching flannel pajamas was my 1st Xmas gift to both of us, I'm definitely glad for them, especially since it is so cold outside, even though it's plenty warm inside...) (one of the company members has an unheated apartment which is larger, it's kinda sad, and I have to admit that I'm glad it's not me/H). Anyway, so we lazed around and watched an adorable Korean movie with a really good-looking lead actor, Daniel Henney, who's a Korean-American Korean actor/celebrity. You can see him on some Bean Pole clothing commercials on YouTube (with Gwyneth Paltrow). We stopped halfway through the movie to meet some of H's students for dinner. We weren't certain when exactly H had agreed to meet them, so we wound up chilling (literally) in the lobby of H's dorm for about 45 mins, and having our ears bent for about half that time by this guy called Cook... he was very bad at taking hints, and he "likes to make friends, especially American friends." Yeah, quite a guy. As we were escaping him to go back to H's room, the students came for us, so we went out after all. We had Mi-son again, and it was quite tasty again, but I had to leave far too many noodles and broth for my preference... then again, they are huge servings... We had fun chatting and getting to know each other. After we ate, we did KTV, aka karaoke. If you've ever read a manga or seen an Asian show with a karaoke scene, you would understand it, but as you likely haven't, I'll explain. Karaoke is a group thing, you and a bunch of friends (sometimes single friends looking for potential bfs/gfs) get a room which is decked out with a comfy couch (here, the room was decorated in orange, and the couch was a big U which took up the back wall and continued halfway along the other two walls... yeah...), table for drinks and snacks (which our group (5 girls) smuggled in), a big TV for the main screen, a smaller touch screen by the couch for choosing and queuing the songs, and some cool lighting effects. We KTVed for about 1 1/2 hrs, H and I found some random/fun English songs, I sang (too low) along with Frank Sinatra as he sang The Lady is a Tramp (one of my favorite Frankie songs). Most of the songs the other girls sang were in Chinese, so I had no clue what they were saying (one of the music videos had a young Jackie Chan), but one English song bothered H and me: G()d is a Girl... yeah, disturbing... very disturbing... and catchy... Thanks to the song, I thought about what that would imply, and I am exceeding and abundantly thankful it's not true... We got back, finished the movie, then meandered toward bed.

Sunday we woke up and got off to our meeting, we were among the last few to arrive. It was a good meeting, we got to hear from some who visited another city and had good talks with the people there, which was very exciting. The leader talked about several things which really hit home with me. Overall, it was a very good time. The people in H's company are very warm and welcoming, and it is good to spend time with them. After the meeting, we ate with a few friends and I tried some new food, which was a bit heavy on the oil, but tasty. We then browsed at an import store nearby, went to the bookstore, chatted for awhile with a local woman, then left for VnM's (a very hospitable couple who host the company, and allow company members to use their flat for parties) for a summer camp reunion party of H and A's summer camp students. The party was great fun: Chinese youth love laughing and having a good time as much if not more than we do in the US. One of the guys brought a snack of sticky puffed rice, it tasted sweet and smoky, not super unlike rice crispies' 3rd cousin - pretty good stuff. We returned to the bookstore, where we had milk tea and shopped a bit. I got a great clutch purse! It is dark greyblue, it isn't large, but it's a beautiful purse and it holds everything I need to fit in it. Best yet, purchasing it benefits my brothers and sisters in the general area. We got back and wound up squabbling a bit over the Xmas tree... I was tired, and H prolly was, too. I'm tired now, incidentally, but if I went to sleep now, I'd wind up waking well before 6. Maybe I will, regardless.