Christmas this year was everything an expat could want... stressful and exciting work that served as an excellent distraction from home and family, and relaxation time spent with good friends.
The evening of Christmas Eve was OYY's 2012 Christmas Talent Show Extravaganza. A show Shobana, Shane and I had been planning for weeks. It is one of OYY's biggest events of the year and is traditionally planned, coordinated and run entirely by the foreign teachers. As a lover of planning, I was in hog heaven.
Some highlights from the show:
Christmas Day:
Shobana, Shane and I slept in until lunch, when we met the school administration for a big meal at the school cafeteria. The admin men were pounding back the Chinese alcohol and we held our own with beer. The three of us then ventured to Xintang's very own sauna. Yes, a sauna. It is new and has two rooms, complete with heated walls and floor. We brought snacks and cards and camped out in a room for a couple hours, enjoying the peace and heat. Afterward we made it back to campus in time to have a Christmas dinner with my wonderful Chinese tutor and her family. They made special local dishes for us, dishes we had never tried before. The school principal joined us as well. To conclude our day of eating and relaxing, we watched a Christmas classic, Home Alone 2.
The evening of Christmas Eve was OYY's 2012 Christmas Talent Show Extravaganza. A show Shobana, Shane and I had been planning for weeks. It is one of OYY's biggest events of the year and is traditionally planned, coordinated and run entirely by the foreign teachers. As a lover of planning, I was in hog heaven.
Some highlights from the show:
- We started off with several rounds of auditions to decide the performers and hosts for the show. The student talent was amazing!
- Against some of their wills, we mandated an English teacher group performance of Jingle Bells to be performed at the show. I think that number received the most applause.
- Shobana, Shane and I practiced and memorized our own song performance in Chinese. We came in second for applause.
- We rented excellent quality light and sound equipment from a local business to up the ante in performance quality. The men were incredible to work with- easygoing and interactive with the students. Without prompting, they started a Gangnam Style dance party after the show with blasting music and flashing lights. Major points for them.
- Our wonderful team of student helpers assisted us with decorations, performer prizes, raffle prizes and gifts for judges. They also helped run crowd control the day of the show- probably the hardest job of all.
- We ran a dress rehearsal a couple nights before the show to work out any kinks- some things went wonderfully, some things went terribly. Thank goodness for practice.
- The biggest challenge of all was ticket distribution. We had a limited amount of tickets to distribute and an unlimited amount of interest. During the weeks leading up to the show, students would approach us and beg for a ticket to the show. We tried to make student selection as fair as possible, but broken hearts were unavoidable. I made my classes extra fun the week of the show to keep my students feeling loved and happy.
- I must admit during the show I was on a major power trip. It was awesome having complete control over such a big event. Even more than the power trip, what I really enjoyed were the student transformations. Before performances, students would be terrified. Afterward, they would walk off stage with the biggest smiles. Now that was awesome.
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| The light and sound equipment we rented for the show |
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| We had a full house |
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| Some of the performes |
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| My excited Junior 1 students |
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| My Junior 1 boys- they got second place! |
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| The greatest helpers in the world |
Shobana, Shane and I slept in until lunch, when we met the school administration for a big meal at the school cafeteria. The admin men were pounding back the Chinese alcohol and we held our own with beer. The three of us then ventured to Xintang's very own sauna. Yes, a sauna. It is new and has two rooms, complete with heated walls and floor. We brought snacks and cards and camped out in a room for a couple hours, enjoying the peace and heat. Afterward we made it back to campus in time to have a Christmas dinner with my wonderful Chinese tutor and her family. They made special local dishes for us, dishes we had never tried before. The school principal joined us as well. To conclude our day of eating and relaxing, we watched a Christmas classic, Home Alone 2.
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| Merry Christmas family and friends! |
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