Thanks to my roommate, this Christmas was a fabulously traditional Christmas. We decked our hall with bows of tinsel, installed a miniature version of Macau's tourist-attraction Christmas tree (lines of people posed next to this thing, one of whom you can see in the photo) minus the climactic star, and ate Christmas pancakes made from scratch (one batch plain, one batch banana cinnamon, both made with President milk to achieve that special melanineless flavor). We didn't open even our gifts from the States until Christmas morning (thankfully no soft cheeses, pets, or time bombs had been sent).

Macau's Christmas Tree

Our Christmas Tree

Perhaps the most inspired gift I gave was a bowl full of water.. oh, and crazy cool goldfish!

I thought I had found a fish with a story -- an injured caudal fin hinted of a near-death experience, a thwarted capture, or a vaguely memorable night at the bar. I knew Lisa would get a kick out of having such a fish, and, since it seemed to be hanging out with another fish in the tank, I got two for her.
It turns out, no matter what the initial cause for the malformation of the tail, the fish I fell in love with may be suffering from tail rot, and may have infected his buddy. I don't know, but Lisa is not going to name these cuties until they show promise of surviving through... the week? the month? the school year? --- through some considerable period of time. She is helping them along with everything the internet can tell her to do: she found fish medicine (in China!) and bought them a bigger bowl and is thinking about getting a heater for them.
If I ever get really sick, I am going to stuff myself into a bowl and put a "To: Lisa, From: Chase" card on it. Unless I develop exophthalmos, though, I probably won't achieve the cute-coolness factor that these fish have on their side.

Another fun aspect of Christmas was inviting over our colleagues for a Christmas party catered by (heehee) me! I got to try cooking new foods, including a very green bean dip, home-cooked 饺子皮 chips, and mulled turpentine (the bottle said Great Wall wine, but I think the standards for labeling in China are a bit different than in the States).
Before we Americans had a hundred billion legitimate gifts under our tree, I wrapped some empty boxes in green paper to give our living room a classic sense of materialistic holiday cheer. As a part of the night's entertainment when our colleagues came to celebrate Christmas with us, we drew on the boxes. I loved the images they left for us, and the fun we had, but it made me miss my oldest brother and his hilariously mischievous ways. Actually, Christmas made me miss a lot of people, but I still cannot say that I am homesick. I am not sure if that means that I don't know what homesick is or if I am just not it, but I am still really happy to be here. I just wish everyone from home could be here, too.