The holidays can he hard here in China. We miss our families. We miss tasteful decorations. We even miss the commercials on TV. China kinda celebrates Christmas, but they don't get it right most of the time. It is just weird. We also do not have time off of work. We do get Christmas day off, if we push it, but Christmas usually falls during or near final exams, and we must make up the class. Thankfully, in the last 4 years, we only had a problem with this our first year. Every other year, Christmas fell on a day that we already did not have class.
As far as being homesick, this year was not that bad. But the holidays seem kind of...anti climatic. But the really cool thing about being in China, is that once the New year rolls around...things start gearing up for Chinese New Year (aka Spring Festival). This is China's biggest holiday. It is a HUGE deal. ( here is an video I made last year about the holiday)
In preparation for the new year, many people will get a new hair cut, new clothes, sometimes new jobs or homes. They clean their apartments from top to bottom. They want to start the new year with a "fresh slate". I am not sure the Chinese exactly make new years resolutions but they do have the idea of a fresh start.
I feel like it is sort of a second chance for a new beginning. I did not really make any New Years resolutions but I do plan to for Chinese New Year. One thing I want to do better for the "new year" is to post more on this blog. I have plans to post about 3 times a week. Some posts will be very simple... like Thankful Thursdays, and maybe a picture with not much writing to go with it. But I need to post more.
We also do the whole deep cleaning the house thing too. Jon just emptied out the vacuum bag and we (he) just vacuumed the whole couch and all the corners in the living room, plus the heating/ ac unit. I put cotton balls in the bag with tea tree oil and eucalyptus essential oils. Everything smells fresh and clean!
I love new beginnings!
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