It's beginning to look a lot like...autumn??

So after a week of winter-like weather, we got the call that our down jackets were finished, and that someone could take us to get a space heater for the apartment. Obviously, that means that the next day was about 62 degrees, and well above 50 for the subsequent days. We haven't broken in our jackets yet, and pretty much refuse to until it's actually cold. We have, however, started to use the space heater, which doesn't really do much for the living area. I think the area of the room is too big, so we sit really close to it and snuggle our blankets around it. It works well enough for now, but I'm not sure how it will do when winter actually sets in. We've tossed around the idea of building a fort in the main room, to create a smaller space that the space heater could actually have an impact in. I also think the fort would simply be for entertainment purposes. We would be hilariously entertained in building it, and hanging out inside it. The other entertainment would come from any Chinese person that would see it, most likely thinking that we are even more bat-shit crazy than they originally thought.

I've been teaching my students about Thanksgiving, telling them about the first celebration, and the traditions that occur today. All the way down to watching (American) football after we eat lots of food. They don't really understand turkey, but explaining it as something like chicken seems to work, and pumpkin pie is beyond them because they don't have ovens in China, so most baked items are also off the radar. I did get them to tell me some things they are thankful for, most students mention their parents, siblings, families, etc. Every once in a while, they are thankful for me, which is so endearing. It's been a little tough sharing my thoughts, because it makes me so much more aware of what I'm missing from home, but my students seems to understand and they do what they can to make me happy. For the holiday we will be having dinner at Chen's in-laws, the people who have essentially become our adoptive Chinese parents. Chen's mother-in-law is an amazing cook, so even though the food won't be traditional Thanksgiving fare, we'll be eating very well. It will also be nice to have something to do, as a bit of a distraction.

This weekend Senior 2 will put on a "party" for us, which will be a lot like a talent show, and our friend Christine will come visit. She was supposed to be here last weekend, but came down with the flu and had to postpone the trip. Laura and I will partake in one of my Thanksgiving weekend traditions, and we will watch White Christmas. Usually we watching it on the day after Thanksgiving while making Christmas cookies for the upcoming season, but we'll have to wait until Sunday night. We both teach on Friday, and will have the Senior 2 party that night. Sunday will be a good way to wind-down a less than normal Thanksgiving for the two of us. Then before you know it, December will be upon us. Hard to believe, isn't it???