Caroling to Chrysanthemums

Xiaolan is a city about a half hour bus ride North-ish of Guzhen. We head there occasionally to shop, visit the pagoda in the big park, visit some of the other teachers, and... well you get the general idea. We went there tonight for the Chrysanthemum festival. Sandy came with Anna, Emma, Megan and me, and we had a marvelous time. Especially when Anna suggested that we sing Bazooka Bubblegum (one of our students most recent favorites) while we wandered around the paths. Sandy was a sport and went along with our antics. And then after we had a marvelous time singing, doing the actions, and getting some odd stares while we were at it, we decided more singing was in order. 

Since it is, in fact, December. We opted for some nice Christmas carols. 

Caroling is one of, if not my favorite, Christmas tradition. And I found it splendid to be walking arm in arm with dear friends, marveling at the cascades of flowers everywhere as we bellowed 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' and 'Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.' One of the joys of getting stared at constantly is that your inhibitions for a lot of things disappear. 

Sort of a "I already feel like a freak, might as well do something to deserve it" kind of mentality.

It's quite liberating :)

So yes. I started off December right. Caroling with friends. It was lovely, even if we are the only ones who understood what we were doing. 

Happy December everybody!