Yesterday we were able to introduce our friends in English class to the ever-so-seasonal game White Elephant. The gifts in our circle ranged from USB key chains to the pieces of a board game. While the game itself is entertaining to play with friends, my favorite part of the afternoon was commentary from Chris. After explaining to him that you try and solicit gifts to others if you don't want the one you unwrapped; he echoed "this (whatever happened to be in his hand) is so useful!" at the start of each person's turn. His efforts were met with a "steal" a few times, but the remainder of the time he brought us lots of laughter. I ended up with a plastic Quaker tupperware container.
Did I "steal" it from someone? Sure did. Twice.
After church, Cat & I met our friends Gillian & Cecilia for dinner. They had invited us over for an authentic Chinese meal at their home. The meal they prepared is called hot pot, and if you've never heard of/tasted it before, the name explains it pretty well. I wish I could tell you what all they mixed in the soup that we cooked our meat & veggies in, but they told us they just made it up as they went. Honestly, I was somewhat nervous about what we would be eating before we arrived. When you experience dining in another culture, you soon learn that things aren't always what they appear to be or seem to be on the menu. But Gillian & Cecilia did an amazing job, dinner was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. I think Cat & I ate 90% of the potatoes on the table, successfully used our chopsticks the entire meal, and laughed a lot.
I'm so thankful to be here.
