A big Ni hao to one and all!
Hope everyone had a good festive season. The pursuit of an alternative 'Chinese Christmas' led us to Nanshan ski village about 80km east of 'the jing'. After some traditional Christmas Kareoke, we were awoken Christmas morning by a Chinese man screaming 'mei you!' (have none/don't have) from next door. I'd like to think he was disappointed and angry that Santa hadn't left him anything during the night. Or that he wanted some mayonnaise with his chips...
So, the skiing. As there has been no rain since October in the Beijing area, they blast the side of a hill with frozen water every morning, leading to the bizarre sight of snow-covered slopes surrounded by desert. Here you go:
As 13 of the 14 participants had never been skiing before, we had a lesson, but that got a bit boring so a few of us took to the big slopes... I got the hang of going down in a straight line, but other basics like stopping, turning and getting off the ski lift sadly elluded me. Huw, Hannah and Catherine gave us some James Dean style crash moments, but everyone managed to get out virtually unscathed to get back and open our presents. Hooray for presents!
More drinks and the sight of Huw leg-wrestling Santa in his thermals followed, before a trip to the Great Wall on Boxing Day. As it was Boxing Day (and therefore very cold) it was practically deserted, apart from the Mongolian farmers who harass you all the way round trying to sell you things. They left me alone as I was wearing my puffer jacket and army hat, but some people were not so lucky:
Huw looks like a rock star with his entourage! Anyway, to sum up a good time was had by all. Apart from the lady the travel agency sent to look after us, who was accused of theft and had her loaf of bread stolen by Matthew. How naughty!
My lessons on Tuesday were cruelly cancelled (after I'd spent 30 minutes waiting outside for the bus), so I didn't get to say goodbye to Mr. Huge and friends before the Spring break, which was sad. You'll have to wait a while for your updates on the little fellow now. In the meantime, I suggest scrolling down to see his beaming little face, or making yourself a little scrapbook of all your favourite Mr. Huge moments (or MHMs as I like to say).
Right, long blog! Better go and eat some chocolate to recover my energy. Take it steady y'all, and thanks for the Christmas email action.
Zaijian!
Thomas
I'M ON A TRAIN IN A WEEK - HURRY UP TIME!
