We're getting ready for the Christmas holiday. The weather is certainly cold enough in Shanghai, but it lacks the same holiday feeling we get from the United States. The stores are decorated for Christmas but, the locals do not celebrate Christmas here. It's more of a commercial holiday than a religious one here. Normally, this time of year, our home in Connecticut is fully decorated for the holidays. We always go and pick out a live tree and spend a weekend decorating it. Here, it's just not the same. We don't have a tree, the house isn't fully decorated and we haven't been feeling very holiday like.The other day, Matthew's school hosted a Winter Holiday Recital. All the kids in school had to perform. Matthew and his classmates performed "The Holly and the Ivy" on the recorder and sang "Santa's Job is a Snap". It was a wonderful recital and it really helped to get us into the holiday spirit.
We'll be spending the Christmas holiday in Hong Kong with family and friends. Tony Sung (one of Tony's best friends from college) is currently in Hong Kong and will be there until January 6th. Matthew's very excited that we'll be seeing him very soon.
We've been feeling pretty homesick recently. We've been told that this is always the hardest time of the year for those who are on expatriate assignments. So, we're really looking forward to seeing familiar faces in Hong Kong and spending the holidays with them.
