Poor Beijing, I am so hard on you...

 In all honesty, the last day+ has been a-okay. I had a nice Christmas, went swimming, went to church-with service in English- and I went out with a work friend, my Ugandan friend and met some fun folks at a local bar’s Christmas party.  Santa brought free beer for all!  It was pretty fun.  I mean, when will I ever again celebrate Christmas with such a gang as i did last night: a Canadian who says okie dokie, a Ugandan who loves his Santa hat and a whole mess of Vietnamese and Zimbabweans?  Beijing, score one for you today, Christmas found me some new friends and showed me a little more of the city's good side…for the moment I have released a small amount angst towards this city.  Thanks, Christmas!

 Church was good, the building is gorgeous.  Its the oldest cathedral in Beijing, dating back to 1605.  There was a really interesting manger scene out front with an inordinate amount of sheep involved (and I am sorry I didn't snap a pic but believe me that there was a lot of effort put into that display). The congregation joined the choir in singing Christmas tunes. The Elvis version of Silent Night was sung by one of the Chinese members of the church choir;and, wow, he did a damn fine job. To be fair,  the spirit of Christmas was found in Beijing's South Cathedral and I am happy to report, the Christmas spirit has remained with me through today.

 On another awesome note, I got a Chinese name today.  It was given to me by my Chinese instructor (my first lesson is tomorrow, yay!).  His name is Socrates.  My Chinese name is Mò Lì , 茉莉,  I am named as such because it sounds like my given American name but it is also the name of a lovely Chinese jasmine.  Hurray!