Merry Christmas

Christmas has finally come to my city! I was out today and saw a Christmas tree in a store! ...Along with all the America-rejected Christmas ornaments (this is our theory since they're all so gaudy). But, I was so excited to see those cheesy santa claus signs and banners and wreaths! Only in a couple of stores, it's true, but it made me happy. Yeah- it feels a little like Christmas here. Please don't misunderstand, we've had our Christmas tree up a good while already....hehe. It went up a few days before thanksgiving because we got it and didn't have anywhere else to put it! I'll have to post a picture for you. It's huge-almost touching the ceiling, but get this, the bottom tier of the tree has already been thrown away! Yes, the tree is so tall it wouldn't fit in our house had we kept it!!! (we didn't buy it, a friend gave it to us....) So, it's very nice, but in need of some more ornaments! We have so few for such a huge tree! I've never even had such a large tree in America!
So with Christmas approaching, we're gearing up for Christmas parties with our teachers at school, our national friends, and of course, with our American ones too. The Christmas season is pretty busy around here as well. Our first party is this Thursday (I'll have to take pictures). Our teachers are coming over to help make ornaments for our tree out of the flour-salt-water recipe (or something like that) that you bake till it gets hard. House cleaning! By the way, we've had someone come over to fix our leaking sink seven times. Literally, no exaggeration. I was just counting on my fingers. It's leaking worse now than it ever has! When you walk into the kitchen and cause ripples across the floor, you know it's bad. I miss my dad! (he can fix anything) I've made so many phone calls trying to get it fixed, all in Chinese, that I'm very very tired of it. I do now know how to say "sink," "leak," "lots of water," and "not fixed!" :) So I suppose I should think of this as a positive experience, however, I learned all these words when the second fix-it man came! I think I've had enough review, lol. Well, now you are very updated on all the mundane things in Amber's life at the moment.