This past weekend, the foreign teachers at DongDa decided to host yet another party. This time, the theme was Christmas. We assembled a group of 30-40 students to be a part of our Christmas at DongDa show. Our show included three skits and a background choir. Our first skit was about the story of Christmas and St. Nick. Our second skit was about the story of the Nativity and the birth of Jesus for those who believe and our third skit was a Dongda rendition of "Twas the Night" written by my fellow AYC-er Will. We had some of our students rehearse for weeks to play different parts in the skit and we combined each skit with a Christmas carol sung by our choir.
As you all know, I love music so I simply couldn't resist taking a huge part in the show. I was the choir director which was super fun because I performed at Disney's Candlelight Processional in high school and I felt as though I were leading my very own Chinese Candlelight choir (and yes, the students were actually holding candles)! I even brought out the creative side and made their choir booklets by hand. Considering I am a terrible artist, I was very proud of my artwork (see pictures below). I also arranged a duet for myself and another foreign teacher here of "The Christmas Song". I will post the video below but please please bear in mind that both of our voices were very hoarse considering this was at the end of a long week of teaching. Needless to say, I lose my voice at the end of every week because apparently I talk very loudly in class.
After our skits and performances, we played two games: Reindeer Limbo and Pin the Star on the Tree. We blindfolded students, spun them around 3 times and told them to stick a huge star onto the cardboard tree we created. It was definitely a very fun and entertaining game to play and watch. After the games, we taught the students three different dances: the Cupid Shuffle, a step dance, and an Indian dance. Surprisingly, the kids caught on very quickly and did a great job during the dances.
Finally the night ended like any Christmas party should, with Christmas Caroling around the campus dormitories. A small group went out to the teacher and student dorms and sang Christmas Carols from door to door. It was a pretty amazing way to spend Christmas week in China! Pictures and videos will be added for reference. Although I am not home this year with friends and family, I have enjoyed the warmth and love of my friends and students here in China and I am so grateful to be spending this Christmas with such amazing people~
