Christmas in China

This year was my fourth Christmas spent in China, far away from my family and relatives. Last year was my first Christmas with my boyfriend Alan and he took great care of me while I was sick in bed. He even made Finnish soup for me according to my instructions.

This year Alan was away for work the whole week and I was very worried how the holidays would go without him by my side. It didn’t go as planned, far  away from my childhood Christmases, but in a way it was nice as well.

The Saturday before Christmas he went to the gym in the evening and while he was there, I decided to give him a surprise. I decorated our living room with Christmas ornaments, put up the tree with sparkling lights and wrapped his gift in a beautiful package. The smile on his face was amazing when he came back and saw what I had done. He also loved my gift, which was a jumpsuit similar to these these.

What about my gifts you might wonder? Alan got me a jumpsuit as well after I told him how much I liked his present myself! So now we have a matching outfits to wear at home, his is black and mine is red (see the photo above). He also bought me headphones as I’d been complaining how I can’t hear my podcasts in loud metros and buses. The headphones arrived while he was away, so I opened the express delivery package my self, but nevertheless it was a thoughtful present.

Christmas Eve is the most important day in Finland during the holidays. I mentioned this to Alan’s mother on that very morning and few moments later she came to me smiling and said: “We don’t understand Christmas or gift giving, but this is for you” and she handed me a red pocket of lucky money. I was so touched of how she cares about my holiday and traditions and wanted to give me a present.

I spent the Eve at home surfing online and watching Homeland with my cats, but on Christmas Day I cleaned the rooms and invited friends over. I bought lots of snacks and made traditional Finnish rice porridge for them. It takes one hour to make, but is very delicious! We also had dinner at a local restaurant in our village and then played card games until it was time for them to catch the bus.

I probably can’t spend Christmas in Finland anytime soon, as I hope to continue my studies next year. But I really hope that next time I can spend it properly with my boyfriend and his family at our new place in the old family home. And perhaps some day my family from Finland can join us as well for a different kind of holiday here in Guangzhou.

How was your Christmas in China or back home?