Okay, in the midst of all this dillydallying around I’ve been negligent on blogging about the holidays.
Firstly, let me just say that I have never spent so much money on Christmas shopping before! And I didn’t even buy that much stuff! But it was very worth it. To experience a traditional Christmas, nevermind a traditional Norwegian Christmas, with these people who I’m beginning to love very much–that’s a privilege I’m not sure I’ll be able to experience again. I’m very grateful for this opportunity.

It was koselig, but pretty formal, actually: spent most of julaften dressed in fine clothes, went to church and sang some songs (some of which I actually know, for a change), came back, drank a small assortment of alcohols and ate ribbe. (It reminds me of Peking Duck, 想起来就馋!) And I got some very nice things, including a silver axe necklace from Mamma and Pappa. Og første juledagen var vi invitert hos Jan-Åge og Mette til mer god mat.

Oh crap, that reminds me: food is so good. Ribbe, turkey, pinekjøtt, covered barn girls (don’t get perverted, it’s a whipped cream dessert), it’s like a week of Thanksgiving meals. I kveld hadde vi fiskesuppe og hvitvin med brød som Pappa har lagt selv. Det var deilig. I honestly think the hardest thing about returning to the US now would be having to go back to Mom’s cooking again. I’ve been culinarily spoiled rotten these four and a half months.

Så imorra skal jeg til Drammen å feire nyttårsaften hos Yanzi. Jeg gleder meg veldig, fordi når jeg snakker med henne, føles det som om jeg snakker med en god gammel venn. Vi har bare kjent hverandre i litt mindre enn fem måneder, men det føles som om vi har vært gode venner i mange år. 我感觉跟她说话特别痛快，真的好像跟家里人说话一样；不用小心挑字儿，也不用怕把话说出来。虽然湾区的华人不少，我从来都没有跟人那么轻松的用中文勾通过。知道为什么吗？我现在明白了：因为我们两个说相似的口音。谁能想到口音会那么重要哪？但我发现，虽然我们都说国语，我们有不同的文化。我们用不同的俚语，开不同的玩笑，甚至骂人的字儿都不一样。中国是个大国家，人超亿；竟然能碰到一个这样的同志，那算挺了不起的啦！