Nanfang is having its annual Christmas pagent.  Its apperently a pretty big deal.  Various kids have been excused from elective classes (including Oral English) to work on their performances, including dance numbers, songs, and plays. 

Of course, this being China, things are are little off.  I got a chance to see on of the plays early, and I xix you not this is actual plot of the play.  It's called 'The New Snow White'.  Snow White and the prince get married, and go off to live on a farm (of course).  Snow White is unaccustumed to hard work so she takes a break to pick mushrooms in the forest.  The Wicked Queen takes this opprotunity to revenge herself on Snow White.  The magic mirror has a friend, SARS (oh yes, that SARS), who is personified as a hip Chinese teenager and sent to Snow White.  SARS tricks Snow White into toching her, and Snow White collapes.  The prince calls 110 (China's 911) and sends Snow White to the hospital.  Then the prince duels SARS with a sword and kills it.  Snow White gets better and they both take a rocket to the moon.  Then the whole cast sings 'Silent Night' as the rocket ship prop goes back and forth.!

I leave you with that.

Other big themes for the pagent this year seem to be 'The Sound of Music' and Hip-Hop dance.  So that's Christmas over here.  I don't yet know what I'm going to do for Christmas eve [editorial note: in my family Christmas eve is much more important than Christmas day.  Whenever people say Christmas I think the 24th].  There are several parties but I don't know, I might just stay at home by myself.  Too much party and not enough festivities, if that makes sense.

I'm cooking Chili tomorrow for the gang.  I'm pretty psyched.

Merry Christmas

-TWN