Elves that speak up

My big Christmas present is a stack of about 700 pages of student writing, most of which arrived the day before Christmas Eve. (Fellow writing teachers--don't worry, the hardest part is behind me. I've seen many drafts of these papers. You know what I mean.)

Still! When faced with such an onerous task, I usually find plenty of ways to procrastinate. What better diversion is there than housecleaning?! Or maybe hunting down ingredients to cook something from scratch to feed 30--well, maybe 90--people?

See, last year at this time I was visited by elves. Somehow those elves must have whispered in the ears of some of my current students--because last Tuesday one bright-eyed student spoke up, asking if maybe they could come to my place. They'd heard about some other dinners. So what should I say? They were all so eager, on the edge of their seats. They made clear that the 24th would be a perfect time to come to my apartment, the day of their last class. And so they came. And took a thousand and one pictures.

I'd made a huge pot of pasta with some homemade sauce--with lots of fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley, mushrooms--and some herbs from Provence sent as a gift. They loved it! That is, once they slipped in a half jar of hot pepper sauce to make it a real Chongqing dish.  A few students paraded around with bowls of it, feeding the rest of us bite by bite with chopsticks.

 Meanwhile, they made dumplings . . .

        And ate them . . .

I've never had Chinese students here who didn't do magic before leaving. Suddenly the dishes were all washed and the floors were mopped. Really. I can't tell you how grateful I am, especially since two other classes looked at me expectantly yesterday, asking with bright expressions when their turn would be. Saturday and next Monday, respectively.

I will get those papers graded, but it may take me a few hours longer than usual.

Wonderful as this Christmas Eve was, it was without Christopher, Ana, Ben, and Nick and other beloved friends and family. I send special greetings to you--and to all of you who peek at this blog now and then.  Now remember, everything in China is BIG, including these holiday good wishes straight from Beibei!