=Your fun is only limited by your imagination=

On December 25^th 2009, I spent my first Christmas in America at Katie’s place. There were six people gathering together to celebrate Christmas, including Katie, Shawn, Emily, Lin, Ray, Vivienne, and myself. Katie picked us up at Harvard Square and gave us a ride to her place. When I entered the house, I was really impressed with the decoration and the atmosphere of the house. It was cozy and warm, both heat and the atmosphere. There were photos and candles, and I love them very much. When we entered the dining room, I found the table was set with nice plates and napkins, and the photo frames with our names. Katie made all of this! I think Katie is really talented in making places nicer! Katie made us nice lunch. We had a good salad and spicy pasta and zucchinis. I love the food very much. After lunch, we sang Christmas songs and unwrapped the gifts under the big Christmas tree. These gifts were from everyone, and we exchanged gifts. It was really exciting to open the gifts in American way that I never had before. Everyone was really enjoying it! Oh, I forgot to mention Lily and Sergio. They are Katie and Shawn’s pets! They brought a lot of joy for our Christmas. I think they make a good balance. Lily is energetic, while Sergio is more laidback. Lily is more like a social person. She likes to hang out with everyone, and she made everyone laugh. After opening the gifts, we played games. We had to pull a silver candy-like present from both sides. After pulling, there was a big sound and the gifts inside popped out. The presents inside include a paper-made tiara, a small toy, and a small piece of paper with jokes or trivia on it. We told everyone the jokes or made everyone guess the trivia! I got the same piece of paper with Ray’s. Out trivia question was “which color can stipulate your appetite?” And………………………..the answer is “Orange.” Then we chatted with each other for the whole afternoon and had our artist’s day. We used the glitter powders to decorate the snowflakes! Everyone came up with something special. Ray created a 3-D artwork! All the snowflakes we decorated were sparkling under the light. That was the first time using glitter powders. Now I have hung my snowflake on the wall of my room. As for dinner, Emily, Lin and Vivienne prepared Vegetarian Chinese food for us! Lin made the soup, Emily made a dish of mushrooms and green vegetable, Vivienne made the special steamed rice, and Katie and I set the table! These dishes were really good. We also had some white wine for dinner. Thank you for bringing the wine, Emily! During the dinner, we had great conversations! Then it started to snow!!! Because of being afraid that there would be more snow, we decided to go home earlier. We hugged each other before saying goodbye… It was a totally wonderful Christmas just to celebrate with friends! I love GMCA, because it brings me friendships! And thank you, Ray and Vivienne. It was really nice of you to drive us home!