So as Chinese New Year is coming up at the end of the week, and most Chinese are already off work, traveling to their places of birth or better said where the oldest family members live. The Chinese word 老家 laojia covers it all. As for my hostfamily, they are staying at home over New Year's hosting all sorts of 3rd and 4th grade relatives basically everyday. Which means that all 3 fridges and freezers as much as all the storage room in the house is overflowing with all sorts of either already prepared dishes, meat, vegetables, fruits and candy. And I thought the fridges couldn't get anymore stuffed than they already were. I was obviously wrong on this one.
So with a morning's notice aka 2 hours, my hostfamily let me know that they would take me to the only place close to Chengdu where especially the kids could have fun playing in the snow. So after gathering my stuff for our overnight stay there, our driver headed West of Chengdu, where we arrived at our hotel after a 2 hours drive. In the little village that did not have snow yet (I was sort of confused) we bought all sorts of snow toys and sleighs, snow boots and hats. After getting all set up for our day in the snow which was scheduled for the following day, we got back to our villa (as family friends and the driver had to be covered, too, we just got the biggest house the hotel offered all together) and heated up our whirlpool outside. Me and my groupies aka kids between the age of 4 and 71/2 hang in the black water (apparently some super healthy minerals - I call that dirt). But honestly, I doubt that this was anywhere healthy for those little muchkins, this water was HOT. Like almost to hot to get inside. And it was quite a challenge to keep them entertained, as all the fun like diving, splashing etc was not allowed. Understandable that after sbout sn hour and a half we all agreed on taking showers and getting ready for dinner. Oh, and btw, while I kept those 3 alive in the whirlpool the other folk was devouring in wine and spicy meat. And that's what you later call holiday with your kids. Oh well, no judging, right :-)
So for dinner we headed to a huge town square where we had an out-of-this-world barbecue. Tons of food on sticks and in addition a few whole rabbits. Gosh, my whole stomach was basically only protein filled. I got offered a sweet wine like hot beverage but after the first sip knew I wouldn't be able to take another. Man, was that sweet! Like disgustingly sweet. I have no idea how they were able to empty glass after glass of that potion. So while the adults kept getting warm from the inside, me and the kids grabbed the microphones that laid out be used for public karaoke and had a blast singing. Luckily they had about 2 English songs and also the only 2 Chinese songs I am able to sing. Which very impressed the Chinese around me. Huh, you didn't think I was able to do that!
As it got late, we headed back to our house, where the adults too the kids for another round into the whirlpool. I, at that point, had enough. So I was more than ready to head for a night sharing my king size bed with little Amy. But who thought that a 5 year old could basically claim a bed that size all for herself?! This little girls was moving like I would in gymnastics class, changing her position every 5 min, spreading her little body all over the pillows. So that night was only semi relaxing. If at all. I did get excited thought the next morning when we finally left to spend some time in the snow. Together with tons of other Chinese - literally no foreigners but me - we headed up the mountains, first in a cable car and then in a bus. But let me tell you, what expected us there was maybe the size of 3 soccerfields of snow. And that's what they call the most famous place in Sichuan to ski. Hahaha. Good one.
We had fun anyway though. Sledding, snowball fight, building a snowman and riding a snow mobile. Kids were totally thrilled, so their fascination grabbed me, too. Amy, like the days before, was clinging to me, so I had the pleasure of standing in line for like an hour to take her to go potty. Surrounded by a great smell.
So when it was time to head back down to the village, we all were pretty exhausted and tired. But happy and had a funfilled day. So on our way back home I guess everyone, even my hostparents, slept in the car. I for sure did.