On Friday 21 December, Suzhou International Foundation School hosted a Christmas party, organised collaboratively with a variety of other public schools. During the event, English teachers and their Chinese colleagues competed in a number of team-building activities in a fun and friendly environment at Dulwich College. The party was a chance for us to engage outside of work and enjoy ourselves with colleagues. Rosalind was kind enough to drive me to the college and together we had a very enjoyable afternoon of games and activities along with a tea break.

Our first activity was deciding a team name and motto and, it being a Christmas party, we decided on something Christmas-sy, calling our team, ‘Clu and the Rowdy Reindeers’. Another activity involved moving a ball across the room and into a cup without it touching the ground whilst using pieces of plastic pipe. The final activity, and my personal favourite, involved painting separate segments of a large rainbow poster and a lot of fun was had trying to smoothly paint an even coat onto our section.

Following the game and activities, a short award ceremony was held for the foreign teachers, during which I was awarded best attendance, and short speeches were given thanking everyone for their hard work throughout the first teaching semester.

To end the event, we all shared in a Christmas buffet at a nearby hotel late into the evening and had a wonderful meal together. Whilst it is not a replacement for a family Christmas back in Scotland, I felt the foundation school truly tried hard to make everyone feel welcome and together at this most important time of year and tried to replicate the feelings of warmth and comfort Christmas brings, even across the world and so far from home.

Overall I had an immensely enjoyable afternoon and evening and am grateful to both Rosalind for attending the event with me and the foundation school for organising the event for all of us.