On Saturday the church branch I am apart of in China invited us to their Christmas party in Shenzhen. We all meet up in the afternoon and took a 2 hour bus ride to Shenzhen. Shenzhen is a city populated with many people from all over the world. So when we arrived and saw white people playing soccer and a group of people speaking English and kids running by us yelling in English we were a little taken back. I can imagine going back to the States where people are the same race and speak the same language as me will be a little overwhelming. It's weird, but in just 4 months I'm so used to being surrounded by people of a different race and different language as me. Once we arrived in Shenzhen we watched the soccer game and helped decorate for the event. I enjoyed the decorations because  "Christmas Internationally" was the theme. There were signs in many different languages with the message "Merry Christmas" on them, there were country flags hung up and placed on the tables, and the program was a passport. It was adorable! We first ate dinner which was amazing! They served us green beans, ham, salad, rolls and potatoes. Afterwards they had people in the ward share how they celebrate Christmas from the country they are from. There were people from Netherlands, Columbia, South Africa, Siberia, Mexico, and Chile. That was by far my favorite part. It was very interesting to learn about the small and big differences countries have when celebrating Christmas. Afterwards we sang Christmas carols and then watched the children act out the nativity. Because our bus was schedule to leave before the party was over we were not able to light lanterns like they had scheduled! I was really bummed, but decided I will just have to light off lanterns at my wedding. I am so grateful I went to that party because it really got me in the Christmas spirit which I had been lacking. It was yet another enjoyable experience in China!