Christmas Pizza With Daughter
One inconvenient part about Christmas not being a publicly observed holiday in China is that the schools here hold class as normal on Christmas Day. Since my beautiful daughter lives at school during the week, I wasn’t going to get to see her on Christmas day. 
Then my daughter had an idea. I’d call her teacher (who thankfully speaks English) and ask if my daughter could have a leave of absence for the evening on Christmas day. OK, I’ll admit I’m not the only one who finds a requirement to request a leave of absence from school in the evening surprising. 
Ah well, at least China seems to deeply value having students show up for class each day (and evening), unlike most schools in the United States. 
My darling daughter’s teacher was a little surprised to get a call from someone speaking English instead of Chinese. Happily, she agreed to let me pick up my daughter at about 5 pm on Christmas day. 
The day before I went shopping to load up on essential items (i.e. snacks, snacks, and more snacks 
). One thing that had been bouncing around in my mind was that I was a little sad not to have any Christmas stockings. Then I spotting something on display next to the checkout line.
Christmas Stocking, Chinese Style
So, I had a stocking and far too many snacks waiting at home. Now it was time for me and my lovely wife to collect our daughter.
My lovely daughter wanted to go our for pizza. 
Naturally being a fan of good pizza, I never decline when someone suggests Papa John’s. (Yaaay! More Christmas Pizza!)
My Lovely Wife and Tasty Christmas Pizza
The food was great, and it was wonderful to see my daughter sometime other than on a weekend. 
Me and My Lovely Daughter on Christmas Day
There was only one drawback. Like so many restaurants in China, Papa John’s offers free wifi. Sadly, it was only a matter of time until this happened. 
This is Why I Hate Smart Phones
Bring some peace and joy to all of your holidays. Send a nice text message (or QQ message or WeChat message) to all of your friends and family. Then turn off your wifi, put your phone away, and spend some time talking to the people around you.
Oh, and enjoy a few big slices of Christmas Pizza too.
