Christmas! and such Holiday things

Wow. It has been a long time since we posted on here! Sorry about that! There's been a ton happening and going on. We've been learning and growing a lot, and we've been enjoying the adventure!
I guess we should start with Christmas. Which, by the way, all of our students believe is tomorrow. It has been so strange to be in a country that doesn't celebrate Christmas! Our students kept telling us we were confused because we thought Christmas was last week. They just combine the Christmas idea with New Year's and so don't understand our excitement or traditions. But, we had a good Christmas nonetheless. We made do with a few things we could find for decorations. We got a shrubbish kind of evergreeny tree and found some lights and balls to put on it. We couldn't find stockings, though, so I got a new pair of slipper boots to substitute for our missing stockings. We enjoyed Christmas eve with movies and food, and I woke up at 7:00 on Christmas morning, all excited like I was still a little kid or something!
But, we had a fun time giving presents to each other, even though some of them are stuck in Istanbul in customs at the moment. Later on in the morning we went to meet a friend at the mall and watch some girls from our University help in making the biggest ebru (a type of marbling art) ever. It was an attempt for us to get in the Guinness World Book of Records even! After that, we headed home and talked to our families for a while. It was a wonderful weekend for us to relax and celebrate Christmas and remember why we have Christmas in the first place. We sure did miss our families, but we are thankful to have each other while we are here. Tonight we'll be celebrating the New Year, and as tempting as it is to wake up at 7:00 and celebrate it with the East Coast again, I am looking forward to sleeping in. :-)
Aside from the holidays, we've been working our way through another semester. This one has been challenging because Jeremy and I both have repeat students - those whose grades were not good enough to go to level B. So, they work well sometimes, when they come to class, and feel like it, but many days it is a struggle to motivate them.
We've also started working on the language more fervently by buying the Pimsleur program. It has been fun to go out and work on our Turkish with people we meet. We still have a long way to go, but it has been fun. Thanks so much for all of you who are thinking of us and missing us. We miss all of you and are thankful for your love and encouragement!

Happy New Year!!