Monday, December 26, 2005
had a fantastic christmas. its one of those warm hearted ones when you feel that there's nowhere else in the world where you want to be except there and then.
left minnesota on thursday night at 5 pm. victor drove 5 hours to wisconsin, and it was pretty a boring drive. everywhere was pitch dark and tried to keep awake so that i could talk to him so that he won't fall asleep at the wheel haha
arrived at the burchell's at 11pm. felt a little like a fish out of the water, but the hug i got from kathie (the mum) was an indication of the warmth and welcome that i would get from them in the next few days.
slept in jo's room (she's 21 and she's newly married!) for the night. its a cosy room with a bed a dresser and a wardrobe :)
was woken up in the morning by the sound of the 5 kids, danny (baby), davie, ellie, ruthie and gracie running around the house. the burchell's are a middle class family, and they aren't rich. they are pretty financially hard up but its simply amazing how they make do with what they have.
they dont have cable, no highspeed internet, only a small tv with a dvd player. yet time seems to pass so fast when i'm with them. played with the kids in the morning and was a little overwhelmed. kathie bakes really good bread :)
spent the afternoon walking around the town of brodhead. nothing much. imagine a road half the length of orchard road, from ck tang to takashimaya with a row of shop houses 2 storeys high lininig both sides of the road. this was their downtown. yet small as it was, it was a quaint little town and definitely a cosy place.
went christmas shopping at target! drove 30 mins to janesville and bought presents for the kids! and the parents as well. never felt so happy shopping at all in my whole life :)
met jo and her husband, ron, sarah and her husband justin at night. they were the grown up kids of the burchell family. they were damn nice!
jo just got married last weekend and they had sort of a small family gathering to open up the presents they got. lots of food! pot roast and bread and cheese and cake and cookies. :) that's why i'm having a sorethroat now. haha
saturday morning was christmas eve and it was the family tradition to open up presents that day. i got so many things from them! kathie's knitting me a scarf that she'll fedex me when she's done, got a snowflake made by gracie and ruthie, a shirt from sarah, jacket from victor and a book from the burchell's as well.
the kids had an amzing number of toys! simply crazy;.
victor wrote an absolutely touching card to the burchells. everybody cried! including me. its damn sad that it'll be his last christmas with them.
had brunch! scrambled eggs and bread!
played games all afternoon, and went to grandpa's house in the afternoon. i love grandpa cawkins! he's into wood carving, and he's this delightful old man. but its damn sad that he has parkinson's. :(
got a quilt from the cawkins family! damn touched! they were so nice towards me! they made a quilt for victor too!
went to the polycastrols (?) after dinner at cawkins (lafse was fantastic! meatballs too) and i ate seafood soup! and played with their 2 dogs.
finally reached home and time to stuff sweets into christmas stockings! :) i bought hershey's for the kids hehe
woke up the next morning and was pretty peaceful til afternoon, where we went to an even larger family gathering.
felt pretty sad this morning when i left the burchells. :(
visited madison and the U of Wisconsin madison after that. buildings were pretty dilapidated hehe uni of minnesota is seriously much prettier.
slept all the way back to minnesota. :)
gg to new york tomorrow! taking the bus at 440am in the morning.hope i won't get mugged haha
mmn. christmas with the burchells was one of the best things that happened to me this year. :)