A Christmas Open House with the Nursing Students

Last night I opened my home to celebrate Christmas with the nursing students before they head home on Christmas vacation. A teacher hosting a event like this is not exactly cultural as teachers are respected (and sometimes feared) by their students here in Indonesia. The opportunity to get to know them better outside of the classroom was too good to pass up, though as we took pictures and laughed together. We took a lot of pictures, so here we go...

The house is decorated. 

The food and drinks are ready to go. There are 157 students and most are teenagers, so they can eat a lot of food! 

Here they come. (people take off their shoes before entering a house here)

 It took awhile for the first group to come because it was raining and I am sure the students weren't quite sure what to expect. Finally, three freshmen students showed up. Then they started coming in larger groups...

We enjoyed singing together with this group.  

And we took pictures everywhere. 

The chocolate cake was quite the hit! 

Having fun talking and laughing

Someone in the group has some good photography skills, because I didn't take the next couple of pictures but they are good! 

They came in waves. A group would be ready to leave just as the next group came. 

And with each one they would take pictures in groups and alone. 

And then I would get added to the group. 

There were cameras and cell phones taking pictures everywhere

So this introvert needs to take a day (or two!) to recover but it was a lot of fun. They students head home to their towns and villages today and tomorrow. Praying they have a safe trip and a fun Christmas with their family and friends. We will all be back in the classroom on January 5th and final exams for this first semester are the last week of January.