Christmas Eve and Introductions

Today is Christmas Eve, and I am in Turkmenistan. You will all be surprised to know that Ashgabat is decked out in true Christmas fashion. Multicolored lights snake around and around large, previously unadorned trees. Garland, in a wide variety of colors, hangs above many doorways and even above the blackboard in one of my classrooms. According to reports, the bazaars are far more packed than usual. The only thing is, Turkmen, as a general rule, do not celebrate Christmas . These decorations are not Christmas decorations at all! They are New Year's decorations. It seems that New Years here in T-stan is celebrated in much the same way as we celebrate Christmas in the US. This makes my answer to the question, "How do you celebrate Christmas???" really anticlimactic. My answer to the question, "How will you be celebrating tomorrow?" is even more anticlimactic. I will be teaching at the institute. On second thought, this isn't anticlimactic at all. I am truly enjoying my time at work.
Because I have a full two week rotation, I am still in the long process of meeting all the classes and all of the students with whom I will work. In each class, I do a variety of get-acquainted activities. In all the classes, I allow each student to ask me one question about myself. Here are some of the questions I am asked (the order of questions doesn't vary much between classes) :

What is your name? (Response to my answer: that is a really long name)
How old are you? (Response to my answer: oooohhhh, young)
Are you married?
Why not? (My answer: in America, I am far too young to marry)
Do you like Turkmen boys? Will you marry here?
What is your favorite Turkmen national meal? (My answer: Manti!!!)
Do you like the Turkmen national dress? (My answer: yup because its super comfy)
Why are you here? (My answer: your country asked my country for English teachers)
What is one thing you like in the world?
What are your hobbies? (My answer: reading, running, and I used to play soccer) (Response to soccer: mouths dropping open)
Tell about your family.
How do you define love?

Etc.

I hope this give you some insight into my day!!

Merry Christmas!

I love you all and stay safe!