Happy New Year!!!

...and Merry Christmas while I'm at it! :) Liz and I managed to have a nice Christmas here, even though we were both missing being at home for the holidays. On Christmas eve, we went to a midnight mass, where we were pretty much able to keep up with the service (well, except for not catching on to the kneeling part!), even though neither of us has a Catholic background. Christmas morning, we got up and began to cook an American-style lunch. (Which actually turned out pretty well. It made me think about attempting to cook here every now & then.) Raghu came over, we all opened presents, ate, and headed over to the apartment of one of the other American trainers for a party. All in all it was a good day.
Now that it's a new year, it's time to look to the year ahead. First, we need to take down the Christmas tree, especially since the ornaments are already dusty and the kittens have now decided to use it as a jungle gym. :) Secondly, it is time to start evaluating what I'm doing here, if I'll stay for another year, and what I'll do if I don't stay for another year. Supposedly our contract renewals start on the 10th of this month. The word on the street is that there are 8 things different from our old contracts (not that those were adhered to that well anyway), but I'm betting that the changes are not going to be ones in our favor! *sigh* All I can do is wait and see... Waiting is always the hard part: too many questions start running through my head! Do I even want to stay? Yes, I love being here in India, but working for this company can even take the joy out of that at times. But what will I do when I get back to the US? Go back to school and get a degree in education? Or, do I apply to teach in another country? What is the appeal: Teaching? India? Or specifically, teaching in India? I was hoping that this year in India would clarify things a bit for me...but right now I feel just as confused as when I left. :)