A Doll's First Banquet

China doll had quite an adventure last Friday. We arrived after school at 4 PM for the faculty performance. It seemed like most of the teachers did at least one act, mostly singing Chinese songs. One group did a "hip-hop" dance (I put that in quotes because it was pretty clear that only one of the teachers could actually pop and lock, the others did moves behind him) and another couple tangoed! It took us a good hour before Sophie and I realized we were actually the guests of honor at this performance. I should have realized it when they moved us from a side seat to front row center, and because they introduced us at the beginning of the show and we had to stand up and wave. Some of the acts were kind of confusing, but I have realized: that's just how's it's going to be for the year. Sometimes, things will just be weird and confusing but that's part of the fun!

Sophie and I had a fanclub of girls who ran up to the front during the performance and sat with us. They didn't speak any English, but one girl kept repeating "Hello, what is your name." Because students are mostly taught through scripted dialogues, she was baffled when I replied and couldn't say anything else. We were all able to communicate through the language of funny faces.

Our own performance went totally well. They were excited to hear us sing in English, but we got uproarious applause when we sang in Chinese. The little girls brought us flowers after our performance, but apparently here those aren't for keeps. They keep a supply of plastic flowers to give out at certain performances, which you then give back before you leave. Confusing, yet again.

Afterward, we walked from the school to the restaurant for the banquet. At a banquet, seating is very important. Where you sit determines how important or powerful you are, and so the seating was pretty particular. Since apparently Sophie and I were still the guests of honor, we got to sit with the principal, the dean, and all of the vice principals! Our table was the biggest, and we had a lovely bouquet of flowers. 

It is also a tradition in China to toast people at the banquet, but it's not of the clink your glass and toast the room variety. You have to stand up and toast a specific person, and have a small discussion with them. It's also protocol to "return" toasts, so every time we were toasted, a few minutes later we had to go and toast them back. You must keep your glass lower than the person you toast. You must clink glasses multiple times throughout the toast. Plus, you toast to thank them for anything they have done for you and anything they plan to do for you. Because of this, Sophie and I had to toast every single teacher in the room, who probably will help us at different points, plus everyone wanted to toast US because we were the guests of honor. It was a lot of standing around and smiling while Fang Laoshi (our Chinese caretaker here and English teacher extraordinaire) gave our toasts for us in Chinese. All I can say is that opting not to drink alcohol from the start was a really good idea, I would have been on the floor drunk. However, the drink they did give us was Chinese orange juice, which is sweeter than tang and pulpier than anything I've ever had in the states and I was pretty nauseous by the end of the dinner simply from drinking four large glasses of that treacle liquid.

Me, Fang Laoshi, and Sophie at the banquet

Today, Sophie and I went to the Confucius Temple with our Chinese tutors. In ancient times, it is where men would take their tests to become officials in the government, but now it's a shopping market. There are tons of trinkets and souvenirs, so I will definitely be going back. There is a river than runs through, we took a boat tour of the area; many of the buildings are still around from ancient times! At night, the whole places lights up with lanterns (especially for the spring lantern festival), which is yet another reason to go back, this time at night. China doll finally got to see some ancient China!

Sophie and our two Chinese tutors at the Confu Temple

Cool Chinese building on our boat tour