Family appreciation night

Well, we had the farewell family appreciation banquet last night. As usual at a Chinese banquet, people sit at groups of 8-10 at a round table. Food is brought out in dishes, each dish is put in a lazy susan type device placed at the center of the table. People just dig their chopsticks in and grab whatever they want. In front of you, there is a small (very small, may 6 ounce) bowl with a spoon of sorts and under that a small plate. Most of the food you simply put from the chopsticks into your mouth. The bowl is primarily for soups but also for placing portions of the food you grab with the chopsticks if it's too much to put into your mouth. The plate is for discards. As dishes are finished they are cleared by waitresses and new dishes are added.

O.k. So much for the details of a Chinese banquet. Of course we sat with our family members. For me that meant Mr and Mrs Z and their son. There was also another volunteer and her mother, father and daughter. And two of our language teachers sat with us as well. Their were speeches to start out with: speeches by the director of the program and by various administrative personnel. And then the trainees (us) performed a couple of skits: one which parodied our progress in language class and the travails of our teachers and another one which illustrated the foibles of a trainee showing up for the first time at a host family's house. Then we performed a song in English (We are Family) in which a couple of us (yours truly included) played guitar and a Chinese song: "Ni shi wo de mei gua hua" or "You are my rose," which I have to admit did not seem like the most apporpriate song to me since it is a song by a lover to his beloved. And then the host families (or rather one member from each family) performed a Chinese version of "Auld Ang Syne" (Yes, that "Auld Ang Syne," the one we sing every New Year's. And that was that, excpet for the orgy of picture taking that ensued. I took my share, and anyone who wants the link to shutterfly can contact me.

Hard to believe it's been two months.