Today we had a meeting about the Saturday class that I will be teaching for Mr. Ding. Candy and I had made plans for her to pick me up at my apartment around 4:30 to go to the meeting, since I didn’t know where it would be. A little before 4:30 there came a knock on the door. When I opened the door, I got a surprise! Kathy, my translator, and Sabrina, another of the translators, were there to pick me up. I could not believe it and screamed when I saw them. Ever since returning, I have wanted to see Kathy, catch up with her, and know how she was doing. I immediately invited them in, while I finished getting ready. They told me that Candy would meet me at the meeting, but she had to stay at her office until it was time for the meeting.
When we got there, we were the first ones to arrive, so I got to catch up with the girls a bit and find out how they were doing. Candy arrived a little later and other people began to arrive. I got a lot of paper work about the class, but it was all in characters and of course, I couldn’t read it. Candy sat next to me and translated a little, but Mrs. Zhang told her not to talk. So, she wrote out what the papers said for me and I just sat there not understanding a thing. I recognized some of the other teachers who I had met on my trip last summer. I met my assistant, who will be one of my students. She seemed pretty cute and eager to help.
After the meeting, we went to dinner. I had made plans with Mo to have chili tonight from our leftovers from dinner the other night, so I told her that I wouldn’t be there. Dinner was at one of the really nice restaurants here in town. In fact, I ate here last summer on our last night in the city and was really sick at that dinner. I was hoping and praying that tonight would not be a repeat. We had to split up between two rooms and of course, I wound up in Mr. Bob’s room. Those of you who know about my trip last summer may remember Mr. Bob, especially if you were on the trip. They began to pour wine and Candy told them that I didn’t want any, but they insisted and poured me a glass anyway. That was fine; I just wasn’t going to drink it.
NOTE: The wine here is REALLY strong, 100 proof, and the wine glasses are more like miniature shot glasses in the shape of goblets.
Dinner began and I met the other teachers sharing the table with us. Candy translated most of it, but I tried to use my Chinglish and guess what was being said. Not too long into the dinner and the toasts began. I started having flashbacks from our last dinner at this restaurant where we toasted until we were sick and drank about 22 bottles of Coke in one setting. I used my orange juice. The toasts continued and the young guy next to me, “Little Ten”, made me toast him with my wine. I just tipped the glass to my lips and the little amount that made it into my mouth made me cough it was so strong! Then came Mr. Al… Mr. Al is a party member here and teaches in the Saturday program. He is also the one who was responsible for all the toasting at our last dinner. Candy must have seen the expression on my face when he walked in because I immediately recognized him and my eyes probably doubled at the thought of what was going to happen in his presence. We played a little trick, a slight of hand. While Mr. Al was busy toasting the others at the table, Candy had the waitress pour me a wine glass with water in it. Since the wine here is clear, the water looked just the same. When it was my turn, I tipped up my glass and toasted Mr. Al with my water. Fortunately, he finished the round with our table and went back to the other room.
Candy got a call from school part way through dinner and had to return to campus, but gave instructions for Mrs. Zhang to drive me back to school. That left me alone at the table to fend for myself without speaking the language. Somehow, we got to talking about Majong. I said that I knew how to play because I had played it on the computer back home. I was then invited to play Majong with “Little Ten” later. It was a little strange for the rest of dinner with Chinglish and charades to communicate.
After dinner, we went to drink tea at another place, so I got in the car with the calligraphy teacher, the make-up teacher, Mr. Al, and another teacher. I was squeezed in the middle of the back seat between the make-up teacher and Mr. Al. (Mr. Bob and Mr. Al had both had a little too much to drink, and Mr. Al kept spitting on me whenever he talked.) I was glad when we got to the teahouse so I could distance myself from him.
As soon as we got to the tearoom, Little Ten pulled me over to the Majong table. As soon as we began to play, I realized that this was not the Majong that I played back home. There was another girl there who could speak some English and she helped me to learn how to play. It is sort of like rummy. By the end of the night, I had managed to win three rounds. It was late and I decided to return to school. One of the girls that lives on campus shared the cab with me and walked me back to my apartment. It was the craziest night ever!
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