Yesterday (Wednesday) I received a call from a friend asking if we were busy that evening. I asked, “What for?” (Maybe this was rude, but I wanted to know what I was going to be asked to do before committing to do it.)
He replied, “To go to another banquet.”
I answered, “Oh.”
He said, “It’s the tea merchant who drove the van to pick you up when you first arrived. He’s been wanting to host a dinner for a while now, and I finally have time.”
Me, inwardly sighing, “Ok. I’ll check with Jean-Jacques.”
Do you think we refused the invitation? You guessed it, we found ourselves being whisked away to another evening of socializing. There was the usual amount of smoke haze and drunken toasting. In addition to the normal frustrations endured at all banquets, my head was also pounding and the vocal volume of our fellow diners increased in direct proportion to the amount of baijiu they drank, which, in turn, didn’t positively affect my headache.
That’s one thing I’ve learned while here -- the Chinese are the most gracious hosts I have ever met (and probably ever will meet). Sure, there’s a lot of spitting, noodle slurping, and shoving in China, but one quickly forgets all about it once you’re in the middle of experiencing Chinese hospitality. Our host last night picked us up at our school (and drove us back), drank tea (not baijiu) with us so we wouldn’t feel uncomfortable, kept filling up our tea cups with fresh water, made sure that we received the first helpings of dishes once they were placed on the table, invited us to his shop for some expensive tea after the meal, and gave us a bag of peanuts and about eight packets of dates to take home with us. Wow!
The only thing we did in the way of a thank you was to take some pictures with the tea shop owner and his wife. We were told that they are planning to frame the photograph and hang it under a picture of Hu Jintao and Vladimir Putin. I’m not sure we’re worthy to put in such a prominent place.
We did get a business card for the tea shop, so we can show a taxi driver the address and find our way back on our own. If anyone has some orders for Chinese tea, let me know and I’ll see what I can do to fill your request.
What exotic dish did I eat last night? Duck tongue. No, I am not exaggerating. I was happily eating some tasty noodles, when a man plopped half a duck bill on my plate. (He had just done the same thing to Jean-Jacques.) I’ll admit that I’ve gotten much more brave when it comes to eating bizarre food, but I almost couldn’t stomach the duck tongue. I had to pry it away from the bill (which still had some hairs in it, by-the-way) and hold the whole thing in my fingers while I took a bitty bite. Was it mouth-watering and delicious (to quote one of Jean-Jacques' students)? Not in the least. I only managed to swallow the one niblet I tried. And I tasted it all night long.
I was a little worried about the class “that has devil eyes”, but they were perfect today. (Some of the trouble makers were busy collecting books for the poor... Yes, you read that correctly. It only happens in China, folks.) We had fun and laughed together, which is good because we all needed it. At the end of the session, I informed them that I was very proud of them and gave them a round of applause that they quickly joined. So it was a great day.
(The only incident of the period occurred when I took away a kid’s physics homework, grabbed a desk and chair, put them outside of the room, and suggested that he study there. He pleaded for me to give him a second chance, which I did. He was an angel for the rest of time.)
As I’ve said, it’s been an exciting few days. Hope all is well with everyone!
