All the foreign teachers were invited to dinner hosted by the director of the International Foreign Teachers department, Miss Yue, and her assistants last night. A bus was booked to take us to the restaurant and at five o’clock eleven of us got on board for the ride. It was rush hour in Beijing which means like in any big city we were stuck in traffic for some time. We arrived at the restaurant an hour and a half later, which would have taken fifteen minutes on foot.
At the restaurant we were shown to a room upstairs where a table had been booked for us. We were served some Chinese tea and Miss Yue made a toast and officially welcomed us to Beijing. Then the food started to arrive. The waitress placed several dishes of different foods on what I would describe as a big lazy Susan. As the food came around you could take as much as you liked unto your plate. We were all given chopsticks and I tried my best to use them without getting food on the table or myself. It is quite a challenge and I am proud to say I was able to do a fairly good job.
The food was very delicious and Miss Yue explained each dish as it was served. It was quite a feast and there must have been at least twenty different items including Peking duck. The only Western product was Pepsi which was requested by one of the guests.
After about an hour of food and lively discussion everyone seemed quite satisfied and we thanked Miss for her hospitality. Before we left the restaurant we were each given some Moon cake, which is a a part of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival,or Chinese Moon Festival that occurs on October 3rd.This festival carries as much importance to Chinese people as Thanksgiving or Christmas does to Westerners.
We made our way by bus back to the hotel and this time it took only five minutes arriving around eight o’clock. It was a very enjoyable meal and an interesting night learning more about the Chinese culture.
Happy Chinese Moon Festival!
Everything looks so good!
Quite a delicious meal!
I'm trying my best to master the chopsticks.
Hi
You are so blessed to be have this opportunity .
Sounds like fun!
Roz, you are so right about that-the trip of a lifetime!
Angela,yes it was fun and I’m getting better with the chopsticks!