干杯 (Cheers)

My first night here I was taken out to a big welcome dinner with many teacher from my school and the principal. It was literally an experience of a life time. I think all Americans should be placed at the table for a family style dinner with a room full of Chinese people at some time in their lives. 

On Friday I was picked up at the airport by Sarah, an English teacher from Qinhuangdao Foreign language High School (The high school I'm working at). She's an older woman who's been teaching at the school for a long time and her English is amazing. She came with a younger teacher, another knew teacher at the school - like me. She's also an English teacher but she's Chinese. Her English was not as good, it was very difficult for her to understand me, which I felt bad about. The two of them picked me up in the front of my building to go out to dinner. She said it would be the principal (who was very excited to meet me) and some other teachers. When I got there most of the teachers were already there and also already drunk. 

Drinking is BIG in China. The Russian 外教  (learning Russian used to be more common than English up here in the North) said she'd never seen people drink as much as the Chinese，that not even Russian compare. 

When I sat down - right next to the principal of course - the first question I was asked was "Beer, wine, or liquor," well it was asked in a mixture of English and Chinese and with help from other people. So I answered 啤酒 （beer) - as any good Germany girl would. Before we even started eating the toasts had started. "To the new teachers" - there was also a new 外教 (foreign teacher) from Japan - he's a very nice older man. He sat on the other side of me. So the whole night was a competition of how much we could drink. I have to say I didn't do that badly - till they tried to get me to drink 白酒 (Chinese liquor). This stuff is terrible and they drink it straight!! Some of the women mixed it with juice, but seriously - this is the most disgusting stuff you'll ever taste ( and also gives a nasty hangover). 

干杯 means "Cheers" in Chinese but that's only the connotation, the literal translation is "finish your drink." So the whole dinner was old men cheers-ing the new teachers and the American, so they were just trying to get us drunk. I went to college, but this was rough. 

Also - in China - your glass can never be empty. It's seen as respectful and an honor to fill someone's glass - especially someone that you view as above you or the guest. That day I was the guest and so was the man to my right and the principal was to my left.... So I was a target. People would fill your glass with your bottle of beer, or thMy first night here I was taken out to a big welcome dinner with many teacher from my school and the principal. It was literally an experience of a life time. I think all Americans should be placed at the table for a family style dinner with a room full of Chinese people at some time in their lives. 

On Friday I was picked up at the airport by Sarah, an English teacher from Qinhuangdao Foreign language High School (The high school I'm working at). She's an older woman who's been teaching at the school for a long time and her English is amazing. She came with a younger teacher, another knew teacher at the school - like me. She's also an English teacher but she's Chinese. Her English was not as good, it was very difficult for her to understand me, which I felt bad about. The two of them picked me up in the front of my building to go out to dinner. She said it would be the principal (who was very excited to meet me) and some other teachers. When I got there most of the teachers were already there and also already drunk. 

Drinking is BIG in China. I met a Russian woman today that works at my school (learning Russian used to be more common than English up here in the North) and she said she'd never seen people drink as much as the Chinese. 

When I sat down - right next to the principal of course - the first question I was asked was "Beer, wine, or liquor," well it was asked in a mixture of English and Chinese and with help from other people. So I answered 啤酒 （beer) - as any good Germany girl would. Before we even started eating the toasts had started. "To the new teachers" - there was also a new 外教 (foreign teacher) from Japan - he's a very nice older man. He sat on the other side of me. So the whole night was a competition of how much we could drink. I have to say I didn't do that badly - till they tried to get me to drink 白酒 (Chinese liquor). This stuff is terrible and they drink it straight!! Some of the women mixed it with juice, but seriously - this is the most disgusting stuff you'll ever taste ( and also gives a nasty hangover). 

干杯 means "Cheers" in Chinese but that's only the connotation, the literal translation is "finish your drink." So the whole dinner was old men cheers-ing the new teachers and the American, so they were just trying to get us drunk. I went to college, but this was rough. 

Also - in China - your glass can never be empty. It's seen as respectful and an honor to fill someone's glass - especially someone that you view as above you or the guest. That day I was the guest and so was the man to my right and the principal was to my left.... So I was a target. People would fill your glass with your bottle of beer, or theirs, or some random one lying around. Or sometimes with 白酒 (I tried to keep some beer in my glass at all time so they couldn't put 白酒 in). 

The food was Family Style, like most Chinese dinners. I took a picture of a table in China right before leaving and the table is so full most people would think the dinner had just started! On average there are twenty courses to a dinner. The plate is taken away before the food is all gone. It's seen as gauche to not have enough food - so there is always excess. I think this is silly and wasteful, but hey! it's their culture. 

The food is similar to Chinese food found in the US. Every region has it's own cuisine. In Qinhuangdao there's a lot of fish and seafood. I'm a long time Vegetarian, but I chose to be a Pescitarian for this experience - I've even ate some meat. I mean, when in Rome (oddly this is an American expression that came up at dinner). 

eirs, or some random one lying around. Or sometimes with 白酒 (I tried to keep some beer in my glass at all time so they couldn't put 白酒 in). 

The food was Family Style, like most Chinese dinners. I took a picture of a table in China right before leaving and the table is so full most people would think the dinner had just started! On average there are twenty courses to a dinner. The plate is taken away before the food is all gone. It's seen as gauche to not have enough food - so there is always excess. I think this is silly and wasteful, but hey! it's their culture. 

The food is similar to Chinese food found in the US. Every region has it's own cuisine. In Qinhuangdao there's a lot of fish and seafood. I'm a long time Vegetarian, but I chose to be a Pescitarian for this experience - I've even ate some meat. I mean, when in Rome (oddly this is an expression that came up at dinner). The one really annoying thing about food in China is that they have like fifty names for dumplings. Each name refers to the tiniest of differences. I've gotten to the point where when a students asks if I've tried a certain type of food I just ask if it's a dumpling - because it probably is. 

A few more things to note about Chinese restaurants. It's very common for you to get your own room. Your group group could be 10 people for 30 but you can still get a private room. In the hotel I stayed in in Shanghai there were numerous dinning areas of all different sizes with different sized tables for this reason. So my coworkers and I had our own room with just one table. Another thing to note is that it's still legal to smoke indoors here. But it's not terrible, it's nothing like the horror stories I've heard about bars in America back in the day. There's normally only one or two guys smoking a little. At dinner the one guy in our group who wanted to smoke went next door to the room where the soldiers were and smoked with them. 

Another side note! The first week before classes start for High School and College age kids they have military training. This happens all over China. It's a way fo the students to bond - because they don't necessarily know each other. Some of the students at my school here board here, they're far from home. But there are also many schools in Qinhuangdao that the students could have come from. 

I do know that by the end of dinner I just wanted to fall asleep. I was full, jet lagged, tired from traveling all day (and getting up early all week), and hot! 

Want to learn more about Qinhuangdao? Checkout this website my friends made. (There are even some pictures of me on there!) http://qhdconnect.spruz.com/