(Big Day Out, Part 2)
Continued…
As KTV was coming to an end and I was gearing up to go home to my quiet hotel room, one student turned to me and said, “so, are you ready for hot pot?!”
HOT POT? NO! I don’t want to have dinner with all of you now! It’s already been 5 hours of torturous singing!!
But, of course I couldn’t say this. As the polite guest of honor, I swallowed my annoyance and as I was led to the next destination, I couldn’t help thinking… There better be beer.
3 hours and lots of beer later, I was in a much better mood. The students had ordered an awful lot of food and we had a great time cooking it in the hot pot and sharing stories. A couple students in particular, the class clowns, had drank a little (or a lot) more than the rest and were hilarious. Eric kept coming over and cheers-ing me:
Eric - Dear Teacher, we love you!
Laura - Oh, that’s very nice Eric, Cheers!
Eric - To “Happy Forever!”
Laura, Everyone - Happy Forever!
This was what we cheers-ed to all night, Happy Forever! I think it’s a direct translation from what they say in Chinese when making toasts. Eric also got a little overly excited when talking to his best friend, Collus (I know… horrid name, I tried to talk him into choosing a better one - no dice).
Eric - Collus, dear Collus. No matter where you go, I’ll stay with you. My spring and you’re my winter in my eyes. I love you, baby!
Other students - laughing uncontrollably
Collus - calls after Eric, I like girls!
It’s pretty funny on video, I think Eric was trying to use the lyrics to some English love song, but was obviously unsuccessful.
The dinner came to a close and my students were headed to the night market. I put my foot down and told them it was time for me to go home. It’s so exhausting spending time with the students, it was like teaching for a whole 8 hours, straining to understand their less-than-perfect English. All in all, it was a big day and while I learned a whole lot more about my students, I learned a valuable lesson: In China, if you’re the guest of honor, make sure it’s a night-time event so that it won’t drag on for hours and hours!
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