Gap Guys' Farewell Dinner

It is the last week for the Gap Guys at Southwest Jiaotong University so we got together for a final dinner. At first, it was going to be on Thursday, May 21, but then it was changed to Wednesday. I had my teacher's class on Wednesday so we started the dinner at 5:30 with a promise that I could teach my class even if I may be a bit late.

Unfortunately, someone did not make it clear to Tom that the dinner had been changed from Thursday to Wednesday and he was no where to be found. Later, I found out that he was doing his normal Wednesday afternoon thing at the gym. We all felt bad that we could not find Tom.

This is the restaurant we held the Gap Guys Final Dinner. The ladies our front were friendly but a bit shy. Of course, I spoke to them in English as if they all understood every word I said. Got a feeling they all wanted to do a smack down on me so I immediately greeted them in Chinese. Smack downs hurt!

As we made our way up the stairs to our feasting room we saw two lion's heads stuck on the wall. These were the real things from those lion dances we see all the time. Obviously for good luck and good profit.

Our feasting room was cozy but what caught our eyes were the beautiful yellow and blue dragon place settings. I had seen some similar to these in the tea district in Chengdu and lusted after them. They were very stunning against the black of the table top. The table was a huge round "hot pot" style table with the outer area able to revolve around the stationary hot pot in the middle.

On the way to the restaurant, we asked Zoe about the type of food we were going to have. When she said "hot pot" we all showed the same kind of disappointment. None of us really liked hot pot that much.

During the course of Zoe's ordering, we found out the style would not really be the Sichuan hot pot we had come to . . . well, not like so much. The broth would be light with chicken and the most mushrooms anyone in the room had ever seen.

With the ordering done, Zoe clued us in on exactly what we would be eating and it did sound pretty good. No Sichuan hot pot this evening.

Along with the basic clear (sort of) soup came an interesting array of snacks or appetizers. On the far right just in the picture are some hot spicy peanuts. Next was some strange popcorn kinda things (more like cracked corn). Then we got some thinly sliced and very nice beef . Going around the table to the left were the typical Sichuan "kimchi-like" radishes and then a bunch of green onions for the soup. The stuff was very Tom delicious!

John, into his professional photographer mode, takes pictures of everything in sight. When he first arrived to Emei, he barely took a picture. Now he is Mr. Photo.

The chicken and the mushrooms are "dumped" into the heated broth and in a few minutes we start eating all the mushrooms in the world. They were very good and hearty.

Robert and Sophie share some interesting stories about the Gap Guys visit to our university. It was probably pretty rare for Gappers like Dave and John to get to spend time at a university since they were newly minted HS grads and not yet in college. I thought their time here was absolutely off the charts for us, our students and them. They were the same age as most of the students they interacted with so it was much more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Enliven (Eleven) does her normal helpful stuff to insure we all had a great time with plenty to eat. She helps Zoe take care of all us Lao Wai while we are at the university.

Lots of 'shrooms! Lots of food. Lots of fun!

These were some sweet sticky rice cakes that were so good we ordered another dish of them.

Here is our group outside the restaurant after having a great meal. We all got to say good bye to our Gap Guys. There plan was to travel to Xian on Friday via train and then on to Beijing. From Beijing they would fly to Kunming and then travel to Dali, Lijiang and maybe Shangri-la. They would then return to Emei to pick up their suitcases Sunee helped them buy and then it is off to Thailand and eventually England and their colleges. It was a real pleasure having them visit us, help us, party with us these last three months. Wish they could have stayed longer.

A War Luncheon

Got an urgent call from Zoe for a scheduled luncheon on Friday (13 March) with Dean Jiang and selected members of the team setting up some kind of training program. She called it a "war luncheon." A WAR LUNCHEON! Sounded serious, so thought I had better attend.

Here Zoe, the General's Adjutant, awaits our arrival at the war luncheon. The place was a "secret and unknown location" where everyone had to be blindfolded so we could not know where it was located.

The warlords, Jon and Dave, had been invited to the war luncheon as mercenaries to help in the planning.

Operational plans for the upcoming mission were discussed. Here Bernice takes a drink of a memory enhancing drug so she would remember in great detail the operational plans that have been approved.

To prove that I am an important part of the mission, I pose here with the General himself. Of course, the General refused to acknowledge my high position and continues on with his directives to the more important members of the luncheon.

The General is making his pitch for a successful conclusion to the approved operational plans. Tom, his Chief of Staff, nervously drinks the enhancement drug so he will not forget what the General commands. Later, Tom would become the first casualty of the mission as he is overwhelmed by the opposing forces, captured and held for hostage. He would remain a "prisoner of war" for the duration of the hostilities.

Lt. General Robert impresses upon me the importance of knowing and using the secret hand signal. While making this sign we all must say the secret passwords - "that small?"

Zoe, the General's Adjutant, insures that everything was a success during the luncheon. V is really for victory here.

Great fish on the stick were provided to ease our fear of the upcoming battle.

This also went a long way in making our fears go away. It was great.

Hot peanuts are always welcomed at these dangerous war luncheons.

Here is the dish that proved to be the turning point in our acceptance of the operational plans. The red things are actually pickled peppers. One bite and one will agree with just about anything. We all took a bite.

With the operational plans approved, we all celebrated the plans' success. War was inevitable so we might as well make the most of it.

Actually we were toasting to the new program for establishing a program to improve the English of selected Jiaoda teachers. The program starts Monday, March 16. Ok, war luncheon it was not but don't you think it was more exciting to be at a war luncheon rather than a teaching luncheon?