Shortly after starting to teach, the Chinese celebrated Teacher's Day, a big deal here. The owners of our school, Emily and her husband, Mr. Zhou, threw a big party at a local restaurant. This photo shows me and a couple of my colleagues, Jim Masdea and a teacher I work with, Slick.
The entertainment portion of the evening was extensive and consisted of…us. Yep, everyone performed. Karaoke is a big deal; ask any person below the age of forty what s/he likes to do of an evening, and the response will be "KTV," which is what they call karaoke.
Above, Leona, the head teacher in my room. Below: Jim, who used to be the drummer for Boston.
I don't have a photo, but I sang an a cappella cover of the Beatles' In My Life. They handed me bouquets...(blush).
The food was great, with Emily thoughtfully including vegetarian dishes for me. Here’s a photo of Emily, a.k.a. the best boss in the world J She is really a cool person; she's been to Everest and Tibet.
All in all it was an incredibly special experience. I travel for exactly this reason. Who knew that there was an occasion called Teachers' Day in China, and that it's celebrated with a feast and karioke?