THE BANQUET!!!

Ninmen Hao!
To start today, I'd like to make a quick disclaimer: I have been to school parties, I have been to staff meetings, I have been to school barbecues, but nothing I have been to before can compare to to the Teacher's Day Banquet.

Yes these beers are for me, all 5 of them...

So First, The whole banquet was put on by our neighborhood party leader, He is like the boss of our area.  He paid for the whole this as a sign of his appreciation for what we do... 4 hours later we were all very appreciative (except my Mormon friends who were still very appreciative, just not in the same way as the rest of us).  Our evening started off with a short speech by our Principal, Mr. Bai (which I have apparently been misspelling this whole time). He welcomed the staff, and talked about what a great year we had last year, and how he has nothing but high hopes for doing even better this year, pretty basic stuff from an administrator, right? Well he then proceeded to go to every table in the room and make a toast to all of the teachers (at least 23 tables), Mr. Bai can hold his baijiu (also finally spelled right).  I soon came to realize that even though I was at a table of non-drinkers that I would not be left out, or forgotten. Mr. Bia is a Baijiu Ninja, The man would materialize behind me with a full glass for the both of us, of course he also knows that I prefer beer so he helped out with that.
As the evening went on, and the alcohol flowed so did the food and the the performances, and almost everyone performed.  These performances weren't out a of a sense of duty or expectation, but out a sense of pride and celebration. Here are some of the great performances:

Principal Bai's Opening Speech

The Department of Moral Education (P.E.) doing the qiaqia (this is how they spell cha-cha)

A mass of slightly inebriated teacher sing with Mr. Jai (on the right)

One thing I learn at the banquet is that no one, and I truly mean no one can upstage Mr. Jai.  This man is our Department Chair and he always has a kind word or encouraging story to share with the group, one-on-one his stories become even more entertaining.

The start of the meal

It's Smiling at me...

Part of the Junior three teachers

Junior 3 had the best test scores in the city last year, and some of the best students in Henan (the province). Because of the students' performance the department of 41 teachers gets to split a bonus of 350,000 Yuan (a little over $1,200 a piece).  Plus Head teacher now get payed 700 Yuan/month for that duty.  The head of the Junior 3 teachers actually got promoted to assistant principal as well (this is definitely an example of incentive payment).

Pretty Impressive Ribbon Dancing... We had to follow this act...

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah... Yup...

More flowers as gifts (Ms. Li is on the far right, she is the one insuring that I survive this year)

Jing and Amy (from left to right), Too of my colleagues

Principal Bai Rocking the Karaoke (and yes he has Baijiu in his hand)

Mr. Jai dancing around with some teacher's child, we were all a little worried about the split pants...

Party Favors, I now have 3 bottles of Baijiu that will most likely be here when I move out... This vintage was only slightly corrosive to my throat...

Me... right before the hour walk home...

Thanks to Han, Li, Mr. Jai, and Jenny I made it home safely and had an amazing conversation.  Apparently walking through the park at night is not something many people do, but when they have a giant inebriated Meiguo (American) there is a lot less to worry about. I had a video to upload, but apparently I filled my blog with too many fancy photos and words... phooey...

Zaijian