The last day! (sun 4/3)

We made it! Today is the last day of class, and it could not have come soon enough. This whole project was a lot of work, a lot more than we could have imagined. There have been lots of changes from when we first started. Some were good, others not so much. All in all the finished product delivered what they wanted. We had known that our approval rating was 87% very satisfied the first time, with the other 13% satisfied. This time, it was 92% very satisfied and 8% satisfied. So, yes, we got better. Of course, the perfectionists that are the 3 of us wanted 100% very satisfied. You can’t always get what you want. But it is 100% satisfied all together!

The day had a lot of mixed emotions. Definite happiness to be done with all of this. Again, this has been one amazing experience that I will never forget, but I want to go home. Skype has been horrible. When it works, or I should say IF it works it isn’t for long. The internet connection at our hotel, the wired one, is horribly slow and intermittent. Wireless, only available downstairs, is even worse. This fact has made not being home harder, at least for me. Happiness also because we see the finished product. We hear the students saying that they have learned a lot from the ‘American experts’. A lot of people put a lot of hard work into this project and with us it is a success. We all take a sense of pride in that.

There is also some sadness. We have become friendly with everyone at the 120 center, and during the closing ceremony they referred to us as family and friends forever. We would always be welcome as their guests. You can’t help but be touched by that. General Dave almost got emotional again! We also got to know our interpreters pretty well. Crystal even cried at the end! Of course, strong little Michelle was more concerned about what she should do about her crush on a possibly gay guy!

So, for the last time, we would be making the morning drive from Pixian to the 120 center in Chengdu. ITLS testing had to happen, and obviously they all passed. The students actually did pretty good staying engaged the whole time despite the day being a pretty simple one with mostly testing. I think all of us were done teaching through interpretation, and I know I was mostly quiet through it all. Well, as quiet as I can be. The day really ended up anti-climactic though. Don’t days like this usually end that way? You build it up and build it up, and then it ends. Nothing exciting. Just a memory. We handed out the certificates, and that was that. I thought I would show pictures from the banquet last night, but they all bolted right after the ceremony, so that was not a good idea!

During our lunch, we had an exit interview of sorts. To me, it seemed more like a ‘let’s give everyone a pat on the back for doing a great job’ kind of thing more than it was an exit interview. We did discuss things that could be improved on both sides. But it was a happy time. And I think I speak for everyone, interpreters, us and the students when I say part of the happiness of lunch was knowing that that was the last box lunch we would have! Same thing every day was just taking a toll.

Much to our chagrin, there was another dinner planned. After finishing the class we just all wanted to relax without toasting Chinese liquor. The choice was not ours though. I will admit, dinner ended up being very tasty and we were right on the river on a boat. It appeared to be a very expensive meal. Nicer than anything thus far. They tried to have General Dave play mah jong, but it ended up being Pu playing for him and we didn’t really learn anything about it except it seems to be like rummy. Jesse said that this would be nothing like the banquets in terms of drinking. Boy, was he ever wrong. Dinner was hot pot and we even had our own burners and pots. It was all fish, which we were told had been caught that day. It was really good. Some of the best fish I have ever eaten, just ridiculously more spicy!

The big news at dinner was that I finally had enough of the drinking Chinese liquor. We all had. I did something about it though. It started with normal toasting, then progressed into each person toasting us 3 times each. After a couple rounds of this I was none too pleased, and you could tell. I was done. The next time they tried it, I flat out refused. I didn’t care. They tried saying a man doesn’t refuse to drink. If that is their idea of a man, then I am glad I am not considered one. Obviously there are huge cultural differences. So they kept trying for awhile, and I kept refusing. It became quiet at times. I told them this was the last time for this and I wanted to enjoy and remember it. How could I do that if I was throwing up all the delicious fish I had just eaten? I’m sure I lost face and respect from them. But honestly, I don’t care. If I were to lose respect from my wife, kids, family and friends then I would be concerned. I tried to have Jesse explain why I wasn’t going to drink more, but I’m not sure what he told them. Later he told me that it was ok, they weren’t all upset with me or anything. They did give me several massive hugs when we were leaving, so it seemed alright. Maybe they did understand. Or maybe they were just happy to get rid of the lao-may who refused to drink himself into oblivion like they wanted! Either way, I’m happy with my decision and now I can forever remember the last night of traditional hot pot.