My Birthday!

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Although I haven’t had a birthday party in quite a few years, everyone in China really went all out for it! Martha woke up really early and made everyone in the house pancakes and eggs and bacon. She even bought a pan because the only thing in the kitchen is a wok. When I got to school each one of my classes had decorations and performances for me, and during one pretty intense sessions of the kids jockeying for position in the pictures, one kid was hit in the face so hard he got a bloody nose! I took him to the nurse and soon after it was time for lunch. All of the English teachers, the principal, and the vise principal took Martha and I out to lunch and we had so many dishes I thought I would burst, including the famous "Peking Duck" (although we were not in Peking). After I finally thought the meal was over, they brought out ANOTHER two dishes and insisted I try them both. After lunch I taught a few more classes, one of which bought me a birthday cake! They told me to cut the cake for all 55 kids and I thought there was no way to do it. They actually gave each of the small pieces to two tables of two kids and the four kids gathered around and ate a few bites each. Throughout the entire day I recieved a multitude of small gifts from the students, including many cards, balloons, bookmarks, stickers, and pens. When classes were over, Martha and I headed home. She had a bunch of presents for me, including a "one free instrument from the instrument quarter in Xi'an" coupon and a delicious box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. For dinner we went to a delicious hot pot restaurant, where we each had little boiling pots of soup in front of us on individual burners. Many meat and vegetable dishes were passed around the huge lazy susan until all 17 of us were very full. After dinner Martha brought out yet another birthday cake which we all ate, and the staff gave me an umbrella! A sensible present considering it's always raining in Xi'an! They also brought me a traditional birthday dish that is supposed to bring good luck and long life. It was a bowl filled with one really, really long noodle. I couldn't bare to eat it after a day filled with food, so I brought it back to our host mother, who we call "Mama". She took one bite and threw it away. Apparently the birthday noodle is very sour. I fell into bed around 11 after a long, eventful day. It might have been my best birthday yet, and it was by far the most celebrated!

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Photos

Performances!
Two of my sixth grade students singing Edelweiss

Breakin down!
You can't tell from this picture, but this kid had moves!

Yo-Yo's
At least half of the boys in all of my older classes can do some pretty impressive yo-yo tricks

A Beautiful Bouquet
Given to me by the music teacher, Mrs. Fung, and her daughter, Fung Bao Bao, that Martha and I grew quite close with over our few months there. They even gave her a matching one!

An adorable birthday cake from the school
It was a little hard to split it between all fifty five of the students in the class, but in the end everyone got a bite!