Happy (September and) October Holidays in China!

In one short month, we've celebrated three Chinese holidays, and CQUPT certainly pulls out all the bells and whistles!

September 10 is national Teachers Day, and all the teachers were invited to a special lunch with the university president at the school's banquet hall/hotel. Since we didn't get a digital copy, here's a picture of a picture of CQUPT College of Foreign Language teachers and the president (my team is on the top row, first five from the left, and the middle row, fourth and fifth from the left) :)

The president and the FAO gave each of us a box of yummy moon cake and a big box of American grapes. I didn't take a picture of the box of grapes, but it sure felt ironic being an American in China eating grapes shipped from America =P

This year, China's National Holiday/60th anniversary and the Mid-Autumn Festival were just two days apart, so like what happens to people born near Christmas, the two were celebrated together :)

The president spoke at a special banquet, which was complete with patriotic performances, poems, and salutes to alumni who taught at CQUPT in 1949.

During training in Beijing, we learned about customs at Chinese banquets...one of which was asking guests to perform, sometimes spontaneously, during the banquet. My teammate Amy was fortunately given a few days notice to prepare a song, and she did an amazing job.

Almost overnight, trees were lined with lights, red lanterns were hung, and potted flowers were planted around campus. It takes an aerial view to see CQUPT's tribute to China's 60th anniversary.

On a chilly night looking down at campus lit with twinkle lights, I felt a ping of nostalgia for Christmases at home in Texas...