(Not) Another Saturday Night

This past Saturday has been my favorite day so far. We taught school and got done a 6pm, then the director took the three South Africans, the cooking lady, the two young guys that work here, and me out to dinner free of charge. She also fed us lunch that day. I have to be honest, I haven't spent much money on food because I do get fed lunch everyday at the school. Not too bad.

I don't even know what the dinner was called, but it was delicious. Huge piles of raw meat came on this huge cooking platter with thinly sliced mushrooms, onions and perrpers and some kind of frozen gravy broth. The waitress set the cooking dish on this burner right on the table with another heating tube coming from the ceiling to heat it from both sides. The meal cooked itself right in front of us. It was yuuuuuuuummmmmy. We sat there cross-legged and bare-foot on the floor where your knees gently touched the bottom of the table. That is one thing I still have to get used to. Taking your shoes off in the entry way and leaving them and continue to walk around the restaurant barefoot. Very different.

Amother custom that is different is the way the drink. They ordered beer and Soju (a 19% alcohol that tastes like cheap Vodka) and we drank that through the whole meal. It is custom that younger people not drink in front of elders, so I thought the two youngest guys were just hiding it from our director because they were underaged, but really it's their culture for older people not to see younger people drink, so they simply turned away and took the shot of Soju. Also, when an older person offers something to someone who is younger, the younger person always has to accept it with two hands. Something I never knew, but am slowly catching on to, since I am the youngest teacher here.

The night continued at the karoke bar, where again, that was paid for. I sang about five songs and got 100% on two of them...not bragging, just sayin'. I have a feeling we will be going there many times this year. Definitely the best night I've had so far!