Happy Women's Day!

Today, March 8th, is Women's Day in China. Moving to China has been good for increasing the number of days I get to celebrate. Not only do I get to celebrate this festive day, but I also get to celebrate teacher's day in the fall and Singles Day on November 11 (11/11...creative isn't it?). To be honest, I was entirely oblivious to the fact today was Women's Day (you'd think after four years I'd catch on; perhaps I'm not as bright as you thought). I didn't even think of it when I was told by teammates to leave today open at noon. I'm used to ambiguity and random appointments being added to my schedule, consequently no mental effort was expended in guessing what this reservation was for. About noon today, not hearing anything from anyone, I went in search of whatever it was I was supposed to be at. The Clements' home tends to be a central gathering place, so I stopped there first. Rachel and Jennifer were there waiting. You'd think I'd be on to something now...I did figure at this point that the guys were making lunch for us ladies, but I though maybe they had decided it would just be a nice thing to do. Yeah, once again, not as bright as you thought. We were shortly informed of "technical" difficulties, and waited around for about twenty minutes while the guys finished a five course meal. Those of you who actually know the guys on my team, pick your jaws off the floor, I was just kidding. What I meant to say was we waited around while the guys waited at KFC for our food to be finished. After our brief interlude of waiting, we were ushered into Sonny's place where a beautiful table had been set and a video of pictures was playing. It was at this point Sonny explained that it was Women's Day, and everything became much clearer. Mark had made his famous iced tea, including ice cubes from the tea (so it wouldn't end up being watered down at all). The fries, wings, chicken pieces, sandwiches, corn, and bread were presented exquistely on plates and platters, and we were waited on hand and foot. For desert, Sonny had whipped up some pudding. The lunch concluded with a heart-warming performance of "You are my sunshine". All in all, it was a delightfully thoughtful event put together by the guys on the team. I hope all of you women had a wonderful day!