After our orphanage visit and tour of the site of the first battle between the Chinese and Japanese during World War II, we were treated to lunch.
I use the term “treated” lightly here because what really happened is we were wined and dined. We thought that we would be having lunch with Director Lu and a couple of his staff members. We arrived at a restaurant that was floating on a lake. We had an idea at that point, that we were in for something special.
We were taken to a large, private room. Our guide and Director Lu talked for some time and pointed at many seats. It became clear that a seating arrangement was being put together. At first we were told that we were being hosted by the Director of Civil Affairs from ZaoZhuang who had joined us earlier in the day. As it turned out we were actually being hosted by the Director of Civil Affairs from the city where the restaurant was located. Kevin and I were seated next to our host with Director Lu on his other side. The rest of the family was to our right and the assistant Director of Claire’s Orphange, staff and others were to the left. In all there were approximately 17 people seated around this huge table. This was clearly a very big deal!
We were warmly welcomed by our host and he stated that he didn’t know what kind of Chinese food we liked so he ordered many things and hoped we liked what would be served. He assured us that we would not offend him if we did not. Then the food began arriving. I wish we had taken a photo of all the food that was served, but that seemed rude. Suffice it to say that if you can imagine it, it was served. We tried many new foods, my favorite of which is Lotus.
After eating for a few minutes, the toasting began. There were many toasts to Kevin and me, our family, to me, to our host . . . .Kevin and I were drinking beer as were many others. Some were drinking a local wine. Glasses were raised and as is our custom, unless you are in college, we sipped our drinks after each toast. After about the 4th toast, I was told “Bottoms Up!” I could tell that the men were skeptical of whether I was up to the task. The glasses were small wine glasses and as a good Montana girl I met the challenge to their delight.
Our lunch went on for approximately 2 hours when we were told that they were cognizant that we had to take the train back to Jinan and probably should finish up. Many pictures were taken, business cards were exchanged and we were ready to leave a wonderful lunch. This is a picture of our host, Director Lu and the Director from ZaoZhuang. Director Lu offered to take us to see the new orphanage and we eagerly agreed. It was a long drive but the new orphanage is very nice. The construction was mostly completed although it didn’t look like finish work was done on the inside yet and there was landscaping to do. We were told that they were awaiting government approval to move in. The currently orphanage houses about 50 children. The new one will house approximately 500!
We left the new orphanage and headed for the train station. We said goodbye to Director Lu who, it is clear, is a very kind man and has Claire’s best interests at heart. Claire is clearly fond of him, but I had to tell her to look back one more time to wave goodbye. Our girl is so ready to be with us and to put her former life behind her.
It was a wonderful day and one we never will forget.
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