The reason I say that last night was when my school "officially" celebrated the holiday is because Teacher's Day seemed to be more of a Teacher's Week. Every day this week there was something on the agenda to recognize teachers -- student performances, gifts, concerts, award ceremonies, inter-school sports challenges, and karaoke. Last night was just the culmination of the festivities.
As I mentioned before, Ashlee was invited to join in the fun. I was thrilled to have the company. Most of the time these sorts of functions go over my head since I don't understand what's going on. Apparently everyone else was glad that Ashlee came too -- all night long people were shaking her hand, asking her questions, and she took more than a couple spins out on the dance floor. She was a hit!
So yeah, there was lots of food, definitely lots of vodka, and even more dancing. The music was a blend of traditional Kazakh tunes and modern techno remixes of American songs. Every once in a while the DJ decided to throw on Mongolian waltz music and everyone would immediately pair up and spin into oblivion around the dance floor. A couple teachers tried to teach me the dance, but I kept getting too dizzy. Instead, Ashlee and I kept to the edge of the floor and tried not to get in anyone's way -- which was difficult as we kept getting jostled by couples spinning a bit too recklessly.
My favorite dance of the night, however, was definitely the Kara Jorga, which translates roughly into English as "Black Horse." It's this great song that every single Kazakh I have met absolutely loves. I swear, I think the song could repeat over and over the entire night and nobody would mind. The dance requires lots of shoulder and arm movement -- something that I appear to be quite deficient in. Once again, Ashlee and I were mere spectators. Here's a link to a YouTube video showing the song and the dance.
Another high point of the night was when four couples were brought into the center of the dance floor after dinner to play a game. Bahtgul explained that each couple was going to act out how different animals "love." We weren't sure if we understood correctly -- were the couples going to simulate animal sex? Yes, that's exactly what they were instructed to do. Finding this a bit odd in conservative Olgii, I was curious how this would play out. It turned out that each couple demonstrated the courtship of different animals: horses, goats, chickens, and cats. By American standards, it was pretty clean but it was hilarious watching every single teacher in the room turn into a blushing giggly teenager.
Like I said, it was a fun night. It was great to be able to unwind and to see my co-workers in a relaxed atmosphere. I took some video of the night (including some awesome Kara Jorga-ing) that I hope to put together and post here soon. Here's some pictures for now.
Some of my students performing for the teachers.
A shot of the spread put out at the banquet hall: salads, fruit, and (of course) the meat plate.
My training manager, Vasya, and I. Training managers are sort of like vice principals.
A couple of teachers trying to get me to dance the Kara Jorga.
School 4's English teachers.
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