Lan qiu! (basketball tournament update)

Well, this past Monday was the last game for the English department. This was not true for all other teams, as there was (or still is) a playoff for the best teams from the round robin portion of the tournament. Needless to say that didn't include us. As of the last update we were 1-2. Well, I played much better in the next game, scored a lot of points, and had by far the most rebounds for our team. But the other team was very fast, and had three good scorers. We were without Clark and lost by maybe 10 or so. In our final game we looked to be well matched against the other team. Clark had another obligation, but showed up early before the game to wish us luck. We played pretty well (although we could've used his rebounding) and the game was very close. But then, early in the fourth quarter, Chen, our best player, fouled out. So, I was now supposed to be the point guard and power forward (to rebound). Well, these two positions are pretty much mutually exclusive (Magic Johnson is one of few able to master both positions). I did my best, and in the end had most of our rebounds and over half of our 38 points. The problem is the other team scored 39. It was a tough loss, but then again we weren't making the playoffs either way. Once again, it was great playing with the other teachers. They gave a lot of heart and were always trying to come up with the right English words to explain some part of the game to me. Even better was the banquet which followed the game. It was a delicious feast in one of the banquet rooms at the hotel. In case you're wondering, I have not yet acquired the taste for 'baijou' (a liquor made of rice) and the first 'ganbei' (bottoms up/cheers) I took was quite rough. Luckily after two glasses I was able to switch to wine. As I was the only native English speaker at the table, I didn't understand most of the conversation, but occasionally one or two of the teachers would explain a joke to me, when I asked about all the laughter. But the food was amazing, and there was even a sort of Chinese taco; which was beef, peppers, and onions which we rolled into flour sheets (not quite thick enough to call taco shells). Additionally we were treated to a delicious fish soup, chilled salmon, shrimp, and the delicious roasted eggplant. The two pictures included are of the team from our last game (missing 3 players) and then with our fans (other English teachers and one of the player's daughters). They were at every game and the banquet.