I didn't mention it because I thought it was obvious: 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit, duh. :-) We would have have just sung, but the Chinese staff were amazed by the complete and total lack of camp in our number, so they camped it up. I've still got a much longer post to write about the teachers' New Year's party... I'm sure the rabbits will figure in that.

For those of you who don't know, I've been living in China for five months now, so I have a basic knowledge. Yes, there are many different regional cuisines, but more importantly, whereas Western cuisine tries to bring out the flavor of the underlying food, Chinese cuisine tries to change the flavor of the food. A master chef in China is able to make something taste NOT like what it is -- and that is done with sauces. To illustrate, a couple of the Chinese staff ate Christmas breakfast with us. One of the Brits had prepared a proper British breakfast: steak and eggs. There was sauteed potato cake, grilled tomato, grilled mushrooms, a proper hunk of steak, and sunny-side eggs on toast. There was salt and pepper for seasoning. The Westerners were in heaven. The Chinese staff, on the other hand, were confused. This food has no flavor, they cried. It's bland. It's boring. Where's the sauce?!?!? They dumped on ketchup and sweet chili sauce in an attempt to "flavor" the food. But yes, the Chinese love their sauces.