A rock and a hard place

Today will (hopefully) go down as one of the worst days in China. To make a long story short, it had to do with a dinner hosted by both the top official at my university and the man in charge of my China program. It was either get tipsy and offend a much needed ally or stay sober and offend my future coworkers (who were royally confused because I had some bajai three nights before).--Imagine it, ten Chinese trying to offer you hard liqour despite your protests because they think you are trying to be super polite, but your not. And then people start offering toasts and they ask you AGAIN to drink the stuff and you are forced for the ninth time in front a crowd of fifteen people to turn the stuff down, and almost raise your voice (which is a huge no-no) much less offer a return toast which is what you are supposed to do to get people to like you--I ended up spending the rest of my day laying on my bed wondering what in the hell I have gotten myself into. Trust me, if the trip back was any less than thirty million flights I'd be on my way home right now. But it isn't, and now I'm up til one planning my first day of class tomorrow. It really was a nightmare scenario. I should have seen it coming a mile away and faked sick. Oh well, at the very worst I for the next ten months I can teach my classes, hold up in my apartment, and eat romaine that I pay someone to buy for me. It's not a very fufilling life, but it's survival, and that is the number one priority when you offend people in high places.