The Russian Goldilocks
Guess what? I forgot to take my camera to the birthday bash so I’ll just have to continue the wedding story …my wedding reception was held in the Fragrant Hills which are in the suburbs of Beijing. Even though the English name refers to them as ‘hills’ they are really mountains. In the valley there, we found a 1000- year old Buddhist temple called ‘Wo Fo Si’ and in the vast grounds of this temple was a small hotel built in traditional Chinese style. The hotel’s architectural style is called ‘si he yuan’which means built in a square with all the rooms facing into an open air courtyard area in the middle of the square. We hired the whole place for the evening and booked all the rooms so that all our guests could stay overnight with us.
We hired buses to take everyone from the city to the venue and we had long tables put in the courtyard. The food was a huge BBQ with salads and pasta dishes too and the chef was cooking meat all night. We provided all kinds of drinks to suit everyone tastes and it was quite multi-cultural as we had guests from the UK, Russia, Bulgaria, Japan, Serbia, Poland and Sri Lanka. For entertainment, we booked a band who performed outside in the courtyard and then various friends of mine, played guitar, sang, played the flute etc as extra entertainment when the band had finished. The highlight of the night was a friend of mine called Baz. He did some juggling, then juggling with fire-sticks and ended by doing fire-eating and flame blowing. Very impressive and great fun, by the end of the night everyone was very drunk, full to the brim and very happy.
I have to mention a couple of my husband’s Russian friends Anastasia because of their behaviour at my wedding reception. One of them drank so much vodka that he forgot where he was, then decided he didn’t want to stay overnight and started to walk back to Beijing city(at least a 30 km walk!). Apparently he hitch-hiked back home after he got so tired of walking and the next morning couldn’t understand why and how he was home! The other friend drank so much vodka that he went to bed at about 7pm and crashed out. However, in his drunken stupor, he went into the wrong room and slept in the wrong bed! To cut a long story short, when my Mum entered her hotel room at 1am, she found a huge Russian guy snoring in her bed!! A strange twist to the ‘Goldilocks and the Three bears’ story don’t you think! (The bears find Goldilocks sleeping in their bed)
Our wedding reception was videoed but oddly we never took many photos. The photos that I have of the night are all in the UK so I can’t post any here which is a pity as there is one superb shot of Baz breathing fire with all the guests looking at him aghast.
We didn’t have a honeymoon because of several reasons, first our parents were in China with us so we wanted to stay with them, my husband couldn’t get much time off work and actually we couldn’t afford it after paying for the wedding. Are you going on a honeymoon after your wedding Nastya?
As phrasal verbs have been a topic this week, I want to set you a task which involves some common and useful phrasal /multi-word verbs. See if you can write a story, part or a whole blog that uses the following (some of them you must use the idiomatic meaning, not literal meaning to make it harder!)
Bring up (please use this twice as it has a few meanings)
Carry on
Drop out
Fall out
Get over (use idiomatic meaning)
Give up
Go through (use idiomatic meaning not literal)
Make up
Make it up
Pick up (idiomatic, not literal)
Put off
Put up with
Be taken aback
Run out of
Take after
Turn out
Take over
Take off (idiomatic, not literal)
I’m off now but before I go here is photo of me this morning, as you can see I was pretty busy. 
Enjoy the weekend everyone, have a rest, put your feet up and relax!
Trudi
Vocabulary
suburbs(n) area outside the central part of a city
venue(n) place where a meeting/party/match etc is held
juggling (n) throwing balls or other objects into the air, keeping them in the air at the same time and catching them
full to the brim very full after eating
hitch-hike (v) get a free ride in a stranger's car
crash out (v) sleep anywhere when very tired
drunken stupor nearly unconscious or in a daze because of drinking alcohol
to cut a long story short to give the information in short without all the details; briefly
aghast (adj) filled with amazement
Comments
Hi Trudi, It seems it was a wonderful wedding reception and party. You planned and executed well. Your husband’s friends behavior was interesting one. Do Russians drink more? What do you think to have a drinks party either the next day of the wedding or earlier day. Some quests may not like this kind of situation. The people who drink tempted to drink more and more, especially the occasion like wedding. It was no exception for your marriage. Your husband got nice friends to celebrate the occasions. I can’t imagine how the other man decided to walk 30kms from the spot to his house in his drunken stupor. Luckily, he hitch-hiked back home safely in the unconscious way. It would be interesting to know the whole story of the other man who intruded your mum’s bedroom.
hello Trudi, Your marriage seemed a big day for your guests. You were looking so smart in weeding dress. The stories you told about your husband's friends are really unusual. The incidents that occur on a special occasion become the unforgetable moments of one's life and have always been a great source of happiness. You did throw the light on the reaction of the gusests who had to face the situation like your mother's bed was occupied by a drunken friend. How did she response to such an unexpected event. I think the following day you all had fun with those frineds and made your day. sitting in my office, just dont want to skip my entry on this blog and got permission from my seniors to be done it just in five minutes. bye
Hello Trudi, you have had a very nice, happy and full of attractions wedding day, havent you? Thank you for the phrasal verbs, I write them down on a sheet of paper and will learn them together with my daughter. She learns English for 4 years. Now I will follow your recommendation: to have a rest, put my feet up and enjoy the warm sunshine! So long...
Hi Trudi! I've been following your blog with interest and not a little envy. It is over 25 years since I lived and worked in China, where I ran a project in Xi'an for The British Council.I had to attend meetings every couple of months or so in Beijing and always stayed in The Friendship Hotel. It all sounds so very Cultural Revolution now, doesn't it. Actually, in Xi'an, at that time, the Cultural Revolution was still happening and our time in China was tough but fascinating. I'd been hoping to visit later this year, for the Olympics, but it now looks like I might be working elsewhere in the Far East at that time. Meanwhile, it's very nice to get my little China fix each day from you. Thanks - or should I say "xie-xie"!
i have no idea i can not leave a few words here
Hi,Trudi I did enjoy your wedding reception party.I think your family and frieds will rave on about the party forever in a very funny and memorable way.On my wedding day one of my niece was a bridemaid and she was with the chuch organist once.my niece saw that all of a sudden the organist grasped her nose and she gave the phtographer a dirty look while she was muttering.But he didn't say and show any expesstiion on his face(my niece culdn't speak English at all at that time so she tried hard to read between the lines) and marched pass the unhappy organist and gave my niece a wink.I am sure you understand what I am saying.Just in case anyone can't get the picture.he had ungrcefully broken wind ungracefully in the chuch and on my wedding day!Whenever I see my family they talk about it all the time.PS:with your permission, I would like to ask after Leila and her husbnad.I am really sorry to hear their accident and I do hope they are in high spirits after the ordeal.Thank you and see you soon!
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