A Burns Supper

The wonderful thing about living in Tianjin is that, not only are we learning about the Chinese culture, but we are also learning about other cultures from around the world due to the diversity of the expat community here!! Last night we were invited to a Burns Supper - we were intrigued and had no idea what to expect....


Robert Burns was a very famous poet in Scotland. Yesterday was the 250th anniversary of his death, so we celebrated!! Our friends Karen and John were amazing hosts and they put together quite a night!!

We arrived at their house and enjoyed some cocktails while we waited for everyone else. Once all 26 guests were there, a true Scotsman lead us around the table while he played his bagpipes. We were lead to our seats for the evening. The fun was just beginning...next it was time to address the hagis (spelling??), which is basically sheep intestines. Another Scotsman did this entire poem from Burns regarding the hagis - it was very impressive and I adored his enthusiasm and accent, but I have to be honest, some parts I had difficulty understanding! After he was finished, dinner was served, which was catered and served by the Nikko Hotel. It was fun catching up with friends that we had not seen since before Christmas break. As I looked around the table, I was amazed that we had representatives from so many countries...Scotland, England, New Zealand, US, Brazil, Denmark, Japan, Ireland, and Switzerland!

After we finished with our yummy dinner, which I opted not to try the hagis, but Danny did - yuk -John led us through the rest of the events for the evening!!! It was time for a toast between the lassies and the lads and then we got a bit of a drawn out history lesson on Robert Burns. I think during that part was when I overdid it on the wine!! The fun part was next when everyone shared some poetry from their country. Danny and I thought it was optional, so we were unprepared, but no one seemed to mind and by the time we got about halfway around the table, it was already about 1:30am!! Karen decided it was time for some guitar playing and singing, so the director of the school our kids attend started playing and we were all singing!! Then we danced until about 2:30 when Danny and I finally called it a night!!!

The song I can't get out of my head...

"But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more to be the man who walked that thousand miles to fall down at your door..."

Thank you for your contributions Robert Burns and for giving us an opportunity to have a party!!! Hope you are all having a great weekend and spending time with family and friends!