As Jack, a classmate of Monica's said this afternoon, "It is amazing how quickly you can change a good time into an awkward silence." And sadly, we did just this at Yuan Yuan Canting today. It breaks my heart that Laoban, who told me his "English" name is Lawson, would think I had anything but warm feelings for him or could think I intended him or his restaurant ill harm.

Angelene's last day was today and she came to go to lunch with those of us who are left. Marco dictated that he wasn't going anywhere for lunch except "Valley Cuisine" because he wanted  the Caesar salad and hamburger. I went along because Angelene was going and it was her last day. Christine and I were planning on eating at Yuan-Yuan afterwards, and Angelene wanted to go so she could get a feeling for this place I love so much. Valley Cuisine was exactly what I expected: overpriced mediocre Western food. Conversation was a bit bland as well, but I tried my best to be more than civil in Marco's presence.

After Marco finished and hurried Angelene and Bart along, they paid and we walked out of the restaurant. Bart and Marco walked ahead and left us at a stoplight. At the stoplight, we bumped in to Jack and Jerune. Jack is in the class next door to ours with Monica and Jerune started class with us after two weeks. He acts drunk and childish in class, but every once in a while he says something very poetic. The other morning, I found him sitting in the break room early in the morning. I asked what he was doing and he said, "I'm following the path of the trained pigeons. It is mesmerizing." And he was right; it was mesmerizing.

Christina and I walked ahead and Jack and Jerune asked Angelene where we were going. She told them and they said they'd join since they had time to kill until 4pm. As we walked along, I was a little nervous about bringing Jerune to Yuan-Yuan. He is boisterous and critical and I warned him that we were going to a "dive with character" and he surprised me again by saying he was interested in more than swimming in the Ritz Carlton pool which he's managed to get into without being a guest.

When we arrived at Yuan-Yuan, there was much excitement as Laoban said, "New face every time you come" which is true, every time I've been since that first day; I've brought a new group of people. I told Laoban I was ordering food to go, but he asked us to sit anyway. There was much activity and I ordered and he brought out the pijiu and baijiu again. Christina and I drank beer while Jack tried baijiu for the first time and Ange and Jerune chose to drink nothing. Then came the passing around of cigarettes. It is very rude to pass up an offered cigarette and so I had one (brand name: double happiness) and swore to myself that it was so as not to be rude and not because I secretly desired one...

The food came out, I paid our bill and we sat and enjoyed Laoban's company some more. Today in class, Lu-lu taught us a couple of children's nursery rhymes and so we sang them to Laoban and his staff and then he sang songs back to us that he said he learned during childhood. Next thing I know, Ange and Jerune are asking to see the kitchen because the Lonely Planet talks of a "dirty appearance that will create unease in the most sturdy of stomachs" and everyone is up and walking to the kitchen to have a little look. I stay seated and then I see Laoban motioning everyone away because they have cameras out and he doesn't want them to photograph the kitchen. Jerune doesn't notice the excitement and takes a photo with flash right as Laoban is asking everyone to sit back down. In a second, everything changes. His face becomes extremely stern; he picks up his glass of baijiu and sits at another table. Everyone in the restaurant avoids looking at us and the noisy chatter dies away. Crestfallen, Jerune comes back to the table and shows Laoban that he has erased the photograph. Either Laoban doesn't understand or he is still upset. We sit looking at each other during the awkward silence and look for words like "Terribly sorry", "deleted", "won't do it again", "not health inspectors" in our guidebooks all to no avail.

After a good five minutes, our punishment must be up because Laoban walks solemnly back to the table and opens a pack of cigarettes and passes them around to each of us. We take them gratefully, knowing that everything is once again okay. Laoban sits back down and eases his face into a grin and points to me and says, "Li Li wo de hen pengyou" (Li Li my very good friend) and all seems back to normal. After singing a few more songs, Laoban challenges Jerune and Jack to arm wrestling and beats them easily, all while puffing away on his cigarette.

Tomorrow in class, I will ask Lu-lu to write out the following statement to bring to Laoban at lunch, "I'm very sorry for any misunderstanding. My friends are not worried about the quality of your kitchen. They were only curious and have erased any photographs they took. We love your food and your restaurant and mean you no harm."

How I wished to know fluent Chinese today.