October 22, 2018
On the 18th of October, 2018, the Joshua Wilderness Institute participated in the annual etiquette night. A whole night dedicated to learning the art of etiquette.
The night began with an hour-long session of taking as many pictures as possible. There was a professional photo-booth put on by our very own Tucker Horton, which was hilarious because of all the stereotypical couples’ photos people wanted to take. Outside, people were using their phones to take as many different photos with everyone as they could. Every girl took a photo together, then the guys, the girls and guys with their dates, then friends with friends, then so on and so on. Some people shyly stood to the side because of camera shyness, but what I love about this community is that even they didn’t fly under the radar. The wallflowers were pulled out from their corners and got in a few of the pictures too.
After all the pictures were over and everyone was laughing from the cheesiness of their photo montages, we listened to the introduction of etiquette from our instructors. They explained that the whole meaning behind practicing etiquette was to learn how to honor and love our neighbor. After that, the men led their dates into the dining area by the arm to their tables. What followed after was an outpouring of every kind of etiquette rule you could think of. We learned how a lady is to be seated, the ways in which we were to eat with our silverware, when to use which silverware, how to interact with the people at our table, and all the little nuances that come with a night out to dinner.
The food, which was prepared by our very own Chef Amy was decadent to say the least. The first course consisted of a cucumber wrapped salad with freshly baked sourdough bread. Up next was the soup before we entered the main course of twice baked potato, roasted asparagus, baked salmon, and bacon-wrapped steak. Finally, we enjoyed tiramisu as the conversation from the instructors changed.
Dating with etiquette in mind was the topic discussed by the instructors over dessert. They discussed what it looked like to date in a Christian way respectively. We learned the heart behind asking someone out on a date, planning ahead so no awkward conversations have to happen over the restaurant needing reservations, or anything like that. The conversation opened up a lot of discussion on how to love one-another well.
At the tail end of the night, after dinner was all completed, we took our dates arm-in-arm as we began to learn different types of ballroom-dancing. With most of us being uncoordinated, it was a time filled with joy, laughter, and a little bit of learning.
Overall, it was a blast. People laughed, they had fun, and we were all exhausted by the end. However, we were beyond grateful to the staff for putting on the night and treating us as well as they did. Etiquette night is a beautiful tradition here at the Joshua Wilderness Institute.
By Kyle, Kaylee, Leyla, & Hank
