This week we had our etiquette dinner on Thursday night. We were partnered up with a fellow Joshua sibling for the dinner. We took individual and group portraits while we waited for dinner. The first thing we learned was how to be escorted by a date. Throughout dinner our speaker, John Alvarado and his wife, Christy showed us some helpful tips on dinner manners. Some of the things we learned were how a gentleman should help his date with her chair, how to help her date take off her sweater, how to use the appropriate silverware throughout the meal, and the different styles of eating; European and American. We had a delicious dinner that consisted of homemade bread with butter, soup, salad, salmon, rice pilaf, and steamed asparagus. We finished off the meal with some delicious crème brûlée.
We learned that manners are the ‘outward expression of your inward character.’ Manners are to help show others that you respect them and want to serve them. One of the things that the guys had to do during the night is that every time a girl got up from the table or was coming back from the table they had to stand. Not because they were soldiers but because it showed the girls that they respected them and were ready to serve them. After we learned all of the manners and had dinner it was time to dance.
We all headed over to the great room were John and Christy were ready to teach us to dance. We learned 3 types of dances, cha cha, waltz, and swing. John and Christy danced so well it made us all look like puppies with giant feet. At first most people were hesitant and not sure about their dancing skills but soon realized that it isn’t about being the best dancer there is its about having fun with your dance partner and fellow classmates. After we went through the dances we all got in a big circle and had a chance to show off our swing moves in the middle of it. Let me tell you some of our classmates were killing it.
Overall etiquette dinner was a blast. We really had a great time! The dancing, food, and learning experiences were filled with laughter and memories that we won’t forget! We’d like to thank the staff for putting on such a wonderful night for us!
