(One year ago this month, Pa and I made the trek to China to adopt our sweet Sister Susie. I am going to take the first seventeen days of February 2008 to revisit that trip. Hop in for the ride!)
After a grueling morning of seeing Tianenman Square and the Forbidden City through frostbit eyes, our group was herded off to lunch. "Herded" is not an exaggeration, as there were roughly 100 of us (mostly) white-faced folks.
The best part? We had assigned seats at the restaurant and we didn't have to order the food ourselves. That rite thar is a wonderful thang, especially for a group of jet lagged folks who caint read a lick of Chinese to save their rice-loving souls.
And the food! It kept coming and kept coming and we kept eating and kept eating, as Pa is clearly demonstrating:
But long before we had mastered our skills with the chopsticks, we were schlepped off to the next sightseeing adventure.
This one was indoors, at least. First came the lesson on pearls, and then the "opportunity to look around."
We parted with some cash that day. The Pa was in town, and he was in no mood to deprive his beloved daughter-to-be of China's finest frippery:
After a grueling morning of seeing Tianenman Square and the Forbidden City through frostbit eyes, our group was herded off to lunch. "Herded" is not an exaggeration, as there were roughly 100 of us (mostly) white-faced folks.
The best part? We had assigned seats at the restaurant and we didn't have to order the food ourselves. That rite thar is a wonderful thang, especially for a group of jet lagged folks who caint read a lick of Chinese to save their rice-loving souls.
And the food! It kept coming and kept coming and we kept eating and kept eating, as Pa is clearly demonstrating:
But long before we had mastered our skills with the chopsticks, we were schlepped off to the next sightseeing adventure.
This one was indoors, at least. First came the lesson on pearls, and then the "opportunity to look around."
We parted with some cash that day. The Pa was in town, and he was in no mood to deprive his beloved daughter-to-be of China's finest frippery:
But, we did make it out of the store relatively unharmed, and headed back outside to the...
(Oh dear. I am going to have to look this one up. "Buff" I might be, but "history buff?" Not so much.)
Summer Palace!!!
(Thank you, Pa, for hollering the answer to me from across the house, while I sat in the uncomfy chair and typed.)
And I've proven to myself, time and time again, that it is virtually impossible for me to take a "normal" picture:
(Where do my kids learn these things??)
You might imagine, that in a land filled with Meek and Mild type of folk, that people like the Pa and I stand out.
Just a bit.
We tried to be good, we really did.
But back to the whirlwind.
We're still on the first real day, folks!!
Next stop: Silk Factory.
Here we learned how worms magically transform themselves into cute little outfits that must be bought for our babies.
It's all a part of the journey.
Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.
