While my parents where here visiting us we did something adventurous and brave: we traveled to the city of Beijing with me as tour guide. My neighbor from Taiwan prepared me for the trip by writing down (in Chinese and English) some of the "must sees" in Beijing and scheduled a driver to take us to The Great Wall. I didn't realize how valuable her translations would be until I was there in a big and very foreign city.Because we were six people (Mom, Dad, Me, Susan-Grace, Miriam, and Anna) we had to take two cabs. This proved to be a challenge when on our first day out, the driver of my parent's cab dropped them at the south gate of the Forbidden City and the driver of my cab dropped me at the north gate. Ooops. We waited at the south gate for a while wondering where they could possibly be? Then I began to see that considering the size of the Forbidden City and the crowds that day, we were most likely separated for good. We would have to get back together later on.
Anna, Susan-Grace and I went into the Forbidden City still hoping that we would find them inside. At one point, I put Anna on my shoulders to see if she could see anyone that looked like Nana, Papa and Miri. No luck. We finally gave up and enjoyed our site-seeing.
Gracie's eye for details made my trip inside the Fobidden City even more enlightening. She led us through a back pass off the beaten trail and we found ourselves in the quiet courtyard of the city's library. Afterwards, we walked through an impressive ceramics exhibit that gave me an appreciation for the beauty of ancient Chinese celedon (not to be confused with Korean celedon)
3 comments:
My thoughts... You are so brave. I would seriously have freaked out. How did Mom and Dad do on their own? Boy, China is very polluted, how do the people breathe that air? And, what a neat place to see and experience.
Kim, you were an awesome tour guide. I can't believe you dared take your "old" parents and three of your daughters to Beijing! What a burden of anxiety you must have felt--but it was all worth it. I had such an awesome time. I still think about it every day. The girls were so fun to be with and I can't believe they were so good--I mean really, two meals a day? And we went from morning til night and survived taxi rides that were wild and scary! It was all to good and fun and exciting to believe. You have left me wanting more adventures! Where shall we go next?
oh,...your experiences just have me in awe. I think it sounds scary, but with the right people, (you guys), I think I could make it. :) Very impressive and the life skills (emotional, mental, physical) you are gaining must be HUGE. Love it!
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