It’s 3 AM on January 19th here in Nanchang – the beginning of our last day here. We fly to Guangzhou this afternoon.
Preparations for Chinese New Year have already begun – posters fill the shop windows, decorations are going up, and stores are selling various items for that event. In honor of that most important holiday, I’ve entitled today’s entry – Firecrackers – short little burst of stories from my trip.
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I’ve already mentioned that there is a large multi-story department store here that is only a few doors down from our hotel. A few days ago – when my camera was not working – I wanted to go to the store to see if I could find a memory card or a new camera.
Michael – one of the dad’s in my group – offered to accompany me because he needed to purchase some things and because he had a hand-held translator (a device that may help me explain what I needed to store clerks).
We purchased what I needed for the camera and then went downstairs to the grocery store. Michael and I both bought some items there, paid for them and decided to go to the floor below to buy some more baby-oriented items. I went down the escalator first. I turned around to see Michael at the top of the escalator with 3 security persons directing him away. I was already half way down the escalator and yelled to him to wait and that I would come right back up.
How scary. When I got to the bottom of the escalator, I looked for the up escalator, but there was none to be found. It took me 5 minutes to locate the up escalator and another 3 to 5 to find my way back to the location where I last saw Michael.
He was no where to be seen.
The entrance to the escalator was surrounded by security people. I asked each one about the American gentleman. They nodded; said something to me; but I obviously didn’t understand them.
Don’t you hate situations like this? Should I go back down to the basement level and search for Michael there or just stay put in hopes that he too will find his way back to this space.
I decided to stay put reasoning that I may never find Michael in the chaos downstairs and that we may just keep missing each other. So I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
I guess I stood there for about 15 minutes. Michael never showed up. Finally, I walked back to the hotel and went to Michael’s room to see if he was there. His wife answered the door.
“Is Michael here,” I asked.
“No.”
“I lost him in the store. Do you want me to go back and search for him?”
“No, he’ll be ok.”
“Let him know that I’m ok. I hope he still isn’t looking for me.”
Michael was ok. Turns out packages aren’t allowed on the lowest level of the store. The security people must not have seen my small package, but they stopped Michael so that he could check his grocery bag. After he checked that package and waited for me for awhile, he went down the escalator in hopes of catching up on that floor.
Nothing scarier than getting separated from companions in a country where you can’t speak the language.
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Libby Doodle Doo is a babbler. She yammers away all day long – except, of course, when I turn on the video camera. I’ve yet to capture her lilting, expressive voice. I’m determined to do it during the Guangzhou portion of our trip.
My sister got up in the middle of the night last night and discovered an amazing thing – Miss Libby Doodle Doo even babbles in her sleep.
How adorable is that?
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We had a group dinner at a local restaurant tonight. Almost all the families attended – which is amazing since the temperatures have dropped close to freezing again and it has been raining all day long.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much food on one table. The dishes kept on coming again and again and again. The food was really good – typical Jiangxi cuisine (so a little spicy).
But more important than the food was the company. This is the first socializing experience we’ve had on the trip. It was great getting to know my travel companions a little bit better. What a nice group of people they are.
We suggested the group dinner to De our guide today at a paperwork meeting today. Had we not suggested it, I don’t think it would have happened. My advice to anyone traveling to China – make sure your agency schedules some time when you can socialize with your travel group. If they aren’t planning to do it, you may want to try to convince them to do it for you or work with other travel companions and schedule something on your own.
Talking to your travel group is a great way to answer questions, compare notes and share feelings.
####################
Back on the home front, Little Zo Peep is doing fine – most of the time (my babysitter estimates 95% of the time). She had a “miss Mommy” moment last Saturday and she been a little naughty since Wednesday. Reports from my babysitter say that her behavior at school and at her before/after school program is just fine – the naughty behavior is only occurring at home.
I am sending emails to Zo Peep daily that contain interesting facts about China. She is printing those notes off and taking them to Kindergarten where the teacher is reading them during Circle Time. Don’t you love teachers like that who can make a kid feel special when she is going through some sad times.
If Zo Peep sends me some of her pictures, I’ll write a little posting about her week and include shots from her vast collection.
I'm sad that she's losing out on special treats because of a few problem behaviors. Here’s hoping she can turn the “angel behavior” back on.
Preparations for Chinese New Year have already begun – posters fill the shop windows, decorations are going up, and stores are selling various items for that event. In honor of that most important holiday, I’ve entitled today’s entry – Firecrackers – short little burst of stories from my trip.
####################
I’ve already mentioned that there is a large multi-story department store here that is only a few doors down from our hotel. A few days ago – when my camera was not working – I wanted to go to the store to see if I could find a memory card or a new camera.
Michael – one of the dad’s in my group – offered to accompany me because he needed to purchase some things and because he had a hand-held translator (a device that may help me explain what I needed to store clerks).
We purchased what I needed for the camera and then went downstairs to the grocery store. Michael and I both bought some items there, paid for them and decided to go to the floor below to buy some more baby-oriented items. I went down the escalator first. I turned around to see Michael at the top of the escalator with 3 security persons directing him away. I was already half way down the escalator and yelled to him to wait and that I would come right back up.
How scary. When I got to the bottom of the escalator, I looked for the up escalator, but there was none to be found. It took me 5 minutes to locate the up escalator and another 3 to 5 to find my way back to the location where I last saw Michael.
He was no where to be seen.
The entrance to the escalator was surrounded by security people. I asked each one about the American gentleman. They nodded; said something to me; but I obviously didn’t understand them.
Don’t you hate situations like this? Should I go back down to the basement level and search for Michael there or just stay put in hopes that he too will find his way back to this space.
I decided to stay put reasoning that I may never find Michael in the chaos downstairs and that we may just keep missing each other. So I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
I guess I stood there for about 15 minutes. Michael never showed up. Finally, I walked back to the hotel and went to Michael’s room to see if he was there. His wife answered the door.
“Is Michael here,” I asked.
“No.”
“I lost him in the store. Do you want me to go back and search for him?”
“No, he’ll be ok.”
“Let him know that I’m ok. I hope he still isn’t looking for me.”
Michael was ok. Turns out packages aren’t allowed on the lowest level of the store. The security people must not have seen my small package, but they stopped Michael so that he could check his grocery bag. After he checked that package and waited for me for awhile, he went down the escalator in hopes of catching up on that floor.
Nothing scarier than getting separated from companions in a country where you can’t speak the language.
####################
Libby Doodle Doo is a babbler. She yammers away all day long – except, of course, when I turn on the video camera. I’ve yet to capture her lilting, expressive voice. I’m determined to do it during the Guangzhou portion of our trip.My sister got up in the middle of the night last night and discovered an amazing thing – Miss Libby Doodle Doo even babbles in her sleep.
How adorable is that?
####################
We had a group dinner at a local restaurant tonight. Almost all the families attended – which is amazing since the temperatures have dropped close to freezing again and it has been raining all day long.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much food on one table. The dishes kept on coming again and again and again. The food was really good – typical Jiangxi cuisine (so a little spicy).
But more important than the food was the company. This is the first socializing experience we’ve had on the trip. It was great getting to know my travel companions a little bit better. What a nice group of people they are.
We suggested the group dinner to De our guide today at a paperwork meeting today. Had we not suggested it, I don’t think it would have happened. My advice to anyone traveling to China – make sure your agency schedules some time when you can socialize with your travel group. If they aren’t planning to do it, you may want to try to convince them to do it for you or work with other travel companions and schedule something on your own.
Talking to your travel group is a great way to answer questions, compare notes and share feelings.
####################
Back on the home front, Little Zo Peep is doing fine – most of the time (my babysitter estimates 95% of the time). She had a “miss Mommy” moment last Saturday and she been a little naughty since Wednesday. Reports from my babysitter say that her behavior at school and at her before/after school program is just fine – the naughty behavior is only occurring at home.I am sending emails to Zo Peep daily that contain interesting facts about China. She is printing those notes off and taking them to Kindergarten where the teacher is reading them during Circle Time. Don’t you love teachers like that who can make a kid feel special when she is going through some sad times.
If Zo Peep sends me some of her pictures, I’ll write a little posting about her week and include shots from her vast collection.
I'm sad that she's losing out on special treats because of a few problem behaviors. Here’s hoping she can turn the “angel behavior” back on.
2 comments:
im sure your angel is just waiting to pop up again!!!!!
love the posting...wish we were there with you!!!
lots of love
xxx
shawn and Aila
Your emails about China to Zo Peep are a great idea for all involved. Hope you get your youngest daughter's babbling on video soon! =)
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