I woke up a bit disoriented this morning. I lost a day in travel having left at 3pm on Thursday afternoon from Beijing and arriving at 2:20pm on Thursday afternoon in Toronto. It is cold and snowy here and everyone seems to have adjusted to the new weather. I feel like I am in the twilight zone.... again.
The last two days in Beijing were spent doing touristy things. We went to Ti an an Min square and other than the impressive facts that is can host 1 million people and houses Chairman Mao's mausoleum I could have given it a pass on that freezing December day. The Forbidden city was interesting, but again cold and crowded and really somewhat repetitive - seen one room seen 'em all - in its hugeness. I am sure it is much more impressive, and crowded, in the spring. Shopping was fun and we had a few more taxi adventures but, for the most part, everyone was keen to get their new families home.
My cousin and her daughters felt that they had accomplished what they came for and were keen to go home and see their father whose business requirements allowed me to be the replacement. I found the whole experience very educational from a myriad of perspectives. I learnt a lot about adopted families, different parenting strategies and reactions to children's personalities, what it is like to travel with someone else's children under fairly stressful circumstances and to observe another country and culture, not so much as a tourist, or an ex-pat, but as a outsider looking in. I was most impressed by the generosity and genuine welcome we received from all of the Chinese people that we interacted with. I was also impressed by the effect that man can have on his environment and felt that China should serve as a warning to the rest of the world of what will happen to all of us if we don't take the negative impact we have on our environment seriously.
Bye for now. Thanks for reading. Until the next travel adventure.........
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