A walk in the park

Greg>
We did some new things today. Ok, yeah. There were about a bajillion more shops, storefronts, holes in the wall? I don't mean to be disrespectful, I just really don't know what to call them. But, we did other things as well. We rode yet another new vehicle today. We started our day on the subway and took it to some old schoolbuilding called Chen Family Clan. I was done after about 4 minutes. Pretty much if no battles were fought there or no one died there, I am not interested. Again, not meant to be disrespectful, it is just the way I am wired. Anyway, we wandered around and looked at a bunch of old stuff. Yippee! We did see a pretty cool lizard crawling around one of the sculptures...this old school was converted into a place to show artsy things...ohhh, the fun! Justin also experienced a small bit of stardom as several folks asked to get a picture of him. At first, they took a picture just of him but then they rotated through getting their picture with him. This happened later in the day to both of our children. I got a pretty neat picture of two people taking pictures of our kids.

After the old school, we went in search of a bus to take us to the civil affairs office as our guide had some paperwork to drop off there. We were told it was just two busstops away so we decided to walk. Well, two busstops is a relative sort of thing. More than a mile later, we finally arrived at our destination. This wasn't bad for us, but we were with another family who is not used to walking very much and one of whom recently had surgery to fuse three vertebrae in her neck. Everyone except Carl and I ate lunch at Starbucks. Carl and I were taken to a Chinese fast food restaurant by our guide who then left to go to her appointment. Let's just say Starbucks doesn 't get less expensive on this side of the pond. I have never even tried coffee and was just given a bunch of yuan more reasons why not to!

Following lunch, Carl and the kids and I wandered through this really cool park, called The Peoples Park, right in the heart of the business district (of course, everywhere is the business district here). Even in the middle of the day, it was a hoppin place. We saw some strange sights. In one part of the park, people were learning how to ballroom dance...to traditional Chinese music. Very strange to watch. Even stranger to watch two men doing it. In other parts of the park we saw people doing karaoke, more dancing, singing, playing their version of hackysack, and more. The four of us walked up to a grandstand pagoda kind of thing in which were 6-7 older people playing various instruments (including a lap synthesizer kind of thing) and singing what sounded to be traditional Chinese folk songs. We stopped to watch and listen. There was a crowd around them of maybe 20 people watching and some singing along. After awhile, they all looked at us and ,began a lively song that I could not place right away, but as it was a catchy tune, began to clap rhythmically. Then my son began singing with them. Wait a minute. How cool is that? My son had the early church gift of tongues! He could understand their words and was joining in. Wait. What is that? Oh, come on. You can't be serious. Jingle Bells???!! Sure enough. Jingle bells, Chinese style. Oh, what a jolly good time. They got done and every one cheered. As we stayed awhile longer, more people came up and gestured commentary about both kids hair. One guy seemed to be asking if Justin's hair color was real or dyed. He was thrilled to learn it was his actual hair color. Either that, or I told him my son was a one eyed snail who couldn't urinate. It is pretty hard to tell when everyone is just pointing and making really dramatic faces.

As we were leaving the park, Justin was asked to join in with about 6 other people of wide age ranges who were playing a game similar to our hackysack. That was one of the cool things about this park. Clearly several of the people in this game did not know each other. People just sort of flowed in and out of it with great friendliness and welcoming. I have seen this effect elsewhere with this game and both he and I have joined other games.

As we exited the park, more people wanted pictures of the kids. One guy had a cool setup. This park was really very beautiful. He tried to get us to have him take pictures of the kids that he would then print right then and there and give to us for a price. I rejected that offer. He was so besmitten of them, however, that he still took several pictures. He then opened his pack, and had a printer right there. He printed off a picture and gave it to Kailey for free.

The rest of the family took a taxi while Carl and I walked back to the hotel. I bought a new pair of shoes right before this trip. I might have to buy another right after I get home!

Dinner tonight was pretty varied with chicken, pigeon, beef, pork, rice, and some undetermined stuffed pastry sort of thing. It is best not to ask too many questions. Especially since much of the food for people is still alive and on display in the front of the restaurant when you walk in. Maren commented that the entry to the restaurant greatly resembled Jacks Aquarium and Pets. She also thought it was wrong to be able to have a biology lesson while eating dinner. See my random thoughts entry for greater details. Carl ate a pigeon head. Hmmm, pretty sure I couldn't pull that one off. Meaning eating of the head, not yanking the head off. Though I am pretty sure I could not do that either.

Tomorrow likely holds a trip to the consulate and to the top of a large hill/small mountain called Baiyuan Mountain. It is supposed to be very beautiful. We also hope to hear if we definitely have earlier consulate appointments for the end of the trip.

Til tomorrow...