predawn. quiet house. coffee in hand. just me, my thoughts and a pile of backpacks.
kids are still sleeping and i will wake them in a few hours. passports and documents are loaded, money is neatly tucked away, gum and airborne handy. chocolate is packed. ready? i guess so. i hope so. suddenly i am nervous. three weeks in china. in the summer. with 2 children and my mother. am i insane?
this trip has been a year in the preparation. now that its here, i hope i am ready.
china is such an interesting, frustrating, wonderful,complicated place. so much is unfamiliar, so much is impossible for the western mind to understand. i love it, but i am not of it, so i am forever an outsider. how will ruby and hazel see it?
i hope they fall in love with china as i did on my first trip.i want them to see the wonder and not the lack of human rights. i want them to marvel at the variety of vehicles,be amused at the "fashions", savor the food, look in awe at the great wall,hear mandarin spoken all around and be immersed in sea of faces that look like them. i want them to have a sense of where they came from.i hope that by seeing the places where they spend the first year of life that it gives them a better foundation of who they are and where they came from.
this trip will be different for me, i am not packing diapers and wipers and coming home with a baby. i am packing chocolate and bug spray and diving headlong into being a tourist. i am in mourning that the merry-maker, laugh-producer, give-me-shit-when-i-am-crabby sistertwin is not coming along. china is not going to be the same.
but i am bejing bound none the less.
Insane? Perhaps. But....look where it's taken you thus far. Safe travels. Can't wait for updates.
ReplyDeleteI too am mourning your return journey to China! Next time I will for sure be with you. This time I am there in spirit and when you need a laugh just remember me and Miss Fou Lee. In fact, tonight Paige noticed her perched high on the shelf and in that moment I whisked her down and proceeded to entertain Paige with the great wisdom of Miss Fou Lee. Once I start channeling, it is hard to stop-remember her great swimsuit incident? Paige was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes and almost slipped off of her chair! Happy travels! xoxo Auntie BB
ReplyDeleteI never check into the Yahoo singles group anymore, but for some reason today I did and saw your post inviting people to read your blog. Thank you SO much for sharing! I just read your entire travel journal. I am considering an extended trip to China next summer and need to get on the planning wagon, but I have no idea where to start.
ReplyDeleteI know we want to go to Beijing (we didn't get there on our 1st trip), Guangzhou, Yangchun (my daughter's SWI is there, 4 hour drive by car from Guangzhou) and Changsha as my niece left last month for a 26 month stay there with the Peace Corps.
Past that, I don't know the best way to organize - the best place to start. It sounds like you had a lot to do with planning your group's travel, so I would love it if you would share your tips and also what you would do differently with me. If it isn't rude to ask, what type of budget should I be putting together for this type of adventure? It will just be the 2 of us and probably 2 to 3 weeks. I really appreciate your help!
Sharie
Daughter Amelia, B. 9/18/04 A. 7/4/05