Well on September 7 the impossible happened... my mom stepped foot on Chinese soil. It was a comedy of errors from the beginning. At the airport Matt, Gracie, and I waited to see her pretty face along side my also beautiful Aunt Merylyn. An hour and a half after their plane arrived there was still no sign of them. Matt thought he had spotted my mom, but wasn't sure. I was finally able to go over to a special exit and get a better look. Sure enough, I saw Mom and Aunt Merylyn standing with a small crowd at what seemed to be a carosel. I thought maybe she couldn't find anyone to get her luggage down - but come to find out their luggage was still on the plane. The door was stuck and they couldn't get the luggage off. This was an unforeseen blessing actually because the airport had the bags delivered to our door the next day. The only real problem was my mom and her blood sugar. She is diabetic and the stress of the trip had shot her blood sugar sky high. She had really scared my aunt, but by the time she got to us she had taken her shot, eaten an apple, and seemed fine. Apparently on the plane, at oh about 35,000 feet a black substance started dripping from ceiling. Of course my mom decided it was hydrolic fluid and thought the plane was sure to crash into the Atlantic ( she hates flying anyway). A few minutes later my aunt smelled it and it had the faint scent of coffee. The captain came out to check and everything... really freaked everybody out. The finally discovered a leak in the galley and it was indeed coffee.
We had fun in Beijing. Gracie knew her Meme from Skype and it was fun to just be together. We saw the Great Wall, Tiannemen Square, the Beijing Zoo, and the Temple of Heaven. I got to catch up with some old friends and we ate lots of Mexican food! We stayed at ELIC headquarters so it was neat seeing old & familiar faces. Matt caught of with some of his buds there. We had a really nice time - Mom and Aunt Merylyn sported Matt's boxers the first night which was a great bonder for what would happen next!We had planned to go to Xi'an but the travel agent I had enlisted did a number on us and the trip fell through. Instead we just came back to our home... and the very next day Matt was sick as a dog. Fever, diarrhea, you name it! I had to sleep on the sofa. My aunt was concerned about getting sick herself and since she has had stomach trouble in the past opted to move to a hotel for the duration of Matt's illness. That really stunk - even though I know it was probably best. Mom went with her of course and for those few days I bused to them and went out all day then brought Gracie home for dinner and bed and went back to see them. I was glad when they came back to our house.
I had been planning their trip for a long time, but you know what they say about the best laid plans... not only was Matt sick, our nanny was also our of commission. So I was the lone ranger wanting desperately to take them out and about but not able to do all the things I had planned so long to do. It was so frustrating!
The most awesome thing we did was go to Billy's village. Mom and Aunt Merylyn had a ball. They traipsed down to the fields and cut some sugar cane with Billy's dad, they met all the neighbors, and shared in a feast prepared by Billy's mom. It was a great experience for us all. Gracie had so much fun running around that village. You would have thought she grew up there.
Toward the end of their stay I took them to Jingdezhen and Longhushan. Jingdezhen is the "china" capital of China. I got two huge porcelain pots and they bought tea sets and vases. We had a great driver who did his manly duty of hovering close enough to carry all our stuff around but far enough away that he was bothered by the shopping maniacs. That evening we were to stay in a 1 star hotel or maybe a negative 1 star... not quite sure. It was most definitely the dirtiest, most bacteria ridden hotel room I have ever stepped foot in. Thankfully my aunt wasn't willing to rough it (I would because I'm cheap). We moved to the Jingdezhen hotel - which I would recommend - but don't eat the breakfast, YUK! It was a good time, I shared an oversize twin bed with my mom and slept like a baby. Our trip to LongHuShan (Dragon Tiger Mountain) was pretty cool. We took a short boat ride out into the river to watch a recreation of ancient coffin placement in the crags of the vertical mountains. Afterward we hiked and took pictures then went back to find our driver. The ride home was uneventful - thankfully.My birthday was the 25th and we had a little party. That was nice. It was also the Mid-Autumn Festival which is celebrated by eating moon cakes and taking a stroll to view the full moon. We ate a few moon cakes, and we saw the moon. We also pigged out on chili and birthday cake. The next day was my mom's last day and we basically spent the day packing and hanging out. It was hard to see her go, the time she was here passed by too quickly. Sometimes I wonder if it was all just a dream. I am soooo thankful to my cousin Lisha who made the trip possible and to my Aunt Merylyn who planned it up and came along. It was a great time despite the snags.
