Thursday, February 28, 2008

Hasta luego China

Today is our last day in China; we leave for home early in the morning.
M managed to achieve two big goals in the last couple of days. First off, he managed to get to the elevator and push the button before the floor monitor got there. Each floor of the hotel is set up in sort of an oval. In the center are the freight elevators & storage; around the outside are the guest rooms. The guest elevators are in a hall that bisects the center of the oval. At one end of this short hall, there is a podium that is manned around the clock. These ladies will get us ice or boiled water, unlock our windows (reluctantly), fetch plug adaptors for us, that sort of thing. But their main job seems to be to run for the elevator as soon as you open your door so you don't have to push the button. They stand there with their hand on the door until everybody's on. They also greet each arriving elevator & hold the door. M has been trying to sneak around the back hallway, on the side of the oval away from the podium, in order to evade the hall monitors and push the button himself. He finally managed it the other day. I hope the hall monitor doesn't lose her job because of this incident.


Beach bunny

His second objective was to ride a bike in China. He's been calling out "Hey, can I ride your bike?" whenever people ride past. Nobody was responding. Could be that language gap, I suppose. Or maybe they just thought it was weird and a little creepy that this random stranger wanted to ride their bikes. Yesterday, the hawker for one of the shops on the island accompanied us down the street in order to steer us into her shop. As we chatted with her, M asked if she or anybody who worked in her shop had a bike he could ride. "I know it sounds crazy..." he said, and she replied "Yes." But she found him a bike, and he rode around in circles for five minutes. He was grinning from ear to ear by the time he was done.

M rides a bike

We have had a wonderful time in China. It's truly been the trip of a lifetime. We look forward to coming back someday when Z is old enough to remember, and seeing more of China. Right now, however, we're ready to go home. We miss our B! One more day...

6 comments:

Maia said...

OK, I'm still gonna TRY to come see you guys in at the airport tomorrow. I'm in a bit of a work panic this week though, so I'm not making any hard fast promises (my husband frequently cautions me against "writing checks that my @$$ can't cash"...I'm not sure how many checks my @$$ actually IS capable of cashing, or what its line of credit looks like, so...well, I won't go on with this train of thought).
In any case - hope I can make it. If not, I will visit soon (if you let me).

Snowflowers Mum said...

Woohoo! I love the Bike photo! Do we both have Mountain Biking boys? Poor Mike needs a bike trip...I should set him up with your lad!

Home sweet Home! I cant believe it...finally! I've loved reading your travel blog!!!

Hayley

Rebecca said...

I have enjoyed your travels a lot. I am happy that you will home soon and your whole family will be together. I am sure that B is missing you tons. I will e-mail you to arrange a time for A, E and I to stop by to drop off dinner and for a short visit. Have a great flight home!
Rebecca

Cavatica said...

Ha ha, the floor monitors! We beat one to the elevator button once, not intentionally, and I think we crushed the poor woman's soul by the look on her face. I hope she kept her job!

I hope you have a safe trip home, with a minimum of screaming.

O-Tay said...

J, your little girl is just adorable! Your trip sounded fantastic & Little Z looks like she's settling in with you guys very well. Can't wait to hear how she & B do together. What a big moment!

Congrats!

We'll call to arrange a visit once we're a bit settled in with our newbie. (And once I'm allowed to drive again, post c-section.)

Michele said...

Safe travels. It will seem strange, but you will really miss your time in country. We wish we could go back now and visit more. There is so much more too see and experience.

But I'm sure your own beds are going to be heav