Sunday Afternoon Update - Father's Day

Hi all, C here.

We would first like to wish all of those Fathers out there a Happy Father's Day.
Dad, Noel, Mark, Sean, Curtis, et. al.

I come to you from the Business Center at the Intercontinental Hotel in Shenyang with today's report...

Before I begin, it is somewhat humbling as I look out the window at the business center. I'm on the 2nd floor overlooking the street and at about eye-level is the Chinese National Flag, with its 5 gold Stars on a bold red field, waving nearly straight-out in a steady 20 mph breeze. Just to the left and perhaps 3 feet LOWER is Old Glory - to the right at the same height is the Union Jack (which is, inexplicably, wrapped tightly around it's staff - so much so that it's hard to recognize - I'm not sure if I should be attaching any significance to that or not?)
Anyway, as I think about where we are and type (actually more hunt & peck), I realize that we sometimes take for granted the sight of our flag in the position of prominence. I hope I always remember what that feels like - and not just on Flag Day or Independence Day. Just another gentle reminder that we're not in Kansas anymore.
Another, less gentle, reminder is the 60 foot statue of Chairman Mao in the center of a large commemorative square two blocks down to the left!

We have already spent quite a bit of time with Veronica, our most excellent guide on this most excellent adventure. Among many other things, she has told us that Shenyang is one of China's SMALLER cities - only 7 million people! (I think most of them are driving up & down the street out front as I look up every few moments.)

But I digress - back to Today's report (and some catch-up from the past couple of days, too):

On Friday evening in Shanghai, we went out to see one of the Chinese Acrobat Shows. There are three available, one is a Cirque-type show, another is very traditional, and one is sort of in the middle (this is the one we saw). We really enjoyed all of the performances (ranged from tumblers to aerial dances, to contortionists). Kyle made it almost to the end before he passed out - luckily he woke up in a good mood and we caught a taxi back to the hotel.

He recovered quickly enough so that upon our return at 10:30 PM, he enjoyed a banana flavored ice cream bar on the wall out in front of the hotel in front of the fountain. After we were done, we cleaned him up and I took the trash down to the waste can near the corner by the street. This is where things got interesting. Three times by three different gentlemen (?) I was offered the services of a young Chinese woman/women - in the span of approximately 40 feet of walking. The first one offered "Just have a look", the second "A lady for your company this evening?", the third was a tad less subtle and asked me (perhaps the only English word he knew) "Sex?". Funny, yet depressing...

Enough of that...
We awoke Saturday morning on our last day in Shanghai, with about 5 hours or so to kill. We all sort of came alive from our sleep at sunrise at around 4AM (jet lag, much!) but yet still there was much activity on the street - traffic, street cleaners, bikers, walkers... We checked out & grabbed a taxi to Fuxing Park in an area called the French Concession. The park was a treat for the senses. We could tell it was a place of sanctuary and yet very active and extremely alive in a variety of ways. We got a lot of photos and video of all parts of this excursion, hopefully I will be able to upload these when I find a USB cable for the camera tomorrow.

Lively music surrounded us from all directions...In one area we saw dozens of older folks dancing alone and in pairs, practicing their ballroom moves. Some appeared to be part of a class, closely following the instructor's every shuck & jive. Couples in another area nearby were much more relaxed and simply enjoying each others' company and enjoying being with each other in their group. It was truly refreshing to see the sense of enjoyment and liveliness that everyone had. The average age could not have been less than

Mah-Jong over here...card games over there...Tai-Chi in the grove...impromptu jam sessions under the statue of Marx & Engels...kites soaring overhead...karaoke over by the Children's park. Kyle was even able to enjoy a few kid's rides in a small area set aside for kids (good pictures to prove it hopefully!).

As we relaxed in the park during a bathroom break, an older Chinese woman (she must have been at least 90) walked up to Lisa, took her by the arm and started running through her series of exercises to loosen up her wrists, elbows, shoulders and neck - very funny to see - the woman explaining the benefits of every move to Lisa (of course in Mandarin!!). Before she left she spun Lisa around and gave her an odd version of a massage - think Austin Powers and "Judo - Chop" and you can picture it. I asked Lisa how it felt and she said "That really hurt" - yes, I said 90!!
I am still kicking myself for not having video of this - it may have come in handy later in life!

Did I mention that we had a lot of fun at the park?

After we left the park we walked around the neighborhood and had a really nice time just people-watching (most of the time it seemed we were more the "people-watchees").
We stopped for lunch at McDonald's (props to Ray Croc for that international expansion idea - GENIUS!) where Kyle had the standard McNugget Kid's Meal - he could not tell the difference, if there was one. He also made some great faces when he tried Mom's special fruit drink (available for a limited time, only) - it was a carbonated concoction of very sweet fruit juice and crushed ice. His words said "I like it, but his face said "this is not what I was expecting!" We ended our walk by visiting a 6-story Barbie Store - all Barbie, all the time.

We cabbed to the airport, and readied for our flight to Shenyang. Kyle was a little surprised to learn that there was not going to be any carseats in the cab. "That's not good" he announced. He made sure to check in with us every now & then: "Are you OK guys?" The cab ride was fine but we had to put one of our suitcases in the front seat next to the driver. No problems at the airport, except for a 40 minute departure delay. Once on board, Kyle was asleep shortly after take-off - which was a shame because he missed the in-flight meal, which was a lunch box of local favorites!

Lisa and I both opened our boxes at the same time, and (unluckily for her) she did not have her glasses on. She excitedly picked out the package of cookies from the box, just as I was reading the wrapper (I really should have warned her...). Just as she took a generous bite of her first cookie, I could hardly keep a straight face as I asked her, "How are the cookies?". She made an odd face, that after 18 years of marriage I swear I've never seen, and mumbled with a mouth full of "ONION Cookie" something like "Uuuuhhh, what are these...?" It was at that point I pretty much exploded with a really loud (the flight attendants both turned around sort of loud) laugh! She yelled at me: "You knew! Why didn't you say anything?".
Guilty as charged, your honor. (I think she still loves me...?)

So she would not feel as bad, I agreed to try the other little "treat" in our lunch box. A tea-bag-sized little packet of dried fruit (or vegetable - I'm not really sure myself). Yes, it was in fact, "Dried RADISH" - and yes, it did taste "that bad".
I'm calling it even.

(I can't make this stuff up - I'm just sorry I didn't pocket a packet of dried radish to bring home as proof...)

As the plane taxied toward the area of the tarmac (note a gate, really) where we would get off, we stopped momentarily as the ground crew rearranged the cones. At the moment we stopped (still probably hundreds of feet from our actual end-point), EVERYONE, except Lisa Kyle and me, stood up and started scrambling for their overhead bags at almost the exact same time (they could not have been more in synch if they rehearsed)! The flight attendants literally ran down the aisle and forced everyone back into their seats - yelling as if they were stealing the bags! Very funny.

I need to take a break now, but I'll pick up with our arrival in Shenyang last night.

Here are a few more things we'll cover:
- Intercontinental Hotel
- Shenyang, the city
- Pizza for Dinner
- Kyle's displeasure with the traffic as we walked to the grocery store
- Delicious Room Service Menu
- Ms. Pan's (the orphanage director) H1N1 concerns

Kyle asked me to say Hi to all of his Thunderbolt freinds at the Malvern Goddard School...especially Ben. Hello also to Miss Pam & Miss Jessica & Miss Kim.
(Note to Miss Pam: if you share any of this with the class, you may want to skip the part about me throwing out the trash after Kyle had his Ice Cream.)

Thanks for tuning in - check in again soon...

C