We were going to be on the road all day today, so we met early to head to our first stop, a well known jade factory. We had a tour of the “factory” where they are produced, and a guide explained the process to us. It was quite interesting. Angie found a nice bracelet she liked which we purchased…..we need to get a few mementos.
Next we traveled to the Great Wall. Everyone should go there at least once in their life if they get the chance. It is hard to describe or put in words, as they don’t do it justice. The wall runs for several thousand miles and was built in many areas in the steepest part of the country. We can vouch for that. The mountains around here are extremely steep and seem to rise straight up from the ground. The wall itself has steps which vary in height, and some are very high. We decided to go up to the first watchtower. Cameron started strong, but quickly pooped out. Nevertheless, we all made it. I hope the pictures I send do it justice. The air was not very clear…..I’ll mention that again in a minute. It’s hard to believe the magnitude of an undertaking such as the Wall. Once we returned to the base, we found a couple simple ornaments in the gift shop for our Christmas tree….a tradition we started on our honeymoon and continue to this day (getting an ornament from the places we travel to and visit). Oh year I forgot to mention the heat and humidity. It was quite high at the Wall, and we were dripping wet by the time we got to the watchtower. I made a comment to one of the other fathers who is a high school football coach that if there are any coaches in America who think their teams aren’t adequately conditioned, fly them to China and have them run the “bleachers.” I can guarantee they’ll be begging for mercy!
We next went to the cloissant factory for a tour, lunch and shopping. It is quite interesting to see how these products are made, especially with respect to the time it takes, the detailed craftsmanship, and the temperatures use to finish them. Lunch was very good (oh yeah, only chopsticks the whole trip for the Hamel’s……..getting much better at them now…..no choice, I guess!). Angie found a nice scroll her in colors that will go great in our bedroom that has a Chinese symbol for “Faith by God”.
Next we drove by the Olympic Village. Looks just like it did on television. Unfortunately, today was very “hazy” and hard to see things more than ~1/2 mile away. The air is really weird around here. People talk as though it’s just cloudy, but I don’t think that’s it. There is very little wind here, unless it storms. So whatever is in the air just hangs there, and I think this is largely smog. It really is hard to describe unless you are in it, but I remember people talking at length about it during the Olympics……they are quite right! Of all the Olympic venues, I was a bit partial to the Velodrome, which is actually located some miles away from the Olympic Village, “birds nest” and “ice cube”. The Chinese are very proud of their having put on the Olympics, and you can sense this in their conversations with you. While I’m thinking about it…..does anyone reading this have a copy of the Opening/Closing ceremonies they can copy for us? We kept ours on Tivo since last summer but, alas, it got accidentally erased when we filled the Tivo memory and the oldest shows got automatically erased…..even though we had marked them as protected! If not, we’ll get on Amazon or CBS on our return and look for it, as I think this will be good for us to watch with Cameron (not many words needed) on our return as he gets acclimated early on.
While we were driving to the various places today (the Great Wall was 60 kilometers away from our hotel), Reagan, our guide, explained a ton of stuff for us about Chinese culture that was very much appreciated. She explained all about Hutongs, married life in China, jobs, cuisine, etc. She also offered to get some nice items done for the new children, and we all took her up on it. So, we now have a traditional jade stamp with both Chinese name (Dang Niu) and American (Cameron Niu Hamel). In addition, we also got a scroll that has his Chinese name on it. While driving around today, I saw my first and only bicyclist riding around with a helmet! Also had spandex and a jersey on, so I assume it was not a native. Of the tens of thousands of bicyclists and people riding scooters and motorcycles, none wear helmets. They just don’t wear them here.
Cameron continues to adjust well. As I mentioned before, he’s very smart and picks things up very quickly. Language continues to be a problem, but we are getting into a system where we can communicate the important stuff (gestures, etc). He is also starting to learn more words, but I don’t sense a great deal of motivation on his part to do so (understandable, since he’s still in his native country). I hope he does not get too frustrated when, all of a sudden, this changes in a week. We all laid on the bed last night and watched The Little Rascals movie (chosen for some sight gags, not as much language comprehension needed). The bonding and attachment are going well…..he is very endearing…..a charmer……with a mischievous side. He is getting much better about a couple less-appreciated behaviors, but these are to be expected given his orphanage background and his life’s experiences, and these are rapidly improving. He continues to be affectionate, and kissed mother goodbye last night when I took him to the pool. Oh yeah, he had not wanted to take a shower in the hotel room the last few days, and so he hadn’t. After the swimming, though, he was eager to get in the shower and soap up. Perhaps because these showers were more similar to what was in the orphanage (line of them, walk-in versus step-in, locker room feel, etc.). At any rate, after we got back to the room he ran up to Mother and wanted her to smell his hair to show her that he had showered and was now clean. Very cute!
We’re loving our trip, but I’m ready for a big glass of anything with ice in it (no ice here in drinks)! Supposedly they have it in Guangzhou, though. We are flying to Guangzhou on an 2000 flight rather than 1800, as our agency was not sure our passports would be ready at the earlier time. Today we will be touring the Forbidden City. Ciao for now!
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