Andrew put this picture on Facebook this morning - it popped up on his feed as a memory from two years ago. Apparently I landed in Beijing on June 20, and this is the selfie he took. He wrote:
After 3 reroutes and about 36 hours, my mother finally made it to beijing！(I was asked to qualify that she had been traveling all day before this picture Welcome to china Ann Klopfenstein Bailes!
Yes, seeing the Great Wall of China was a great experience.
So was seeing Tienamen Square and the huge government buildings in downtown Beijing. I really appreciated our missionary hosts who took a detour to that area just so I could see it all.
But what I really appreciated about this trip was seeing China - regular, everyday Chinese people in everyday situations that no average tourist would ever see.
Sights such as the employees of the restaurant right in front of Andrew's residence building, taking a Sunday afternoon break to cook "chuar" (barbecue). This was my very first day in his city.
Sights such as the "dumpling lady" who had a little booth on the street. She knew Andrew well and was glad to see us coming.
Sights such as a dumpling party with some of his students in the home of a teacher at his university.
Sights such as delivering a small afghan made by women here in Anderson, to a "sister" there who would really appreciate the gift and the expression of Christian unity that it expressed.
And sights such as this one - the street outside Andrew's residence. That street has probably made the biggest impact on me. It is so regular, so normal. Chinese residents living Chinese life in a remote part of the world (to us).
My eye affected my heart. Two years ago starting today.
1 comment:
Wow, it doesn't seem like it's been two years. I'm so glad you got to go.
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