Yvette at the Forbidden City
When talking about my trip to China with anyone who asks, I always say that the experience was “life-changing.” Of course then the person wants to know what was so life-changing about it all. I don’t have a short, pat answer to offer. I just don’t want to gloss over any details that contributed to my learnings when I relate the adventure, for each piece contributed to the journey.
I do know I have come back a better person. My mind and heart have expanded to hold the country of China and her entire population. I happily survived the heat and humidity, the variety of items served up as food, the sanitation facilities, the cultural differences, the several modes of transportation, and the construction that seemed to be going on everywhere we turned.
Whitney, Yvette, Robyn and Brooke at the Great Wall.
First of all, this trip was made possible by the three other people (Whitney, Robyn and Brooke) in the picture above. Whitney invited me on the trip, Brooke spoke Mandarin and so this gave us access to many people and places most tourists don’t get to see, and Robyn’s curiosity and questions kept us all in a good spirits. So…the best part of the journey was being with the people in this group. I gained a deep respect for Brooke who not only negotiated us into several good deals for food, entertainment, and market glee—she also took responsibility for most of our itinerary.
Yvette at the orphanage in Beijing.
One place she arranged for us to go was an orphanage. As we arrived, the children gathered around us. We mainly played with them on their playground. We also talked with the wife of the minister who runs the orphanage. I was touched by her life story and her kind heart.
Whitney and Yvette above Hong Kong.
I did do some work while in China, including a side trip to Hong Kong to explore what is being done in family history and genealogy. I loved being in Hong Kong because it was clean and not as crowded on the streets as I had imagined.