Genetically inferior and sprinkled with pixie dust

Genetically inferior and sprinkled with pixie dust
9:20pm Thursday

Our trip to the Beijing zoo was pretty uneventful. We saw the typical animals, with the exception of the pandas (very cute). The zoo was very crowded and I had to keep reminding myself that it is not rude here to bump into people and burst their personal space bubbles (more like dash the space bubble into a million pieces). Remind me when I get home not to act that way because I might decide to go all roller derby at the grocery store. That'd be bad.

In the early evening we took in a "Flying Acrobatic Show" which was very similar to a Cirque du Soleil. It was during that show that I determined that I am genetically inferior. People can do some amazing things. Kara amazingly slept through a good portion of it. When she awoke she watched the show, but became more interested in watching a little boy run up and down the stairs next to us. That's a Froisland kid for you, always keeping tabs on those of the opposite gender (which is a good thing).

It was at that theater that I had my first encounter with a "squat" toilet which flushed. I won't go into detail, but I will point out two things: 1) you can get proficient very quickly at something given the right motivation; 2) there are some things for which men are just more genetically suited.

After the show we came back to the hotel and then James, Kara, and I went to try out a new restaurant (it was Chinese in case you were wondering). Once we got inside we realized that this was a swanky place (to which you all are asking, "So what were you guys doing there?"). My backpack got its own chair. We got towels with which to wipe our hands before dinner. This was new: our napkins were placed on the table, laid flat, and our plates were put on top. Then we encountered the most unnerving part of the experience: helicopter servers. While we looked at the menu they hovered at our table. While we ate, they hovered nearby. If I picked up a dish to serve myself some more food, one of them would rush over and take the plate from me to place it back on the table and then orient the spoon handle to face us.

The menu was extensive and offered some very interesting parts of animals. Or sometimes you could get a whole animal. If you ordered a particular chicken dish, you'd get the whole chicken, head and all. One dish that I didn't order, but found intriguing was the "sashimi on Pringles." And from the picture it really looked like Pringle chips. We decided on a chicken dish which had no bones and a shrimp dish. I thought that was a safe bet until the shrimp came, whole shrimp, head, legs, tail, shell, the works. James asked one of the helio servers if we ate the whole thing, to which she nodded yes. I tried one like that and decided I had to Americafy the shrimp. I thought I'd wait until the servers weren't looking. But they were always looking, watching, waiting. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and like the good American Twinkie (you know, yellow on the outside, white on the inside) I am, I did my pseudo dissection of the shrimp. And then when only one server was buzzing nearby, I'd wipe my face really fast on the napkin that was laying on the table. It felt like I was wiping my face on the tablecloth, but I was going rogue by that point.

The formality of the environment was broken when Kara decided she wanted out of her chair. One of the servers picked her up and carried her off. Another server came and plucked Kara from her. Before you knew it, about five of the servers were "fighting" over her and Kara was being passed around like a hot potato (but in this case one you'd want to keep). She was eating the whole thing up of course. She has embraced this attention getting thing, so beware when we get home.

Today Kara was wearing the clothes she wore when we picked her up from the orphanage. I marvel at the progress she has made since the last time she wore those clothes only a little more than a week ago. She was an orphan with nothing when we got her, and now she is a daughter who will have all we can give (I reminded her of that today but she just wanted a cracker).

There is a great moment at the end of a live action movie of "Peter Pan." The Darling children have returned home and are reunited with their parents. The lost boys enter in and Wendy, Michael, and Peter ask if they can keep them all to which their parents answer "yes." As they are reveling in their new family, stodgy spinster Aunt Millicent watches the scene from the doorway. A boy appears next to her and is clearly upset. She asks, "What is the matter?" He says, "I lost my way and couldn't find the house, and now every one has a mother except me." At that moment Tinkerbell flies by and sprinkles pixie dust on Aunt Millicent. Aunt Millicent asks, "Is your name 'Lively?'" He says, "Yes, how did you know?" Aunt Millicent: "Because I am your mother." Lively (I think that is his name) asks, "How can you be sure?" To which she responds with a smile, "Because I feel it."

I am Kara's mom because I feel it. And oh, what a feeling!

Off to Guangzhou tomorrow, and one more week to home!