Today the boys were all excited because Dustin took the afternoon off so we could go to the aquarium here in Shanghai. It is located all the way in Pudong (the east side of the river and into the financial district). We felt that by leaving at 1:00 we would be able to beat most of the traffic and get downtown with a few hours to view the museum. Oh, we should have known that life here in one of the largest cities of the world would not be that easy. So, after 2 1/2 hours of sitting in traffic and still being an hour away if the traffic was actually moving, we ditched the aquarium. You must of course picture us in the van at this moment and the moments before the decision. Obviously, sitting in stand still traffic (okay we moved slightly in this 2 1/2 hours, but not much), trapped in car seats with no toys, no books, not even the radio to listen to (this exists, it is just in Chinese) is not fun. Josh had taken to his screeching for most of the 2 1/2 hours stopping only for periods of time in which we sang different nursery rhymes (the interest in this ran out fairly quickly) and for a short period after I wedged myself between their two car seats.
When we made the decision to abort our mission of the aquarium (due solely to the fact that we seriously did not believe we would make it there with any significant time before it closed) Josh was already crying. Danny of course, took the news as one would expect. He also began crying. So we then had two boys crying (Dustin was already fit to be tied over the traffic) and Dustin was trying to explain to our non-English speaking driver that we no longer wanted to go to the aquarium. Dustin decided that we were close to a landmark area of the city known as Yuan garden and was trying to direct our driver to this new location. Yuan is a beautiful garden that is older than the United States has been a country and is surrounded by a lot of little shops and restaurants. It is a huge tourist area, but we felt it important to get the boys out of the car even for just a short period of time.
Unfortunately, our driver in addition to being non-English speaking, has been in the city for as long as we have (he was a driver down in Shenzen). So upon Dustin's first explanation of where we wanted to go, he did not understand correctly and began taking us away from where we wanted to be. Finally, he understood where we wanted to go, but he had no idea how to get there. He was actually trying to ask Taxi drivers as we were at stop lights. Thankfully, Dustin was able to contact one of the guys from work and they were able to straighten it all out. Remember, this whole time, about another 30 minutes, the boys were going between singing (as well as anything else I could think of to keep them entertained) and crying. Oh we must have been a sight to behold.
We finally arrived at Yuan garden and got out to walk around. Thankfully, we had brought two strollers and we pushed the boys through the crowded shop alleys that surround the garden. We saw some beautiful artwork. The carvings are amazing as well as their needlework done in silk. Also some amazing silk handwoven rugs. Dustin was not feeling well (he has been eating the Chinese food served in the cafeteria--one can only imagine what this is) and all the driving. We decided to stop at a Dairy Queen stand we past earlier within the complex. The boys were in the strollers, so Dustin and I decided to have us to wait off to the side while he went up to the stand. Dustin had not been gone for 20 seconds when we were completely surrounded by curious onlookers. The kids are sort of used to some attention because every time we leave the community they are pointed at and many people come up to say hello or try and shake the boys hands (the craziest was a man, after trying to say hi to the boys, wanted me to hand Josh to him--maybe I am cynical, but I couldn't believe he thought I was going to hand over my child to a perfect stranger. That is just crazy). Anyway, this was noting like anything we have experienced so far. I can hardly accurately describe the scene to you. Thankfully, I had already read on-line from other expatriates that the Chinese people love children and are fascinated by Westerners. They especially love boys and two boys is quite a phenomenon here (the Chinese are technically only allowed to have one child and if they have more than one child the family is fined for this second child. In addition the second child is not eligible for the normal benefits of a Chinese citizen such as school), so I was not concerned about our safety at anytime.
The crowd formed a semi-circle around us (our backs were to the wall). They were all smiling and pointing and some were trying to get the kids to wave. I was kneeling down next to the boys so they would not become overwhelmed by it all. In addition to everyone standing and pointing, and just staring, almost all of them had whipped out cameras and were taking reams of pictures of the kids. Some, especially the elderly women and some of the younger girls actually squatted down next to the kids in their strollers and took pictures with them (similar to what you and I would do with Mickey Mouse at Disneyworld). You would have thought we were Britney Spears or someone else equally famous for all the commotion that was going on around us. It was quite hilarious.
Finally, Dustin returned with a soda and we continued on with our search for a small item for Danny. Danny of course picked out a plastic parrot (he is fascinated by parrots right now) that sits on a little limb and screeches (not sings--screeches--I can already tell you the batteries are going to go missing here soon) out different songs like Mary has a Little Lamb. We then located a McDonalds and treated the kids to an early dinner out.
We piled back into the van and after going around the same block a couple of times (our poor driver--he is so contentious, I know he feels bad that he does not know the city better) we find the correct route back home. Of course, you guessed it, we hit more traffic on the way home. Thankfully this time the boys are tired and have full stomachs which quickly results into two sleeping boys.
While our adventure was not what we intended it to be, it turned out extremely well and we have memories that I can honestly say we will not forget anytime soon.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment