I awoke at 4:30 again, so I walked to McDonalds
for a pancake breakfast. They’re open 24 hrs.
(We’ve taught the world so much!) Then after
a short meeting at 8:30, I set off for People’s
Square. There I ran into some college
students on spring break, and they took me to
a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. I told them
I don’t drink tea, so I got all the herbal and
flowery stuff. The ceremony was fascinating,
but I wasn’t allowed to take pictures. It’s not
done in English, so if I hadn’t had my college
buddies with me, I’d have got nothing out of it.
My next Chinese party (tea ceremony)will be for
grandchildren only….the parents don’t have the
proper attitude.
I’m practicing to be a tour guide for my friends
who are arriving on Friday, so I next went to the
Bund, which is under massive reconstruction.
They’re feverishly preparing for Expo 2010 next
May, which seems to be getting as much hype as
the Olympics. They have retained their “Public
Manners Day”–the 25th of each month–when
they practice queing up, not spitting, etc. Today
I even saw a transit worker direct people to wait
for Metro passengers to exit the trains before
swarming on. I know now where all the people
are. Thirteen years ago there was one Metro
line; now there are nine. So all those people who
used to pack the buses are all underground.
Val, I even found a Gelato stand. I had a “Hazel-
nut Kissing” cone. A perfect day!
New fact I learned: America is referred to as
Mei Guo. The translation is “beautiful country.”
Oh, and I found a 4-leaf clover today. Quadruple
happiness…