There were many people who helped to make the Qinghai students' and teachers' visit to Tianjin and Beijing a wonderful success. It is hard to express just how thankful I am to all of those who made this happen. So, I wish to express my heart-felt thanks for all those who supported the visit. The entire week, plus the trip to Beijing, was an amazing success. I could never have imagined that it would have turned out as well as it did. As far as I can tell there were no problems, though I am sure there were some adjustment bumps with the home-stays. One boy took two showers a day, and then sprayed himself with air freshener after each one. All I could do was laugh along with the home-stay student who asked me what he should do. I suggested that he just flat-out tell him, though later when I offered to step in, the student said that he would take care of it. There were more than a few touching moments as the Gui’de kids adjusted to this much different life here: one girl sitting in the middle of the floor almost in tears after someone had bought her a pair of hiking boots – she couldn’t quite process such generosity. “They cost three hundred kuai!” she kept saying. “Why would someone do that for me?”
On Saturday night, a full week into the trip, we arrived back in Beijing and three of the girls stayed with my daughter, Moira. They all took off their shoes, and I noticed that one of the girls, a bright though very poor kid, was wearing no socks. She’d come all this way in the middle of winter without any socks. I checked with Moira to see if she had any new socks, and thankfully, she did. Two pairs. I can talk with these kids straight up, so I called her aside and asked her if she had any socks, and she dropped her head and laughed and said, “No.” This was after a week in Tianjin and a day hiking along the Great Wall. I gave her both pairs of socks, cheap cotton ones, and she was as happy as if I’d just given her shares in a gold mine. Socks were big this past week. I gave out five pair, and each time I was answered with big, big smiles and lots of thank yous. I never see anything but these kids’ hands and faces, so I’d never realized that some of them might not be wearing socks. So, I learned another way of seeing them too.
Fascinating thing being withTibetans in Beijing: many people had no idea who they were, what country they were from. I took 5 kids and a teacher to a Pizza Hut on Sunday evening, which, BTW they loved, and the hostess announced in Chinese that they had a table for 7 foreigners. It was the first time I’ve been in China that I’ve not been the center of unwanted attention. They were! An interesting moment on Tian’anmen Square: the eldest of the two sisters said to me, “I brought my school uniform with me, and I’d like to have some photos with me wearing it here.” I thought to myself, ‘Well, kiddo, it’s your country, and it’s a Chinese school uniform. Go for it,” and I hoped that the police would understand that this was not a subversive act, that it was just a kid from the countryside who wanted to have her picture taken in her school uniform in the middle of Tian’anmen Square. So I said, “Sure, let’s do it.” She took off her pack and pulled out her uniform as I held my breath. But nothing happened. Obviously the police were keen to the fact that it was not an aggressive display. After several photos, she was getting ready to take it off, and I suggested that she keep it on, and we strolled across the square towards Tian’anmen where we took several more photos of her with the Heavenly Gate in the background.
But the smiles were what won the day, each and every day, and that’s what will be my deepest memory of the visit. So, again, thanks so much to everyone who made this happen, all the work and funds that were donated in helping to make this a memorable visit for all. It will not soon be forgotten by everyone who met each other over the course of the trip.
