China Chapter 8

Well, we're getting packed and ready for our flight to Yichang, so that we can board our cruise on the Yangtze River. This morning, my mom and I got up, leisurely got things organized, got stuff packed, and then went down to breakfast. We were set next to an American couple originally from China, and while we didn't talk much to them, the two interactions we did have were interesting, one in which the woman scolded mom for keeping her purse on the floor, and the other laughing at some clueless tourist that had the stereotypical fisherman's vest, a HUGE camera, a floppy Gilligan hat, and pockets filled with stuff. The Chinese man sitting next to me said, "it may be high fashion....he might have spent fortune on vest...." We laughed heartily together!

Now, I've been mentioning the fact that the Dragon Lady/Empress on our tour is difficult. When we were at breakfast there was this one Spanish woman with a group of other Spanish people, that even from the looks of her, she looked sour. Since we already on a previous trip gave the nickname Sourpuss, we'll just have to call this woman Stinkface. Anyhow, Stinkface gave these Japanese men a hard time for sitting at a table for 6 when there were only 3 of them, and then proceeded to kick them off the table. Another woman was very authoritative, short, and round, and on two occasions, damn near knocked me over when either trying to get coffee, or to get a breakfast roll. I've nicknamed her Bette, like my dad's brother's wife Bette.

We then went walking along the street from our hotel, up to the oldest Catholic Cathedral in China. There were many people going to mass, and to me, I found this interesting. The other things we saw were people pulling old oxcarts with produce, and in one instance, a man was riding in the back while he was making his wife pull the cart. Molly Yard, eat your heart out!

We then walked back to the hotel, and are getting everything ready for the next stage of our vacation. I hope you readers out there are enjoying this particular online journal of "The Great China Escapade." Feel free to drop comments, as we'd love to hear from you!