Some things make me miss Canada more than others. Take our outing this weekend for instance. We jumped at a chance to spend the day in the country at the scenically named “Red Leaf Valley”. We met one of Don’s classes early Sunday morning (real early, at 7:30) and took a bus there. It wasn’t too far so we reached this tourist destination in just over an hour, unfortunately it took us about an hour to get out of the city. As we turned off the highway, we immediately stopped. Apparently, we were not the only ones with this bright idea. We joined the traffic jam of cars, mini-buses and buses all headed up the hill towards the main entrance. As we inched along a narrow winding road, we were passed numerous times. This can’t be a good sign, I thought.
We finally got to the main entrance and I was astounded to see the number of vehicles already parked. The bus dropped us off near the entrance and we waited another hour or so before we were herded up the stairs and into the park. You would have thought we were at a concert. We finally made it inside the gate and found ourselves surrounded by more crowds. This was to be the norm for the rest of the day.
We wandered off along the trail that took us to different scenic spots. We “enjoyed” them with a few of our closest friends. There were photo ops at every turn. People took turns posing in front of the best spots. I am still amazed by how enamoured the Chinese are with getting their photos taken. Throw in the chance to get a foreigner in their photos and all hell breaks loose.
I now know what it might feel like to be in an entourage. The people’s reaction to Don was daunting. Not only did they stare (as usual), now they wanted pics with him. The most memorable photo op happened when we were sitting on a big rock waiting for Don’s students to return from a hike up yet another hill. Think Santa at Christmas time in the malls. He sits. People come to get their photos taken with him.
Here we were just sitting there minding our own business when someone appeared and asked to get their photo taken with him. They squeezed in between us and their friend took aim. I knew full well that it wasn’t important if I was in the pic so I got my camera and took a pic of them taking a pic with Don. It was all too hilarious.
No sooner did I sit down again when we realized a man had taken up position behind Don while his friend was off a ways framing the shot. We saw him inching towards Don, not an easy task since he was squatting! This was not the last time that someone, maybe too shy to ask to pose with him, sidled up inconspicuous to take up a spot closer to Don so their friend could snap the shot with him in it. Too funny!
All in all, it was a good day spent with the students but definitely NOT a relaxing day out communing with nature.
Here are a few more of my pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44767&l=fc2dd&id=571108357
Experience a bit of the ambiance for yourself! J xoxo
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