Tuesday Morning

We went to a park in Guangzhou today. It was a good excuse to be outdoors on a beautiful day. I think the temperature is around 72 degrees or more. Truman fell asleep and as he lay in my arms a Chinese woman stopped to admire him. She felt the material of his shirt and gave me the international look of "shame on you for not having this child bundled in three layers of clothing plus a fur-lined parka." Some other parents have had strangers pull their child's pant legs down so that not an inch of skin would be exposed to the savagely cold temperatures. The well-meaning woman also pointed at Truman and then held up one finger to indicate "one year old?" I held up two fingers and she gave me a look that clearly said "You are crazy. You do not even know how old your child is." She held up one finger again. I held up two followed by the universal sign for "little." She nodded, but walked away in disbelief. She did smile and say bye-bye. Most Chinese are quite friendly. Take the gentleman I conversed with at the park. He walked right up to me and shook my hand. In rough English, he asked where I was from. I said the middle of America. He said what a great place that must be. I agreed. He then asked if I voted for Barack Obama. I said that I did. He said, "He only won 54% of the vote, that seems dangerous." I said that from where I'm from, you only need 51% to win. He said, "I don't understand your Congress. You have Senate. You have Representative. Only 100 Senate, but Representative I don't know." I explained the bi-cameral make-up of our legislative branch and he seemed to grasp the concept. He thanked me for visiting with him and wished me well. If China converts to democracy in the next few years, I will take full credit for it.