You know, sometimes it takes a long time to digest things in your mind. You sort of have to mull things over, chew the cud, and then regurgitate in a totally new and refreshing way. It's been about 4 weeks since my parents left, but I still haven't talked about it yet. Finally, I'm forcing myself to put something down into writing.

I wasn't sure what to expect from my parents' visit to Wuhu and China with me. I was just uncertain. What would happen? What would they say? What would they do? I didn't know. I guess I never really needed to know. They're just my parents. That's a good thing.

In Shanghai, my mother's Mandarin skills instantly came into play. It was wonderful. I didn't have to fumble around thinking about how to say it in Cantonese and then try to see if I knew the Mandarin version. I was totally relaxed with my Mom around. She could talk to the taxi drivers, the hotel attendants, and anyone else we would bump into there. She even understands Shanghainese, so that was a big plus.

We had a few occasions when her Mandarin was extremely useful, like asking for directions. The Shanghai Mass Transit (SMT) had just opened their 2nd line for Chinese New Year and we were trying to figure out where to go. Well, at one station, the attendants and my Mom talked it up and they even gave us suggestions for things to visit. I could never have done that by myself. Way too hard. But she did it.

We also went to the Shanghai Museum. That was my second time there (in a month). It was very different this time around. My parents could explain certain things to me that I didn't know or that I couldn't read. I found out a few new things about my own family too. Apparently, one of my relatives married into our family from the Miao nationality. I thought that was a very valuble piece of information. I learned that my grandmother had lived all over China when she was a child and had actually lived in the Huangpu area of Shanghai. That's like the heart of the city. I know these things aren't part of the museum, but different things in the museum seemed to prompt the information out.

The other major attraction we saw in Shanghai was the Jin Mao in the new Pudong area. It's the third largest building in the world after Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers and the Sears Tower in Chicago. We took a superfast elevator ride to the 88th floor and the observation deck. It was an impressive view except for all those clouds. They had a myriad of little souvenir stands and such, but what really impressed me was that you could peer down into the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel in the building. It was amazing. The geometry, the height, and the lights were breathtaking. What a lobby!

Early on the last morning in Shanghai, we checked out and took a taxi to the train station. We fortunately had bought our tickets down at the Number One Department Store. So we didn't need to line up. Just less anxiety on the nerves that way. We sat down and then the next thing you know, I see Bethany. Then Bethany's friend, Beth, who came from Seattle to visit. Then Brian and the Moores. Wow. Unexpected early reunion for the team. So we were all on the same train going back to Wuhu.

It was good to catch up with everyone and my whole team could meet my parents earlier. It was a good train ride. Although, waking up at 5:30am to catch the train meant a lot of shut-eye on the train. The ride was pretty good, but I lost a wheel off of my newly bought luggage. Urgh!

My parents' time in Wuhu was short, but valuble. I took them down to the Walking Street and Mirror Lake the very first afternoon. It was damp and cloudy, so the place was pretty quiet and uncrowded. A sort of blessing, I'd say. We took some photos in and around the lake. My father even bought shoes at the local department store. Later that night, we had dinner with the Moores at the pseudo-Western restaurant. A good time was had by all.

The next day, the clouds had cleared a little and I wanted them to see the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River). You don't come this far and not take at least one look at the river. First, we climbed Zhe Shan that is in the park behind the university. We went up to the very top where there was this house and pagoda. The pagoda cost extra, so we stayed at the house. I was hoping a better view, but you could get a pretty decent view of most of the city. According to my parents' reading of a sign, the house belonged to a reclusive teacher. The teacher's students had erected a small memorial, and possibly grave site, for him after he passed away and wrote down a tribute to his life.

We didn't get a good look at the river, so we wanted to get closer. We took a taxi down to a pagoda where a smaller river joins up with the Chang Jiang. We found a little opening in the wall that surrounds the city where the river is. We walked right on through and there was the river. You could see all those barges and ships moving up and down the river. I've never seen the Mississippi, but I imagine that in terms of width, they must be comparable. It is really wide.

For lunch, we were in sort of a bind. We didn't want any expensive food, so we searching around for a little while. We eventually found this second floor restaurant at the Longchang Hotel near KFC. It's advertisement read: "A restaurant with streetside prices" or something like that. It was really good. Delicious and scrumptious. Especially those dumplings. Mm..mm..good.

We had also gone to the food market to buy all this stuff for a dinner later that night. If I didn't tell you before, I'll tell you now. If you want meat, vegetables, eggs, and other cooking ingredients, you need to go to the food market, not the supermarket. The supermarkets here usually only carry the things that you do not need to cook.

That night we had a great dinner. We had a great time talking and laughing. It was really fun. Above all, I was grateful for some home cooking. And a good time was had by all.

My parents were leaving the next day and they were graciously taking somethings back home for me. Hehe. It was mostly winter clothes and some gifts I had received. My mother even cleaned up my room a bit. It's amazing how she can organize so quickly. It usually takes me a long time to think of how I want to do something. Even then, it's usually not the best way. What a difference another person's perspective makes on how well my room feels and looks.

I had arranged with the Foreign Affairs Office for a private car that would take my parents to Nanjing. The Foreign Affairs Officers came and met my parents briefly. Of course, they were all speaking in Mandarin. For about five minutes or so, I was able to understand most of the conversation, then I think my mind was starting to overload. I just stopped comprehending the words.

Pretty soon, I had to get them into the car and send them on their way to Nanjing. I waved good-bye and the car rolled away down the hill and out of the campus.

Everything happened so quickly that it all seemed a little surreal. Were they really here? Did I really eat their cooking? So fast. Now, they're home, safe and sound. A good time was had by all.