Worlds Collide

Remember that Seinfeld episode where George's world with Susan starts colliding with George's world with Jerry, Kramer, and Elaine?
It's a strange thing when your life reminds you of a Seinfeld episode.
Maybe I need mental help.

My parents spent the past two and a half weeks with us in our Chiner world. It was their first trip to The Big Chicken, which means we did the obligatory Great Wall trip on a blustery day.


It was surreal to have them here. Wonderful.
Which explains my absence from the blogging world. I couldn't bring myself to sit in front of the computer while they were sitting in my living room.


I was so incredibly proud of them. They're willingness to speak a new language, make new friends, eat new foods (even foods I was barely willing to try) made me so proud to introduce them to Chiner.





Moments when our tendency is to cover our eyes (and noses) and run for cover, they came out of their shell and spoke with strangers who really just wanted to pet their arms and call them "hairy foreigner."



We walked through the tourist-friendly parks and saw picture-worthy pagodas; Salem consistently on his favorite perch: Granddad's shoulders.



But we also did our best to expose them to "Real Chiner." Forgoing they're preference for independence, they braved mass transit.





They learned what it really means to draw a crowd.



And we taught them the delicate intricacies of mocking The Big Fat Man Statues.






Mostly, we did a lot of this:



Granddad and Salem are best buds.



And these two are pretty smitten with each other too.



Of course tears flowed when we said our goodbyes.
But saying frequent goodbyes are a heck of a lot better than going so long without hellos.
So thankful for parents that love us and invest time, money, and energy to insert themselves into our world over here.