My children are tourist attractions

Day 1 in Beijing

The kids woke early. Mac and Liam were up at 3:30 or 4. Devlin had woken at 2, was up for a couple of hours and then slept till 5. Breakfast doesn't get served until 6:30. Trying to keep three children happy and quiet is always a challenge. We were downstairs within minutes of the buffet opening. Gotta love buffets when traveling with children - Mac declared it the best breakfast ever - he is prone to hyperbole. There were lots of options both western and Chinese and everybody found something to satisfy them. Even me - there was a Jura cappucino machine on the buffet.

Our guide picked us up at 9. We drove about 45 minutes to Tiannamen Square. It is truely an imposing place. One can only imagine the impact of a demonstration filling such an enormous space. Our guide pointed out chairman Mao's portrait an told us what a hero he is to the people, expecially the older generation. One bites their tongue and listens.

We had planned for each child to have their own camera to document this trip. Mac has his own from Santa. Devlin and Liam would each have an old camera of mine. Unfortunately we discovered in the middle of Tinnanamen Square that the one we had given to Devlin got damaged in transport - the lcd screen does not work - it looks like some kind of abstract painting. So Devlin and Liam had to share, which led to many arguments about whose turn it was and who was hogging the camera. Ah, the best laid plans.

Once we entered the Forbidden City the chidren were fascinated - for the first 20 minutes. After the second courtyard they were more interested in running up and down the stairs and jumping off of ledges. Oh, and whining, "when are we going to be done here?" But the only way through the Forbidden City is to go through the Forbidden City - straight shot, beginning to end. It is a beautiful place, but such a level of waste. Only the emporer and his family and their servants were allowed in and there are buildings that were used for only one or two days a year. Beautiful building filled with beautiful things. The resources, the manpower that were expended to build these palaces is staggering. Thankfully today it can be appreciated by more people.

Three times yesterday people asked to have a picture taken with one or both of the boys. The first time we were on Tiannamen Square. A family with two small children asked to take a picture with them - the whole family, plus my three children. Once inside the Forbidden City you could hear the whispers and see people pointing, many were too shy to approach us. One woman asked to have a picture with Liam and then picked him up and sat his one her lap and asked him all kinds of questions about himself and his home while her husband took a picture of them together. At the same time in another spot Mac was having his picture taken with somebody else. I cannot imgine people in the US approaching somebody based on appearance and asking to have a picture taken with them. It was like being a celebrity.

We got questioned about Devlin a number of times. It is very obvious when you see her that she is American. The way she walks and skips and runs, her haircut, her clothes. My college boyfriend was Chinese-American. After graduation he had gone to school in Hong Kong and then stayed there to work for a few years. I remember him telling me that even after he had been there for quite a while - his hair had been cut by a Hong Kong barber, his clothes had been purchased in local stores, people still instantly pegged him as an American. They would appoach him and greet him in English. And he was raised by parents who had immigrated to the US shortly before he was born. Their household was very traditionally Chinese, yet he was an American when he stepped out the door. And in China it was obvious to people - more obvious than his face. What chance could Devlin, with her American parents have of blending in here?

We have come to China without tickets to any olympic events with the intention of buying them from scalpers. We went last night. It took us some time to find the right place where tickets were being sold, and with the jet lag the children were all asleep on their feet. So we returned to the hotel and fed them and put them to bed. Today we will get over to the olympic venue early and buy some tickets and attend our first sporting events. I am so excited.