One more day

The wall was everything I thought it would be.  As I walked up to it (about a half hour walk up a billion stairs) all I could think about was dragging the material to build it up the moutain. As I walked along it, I wondered about the building techniques they employed in the Middle Ages to make it stand the test of time.  As I looked and saw it stretch in both directions, up and down the mountain ridge, as far as the eye could see, I wondered how many laborers it took.  What an amazing engineering feat!  I took like 300 photos...I couldn't help myself.  We were late getting to lunch and subsquently, barely made it to our flights on time.  I think I would have missed my flight, had it not been delayed due to "mechanical issues."  Not the most reassuring to know my plane in China has mechanical issues!  I've seen Chinese "rework" first hand!  LOL!!

Every day is a new discovery here.  I love that...if not discovering some historical information, perhaps cultural norms or behavior, seeing something beautiful and "famous" or just learning something new about myself...like what I value in my friends and lovers.  Not that I have a Chinese lover...although, the Taiwanese men seem drawn to me like moths to a flame.  In China, the men were very friendly and kind toward me.  But in Taiwan, they flirt outrageously and stare at me when they think I won't notice.  I've learned to understand the word for pretty.  One asked today if my daughter was as beautiful as I am.  I told him she was far more beautiful.  He told me it was not possible.  I'm not sure why they find me so pretty - the women here are stunning.  But, perhaps it is my "red" (is it really red?) hair.  Or maybe my cheerful disposition.  When I was buying a camera yesterday (lost mine - not sure how!), the man who owned the store told HC that I seemed to be smiling even though my camera was gone and I had to buy a new one.  She told him that I understood these things happen and there is no use being upset over it.  He said he thought I was smiling because I knew I looked pretty when I smiled.  At first she wouldn't tell me what he said, but I had told her he said something about pretty. So she confessed...thinking I'd feel slighted.  I laughed and told her that it is hard to feel slighted in a foreign culture - part of the reason I loved it here.  She understood because she went to school in the US as a foreigner.

I have come to realize that what I want in a lover is someone who takes care of me.  I've found the Chinese and Taiwanese men all to be caregivers toward me.  Not that they are all that way with their mates - perhaps because I am a guest and they feel that way toward their guests.  But as Double L took me all over China - insisted on carrying my bags (or telling his subordinates to do so), made sure I had enough to eat, got to my room okay, had every need taken care of, I realized that I adored that trait in others.  Both Double L and Kz are honest men and they made sure I was protected and cared for.  I will always feel a strong bond of friendship for them.  It is that type of person that I will one day fall in love with.  Someone who is honorable and caring.  I now know exactly what I want in a man and why I am attracted to certain types of men.  I would have never thought that would be something I'd discover on such a trip.

Tomorrow is my last day.  I haven't written as much as I wanted and am hoping my notes will help me to record everything.  I know they are inadequate, though.  Also, I know that next week won't give me as much time as I think I'll have because I've already made "dates" half the week away!   My friends are looking forward to my return...I am sooo sooo sooo blessed!

Tomorrow will be a day of pampering thanks to HC.   She figured I had already visited many of the cultural aspects of Taichung area - Lugong, Sun moon lake, night market, and the art show (that she took me to yesterday).  So she said we'd do a girl's day - spa and sushi!  It will be too much fun.  But after that, I'll be ready to go home.  I'm not as physically tired as I was the last trip but, I'm worn out emotionally and intellectually and need my week off to recover. 

Xie Xie Zhōng guó