When we were in Guilin in 2007, I saw this sign written on the wall of a small village outside Guilin. When I asked our guide what it said, she said casually, "Oh, it's just a warning to follow the one child policy or pay a big fine." Wow. The most surprising thing is how casual she was about it -- like that's just how things are, no big deal. But by the same token, she didn't point it out to us, a group of adoptive parents and children on a homeland tour. Surely she would have realized we'd be interested. Was it face saving not to point it out? A puzzle. . . .Anyway, I knew THIS group of adoptive parents would be interested!
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing the photo and the way you came about taking it. I often wonder if it is as important to our guides as it is to us. When we adopted M we were asking very important questions (for us) especially at the handover when she was hysterically calling out for something. I begged her to tell me what she was saying and it wasn't until I threatened to go out of the room and find her foster mother than she finally told us she had to go to the bathroom! I didn't recognize it because it was not standard Mandarin, it was two year old language. For all the love I had for our guide, for the life of me I cannot figure out why she wouldn't tell me. She almost peed herself and the relief was so great when I ran her in to the potty. She was sweating like crazy and probably wondered why I wouldn't take her. I was more than mad.
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