The Great Finish

We are finished. What wonderful words to type. We woke up in a hotel about 10 kilometers from Tiananmen Square on Saturday, June 13th- our final day. At 8:30 a.m. we walked out of the hotel to meet 8 of the New Day volunteers who offered to join us for the finish. It was a lovely morning spent chatting with them as we walked. The group consisted of mostly

The New Day Beijing Interns

college students who are spending their summer as interns at New Day Beijing. For two and a half hours, I bombarded each of them with questions about their current dreams and goals, their hometowns and their families. It was so nice to have so much company. Talking to the students kept me calm and levelheaded on a day that I’ve been thinking about for almost a year now.

As we got closer to the square, the crowds became thicker and I started to get excited. Just outside of the square, my mom and Jerry emerged from the crowd. I walked toward my mom as quickly as my tired legs would let me, and gave her a long overdue hug so

Me and The Corkmeister

tight that I accidentally hurt her healing ear. Through tears, she told me how proud she is of me. If a 23-year-old woman who has just walked across China can’t hold her mommy and cry like a baby, who the hell can?

After our reunion, we continued into the square to meet volunteers from Ann’s charity who had come up from Zhongshan to meet us. We heard them before we saw them, running and rolling toward us with open arms, literally squealing with excitement. Soon enough they were on top of us, hugging us, thanking us, and celebrating. One woman stood up from her wheelchair and hugged me tightly, wailing in Chinese the whole time, her whole body vibrating with joy.  She was almost more excited to see me than my own mother was! For a full minute this woman hugged me, pushed me away to look at me, then kissed me

The Joyful woman

on the lips and repeated her process. Squirm as I might, I was overcome by her energy and I could not stop laughing while she had me in her arms.

After the photo shoot commenced, we had lunch with the volunteers. My laughter continued as I watched my mom try to master the art of chopsticks over lunch. After watching my mother curse her bowl of noodles for about five minutes, one of the staff members tapped Mom on the shoulder and handed her a fork.

The next day my mom and I went exploring and found some of the

best food I’ve had in months at a restaurant that served fresh juice and brunch. We wandered the city and talked for hours, catching up on lost time.

On our final day in Beijing, we visited The Great Wall. Laughing our way up the steep steps of The Great Wall was a beautiful experience to share with my mother. Beijing is a beautiful city that was fun to explore. But I was more than ready to get back and see the ones I love in my “China hometown” of Zhongshan.

the treacherous steps of The Great Wall