Billy Boy

Our good friend, Bill Geister, came to visit us for 2 ½ weeks, bringing many American treats. His luggage was delayed for two days, but we were thrilled that his carry-on included enough Jello and pudding to recreate a small portion of the Great Wall. Our family thoroughly enjoyed our time with him. We have so much respect for him and his whole family, that we felt honored he would spend his time with us. We were able to do so much in the short time he was here, that by the end of his stay, we could hardly remember the beginning; it seemed like so long ago! He was very flexible about our traveling schedule, which one day found him on a day trip (to the waterfalls) within a vacation (Guiyang) within a vacation (Zunyi) within a vacation (Dalian). Because space was limited, we had to leave part of our luggage at each of the stops, dwindling it down to mere backpacks at the waterfalls. We think we picked up all of our belonging on the way back through each city, although there was a close call with a hearing aid, cell phone and a favorite blanket (not Bill’s). We also joked that Bill was the “Rainmaker”, since it greeted him at each of the stops we made on our journey, starting in Dalian! We mostly didn’t complain about the rain (except in Beijing), because it kept the weather cooler than normal, especially in southern China. We needed to get back to Dalian by Sunday night in order for Mark to get back to work and to get our home ready for our friend Michele to arrive Monday. Because Michele was coming, and Bill still had 5 days before he left, he wanted to squeak in one more trip. I didn’t feel comfortable setting him loose in China, so we compromised. Mark was able to rearrange Bill and Saylor’s flight schedules so that they stopped in Xi’an for 2 full days before coming back to Dalian. Bill was the rational adult, and Saylor had the Chinese language skills. We were hoping that two halves would make a whole, and they had a wonderful time visiting the ancient city and exploring the area of the terracotta warriors. Saylor was the natural choice to accompany Bill because she is the most willing of all our children to use her Chinese, but mostly because she and Bill have an easy relationship that is uniquely theirs. When they got home, Bill had one more day to finish up last minute shopping before he left. His comment was “if you’re not broke when you get back home, you didn’t have a good enough time”. From the weight of his suitcases, he must have had a blast!