Day 32 - Thursday February 7th, 2008

Today Mike and I slept in until 9am before heading out for breakfast with Gen. We did some laundry and had a team meeting. In the evening a group of us headed down to watch the Chinese New Year parade. The parade was pretty good. It really should be described as advertising surrounded by dance schools. Despite the slow start and crowds, tt was enjoyable. On a couple of floats kids were balancing bikes and what not in a way I can't figure out. Being a foreigner we figured out a way to grab the paraders attention - We just shout out gung hay fat choy! Most of them seem so impressed that we know how to say Happy New Year in Cantonese and end up acknowledging or coming over. At one point in the evening, a young disabled girl came up and asked if she could squeeze in to see the floats. My friend and I approved but were thinking in the back of our minds that this little girl was trying to play us for a fool. Watching her excitement and seeing her pointing and calling over the paraders was pretty heart warming. As the Disneyland float stopped in front of us, she kept waving at Minnie mouse. It was nice to see one of the paraders get Minnie's attention for the girl. Although what seemed at first like an annoyance and bother, the little girl really brought life into perspective. Wishing you a Happy New Year!!!