Laowai

Back from Quebec City and re-entering the real world (sitting in a middle seat on a flight to San Antonio to be exact, praying the guy in front of me doesn’t decide to lean back). We’ve had some really nice vacations and this one was no exception, doing what I love best – wandering around, seeing beautiful places, eating great food and seeing how other people live. It was different having Bea with us because suddenly we had to make sure we modified our rhythms and our plans to fit hers. We had to try to eat when we thought she would sleep or be happy in her stroller for a while. We had to think about what to pack when, when she would eat solid food, diaper changes, whatever. Kathy did most of this worrying and planning. Another big one was that stairs suddenly became things of fear, impassable obstacles and curbs or broken sidewalks our enemies. Anyone who has been to Quebec knows that there are many stairs and many obstacles but it is also a city very friendly to walking. These things may sound daunting but they actually were not bad at all. After accepting that it will take a little longer and a little more planning, we did pretty much what we would have done on any other trip.

I also think the trip also cured us of the need to go to France any time soon. The French have been bestowed some beautiful landscape and developed buildings, cultural heritage and cooking that is second to none but there is something to be said about wanting to visit where you are welcome. In many places in Quebec, we felt plenty welcome and everyone there spoke English. However, some were not so thrilled to be doing so. We had two experiences in restaurants in particular which left a lasting impression, including one very rude waiter who spoke as little as possible. He had a handlebar moustache and I dreamed many a time of ripping it out at its roots as he ignored as and delivered our food with as little interaction as possible. The sad part was that this was the best dinner and probably the cheapest we had the entire time we were there. There was another restaurant we wanted to go to but it was full. The maitre’d there, spiffy in his three piece (further reinforcing that we were under-dressed and probably unwelcome with our sometimes not-so-silent offspring), seemed pleasant enough so we asked him for recommendations in a similar style to what they offer. “Well,” he says, making that distinctly French and Belgian sound of air puffed quickly through pursed lips, a pompous sound, dripping with sarcasm and embodying exactly how the French feel about their culture, “here in Quebec, we are alone.”

Bea has this way of pushing up her eyebrows to a point and giving a full, open-mouthed smile with plenty of tongue that looks like she is contemplating some evil plot to take over the world or at least do something profoundly destructive to mankind. Conceived in Beijing, this might very well reflect the sentiments of our hosts toward their manifest destiny.

No…

No…

Yes!