Diary of a Heretic

I have just touched down from my overseas trip to Hong Kong & Beijing and although I was only away for two weeks I feel like I have been away for months. Being a Sagittarian I am always yearning for the great adventure and in a strange way on this particular journey I could relate to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, caught up in a whirlwind and transported to an unfamiliar world.

Although I had visited Hong Kong on a few occasions I had never been to Beijing and it became a journey of paradoxes; a journey that pushed my boundaries and made me realize how lucky I was to be born in a wonderful country like Australia. It was a journey where I felt the after effects of a major earthquake and I saw the hourly updates of the awful scenes of human death and suffering.

I have never worried about being a woman alone in a foreign country before, even when I was in Paris a few years back with my limited knowledge of French I seemed to blend in with the locals. On this journey with my pale skin and red hair shining like a beacon I became a target for every hawker and con artist walking the streets. It became so constant and uncomfortable I gave up trying to go out alone; instead I kept to the guided sight seeing tours.

I have seen some wondrous sights, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and my favourite place, the Summer Palace. All truly magnificent sights but I had no concept of the magnitude of the population. I knew the statistics but it is not until you are there experiencing the scale of people that you understand the problems that it creates.

The pollution is horrendous and creates a grey-like mist that constantly blurs the visual impressions of this large ever expanding city. Cars move swiftly through the streets, giving no consideration to traffic lights or pedestrians, horns constantly beeping as they erratically move from lane to lane, and trying to cross a road is like playing Russian roulette.

The only solitude you get is when you are safely secured in your hotel room, where you can contemplate this cacophony of sights and sounds looking across the skyline from your window. There were so many times that I pondered over my life’s journey from this vantage point and at times I felt like a bird in a cage.

I managed to meet so many interesting people on my tours; four Australian men were on my first tour, and it was a pleasant surprise after feeling so vulnerable the day before. I smiled at the way spirit moves in mysterious ways especially after having an in-depth conversation with my guides about providing extra protection and a bit more familiarity. The kind hearted German tourists I bumped into when I became horribly lost, I was certainly amazed at the camaraderie that tourists show to one another when they are visiting a foreign land. The last tour was spent with two guys from Virginia. They were lovely gentle people and we shared a few laughs at some of the English translations.

I brought back with me hundreds of photos and souvenirs, but more than that I brought back a new appreciation of my fortunate life. I realized how much I missed my family and my friends and when I looked out over the red centre of Australia from the window in the plane I gave thanks that I was finally home. Yes indeed there is no place like home.

Janine
May 18, 2008