...and ready to get back to work. What a trip! And what a long time to be away from Cooper. Thankfully he is not one of those vengeful dogs that pees on the rug for a week to teach you a lesson. Nope - sweet little Cooper is happy to hang out with me by my desk as I wade through 200 emails.
In response to the comment on my last post, yes China has some beautiful scenery. More spectacular than I ever imagined. And yes our cultures are VERY different. In many aspects, China does some fantastic things. They are not a wasteful culture like North America because they can't afford to throw things away - whether it is food, clothing, bicycles, etc. They would rebuild anything to keep it working; we would throw something away if a better model came out. They treat all animals as a food source (mainly in the southern part of China), but when it is used, all parts are used. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, goes to waste. Makes for some scary menu items. The pollution is terrible, but they still don't produce as much CO2 per capita as North Americans. If they ever reach our levels, we are all in trouble. But they are working on it and Beijing has made some incredible improvements for the Olympics. They will likely revert to pre-Olympic smog levels after the Olympics are over, but it proves they can do anything they put their mind to. And people will have about four smog free months as an incentive for better air quality in the future.
As for a Lucky Dog market? I saw more pampered pets than I thought I would - like this cutie in her little Chinese jacket.
I believe as income levels rise, people will adopt or buy more dogs. They already have koi and birds as their favorite pets, but dogs are on the rise. Cats, on the other hand, are still considered rat catchers that run wild. There are a lot of stray cats that are surprisingly healthy. Not sure what that says about the rodent population.
All in all - it was a great opportunity to live and work in another part of the world. And I appreciate North America a little bit more than before. I'm happy to be home.
Here are some final scenes from China before I close this chapter of my travel log.
Yangtze River - Three Gorges cruise (yes that's smog)
The Yangtze on a better day.
The largest hydro dam in the world that will hopefully help their smog levels. Most hydro is generated from coal plants - hence the pollution.
And the wall on our last day. A perfect way to end the trip.
Now - back to work!
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