Hysterically Laughing Here in China

First of all, any of my students from this past year know that there were moments I would start laughing and just could not stop for several minutes. (I remember at least once when I was laughing so hard I was crying.) Keep in mind I am not a funny person and I have very little sense of humor (or at least up to this school year, when some of you helped me develop a bit of a sense of humor and appreciate humor more). So, it's a little out of character for me to be hysterically laughing, but today I was.

I've bought a lot - especially Chinese dresses for Sarah. It is clear we are not going home with just the 3 checked pieces of luggage we brought with us. So, on the way home from MORE SHOPPING this morning, I noticed a luggage "store" and we bought one for the equivalent of $20 (quite a deal). Walking beside Rupert as he carried the suitcase on our 20 minute walk back to our hotel just struck me as so funny. It was hysterical to me. (Forget rolling it, the sidewalks are too uneven.) Now you see ALL SORTS of things on the streets of Guangzhou, but seeing the look on the people's faces as the Americans walked by carrying a suitcase was just hysterical. I could not control myself. I was laughing, near crying, wiping my eyes and trying to get it under control. It was just hysterical.

Rupert and Sarah with our new suitcase. (Rupert looks thrilled that he has to buy a suitcase for all the shopping I've done for Sarah.) Especially for my students - this is a luggage STORE. It's in an alley along a major shopping area. This is what the stores are like in China. There is some sort of awning above in case of rain.

Now you can see the rest of the store and a man shopping (or working, I'm not sure as he's not the worker we paid). Love Sarah looking at the suitcase, like, yes my Mom has bought SO MUCH STUFF FOR ME, they had to buy this thing).

It was quite a walk back to the hotel! With me laughing almost all of the way. And OMG, it just got every funnier! This afternoon we were telling our guide Richard (Alexa's husband) how I was buying so many Chinese dresses, etc. for Sarah that we needed to buy another suitcase. He then said that he SAW us walking back to our hotel, with Rupert carrying the suitcase. He was apparently with another family (who is staying at the Garden Hotel and wanted to come to see the Pet Market, etc. in our "Chinese" part of town!) and he saw a blond lady pushing a stroller and a Chinese man and the Chinese man was carrying a suitcase and he wondered if it might be us. YUP. He said it looked like I was laughing at something very funny....yup!