Ancient Chinese Secret

It had been a long, hot, fun-filled day of museum visits, I-Max movies, and street stomping. Sophia and I had gotten to know the Philadelphia public transport system well, and had made our way from Manayunk to downtown via the route 27 bus. Even this, though not the train we had planned to ride, was "exciting" to her -- funny kid. So we get off at 15th and JFK, and it's a glorious fall day with just a hint of coolness in the air. Sophia spied it first and quickly alerted me, as she had this on her "list" for some time now. The "LOVE" statue. Truly an iconic spot in Philadelphia, I had forgotten how beautiful the park was with the towering fountain behind the plaza and the flag draped view down the parkway ending in the grand Philadelphia Museum of Art. It's days like these when you really give thanks to be here and just soaking in the many sites you may have taken for granted for so long.

"Taken for granted". Isn't that how many of us go through life? Just passing by the sites that surround us, never really giving them a new glimpse or a second look. It occured to me that many of the places I still hadn't taken Sophia were these kinds of places, the ones I just assumed were of no interest because I had already been there. The LOVE Park for instance was something I had forgotten was so nice, yet Sophia had seen it so many times in books or magazines that she now wanted to see it. So of course the obligatory photo was in order and thanks to a nice couple from Ireland we got one. From here we quickly shuffled down the parkway the five blocks to the Franklin Institute opting to walk instead of riding the bus as it was so nice. Sophia quickly spotted the Venezuelan flag and we had our second photo op of the day.

One of neatest aspects, as well as awesome responsibilities of being a parent is in shaping a young life to go off into the world and make it a better place; PinF understands this. Too often children are raised in bigoted or racist enviroments, something that only perpetuates throughout their lives. Sophia for her part is a child of two cultures and two languages and is accepting of all colors, languages and customs, a fact I am quite proud to see. She seems to thrive on this when she is in the city with people of all colors, and never once stares or asks about "other" looking people. Last year when I would volunteer at her school her class was made up of 28 kids representing 4 languages, 3 ethnicities, and 6 countries. Of course much of this is due in part to her being raised in Florida, itself a mixing pot of cultures and ethnicities. This in itself has been good for Sophia's personal development as it further illustrates with a real life lesson how America embraces and celebrates diversity, as she herself does with both her Irish and Venezuelan ancestery.

After completing our objectives at the Franklin Institute, which included a vist to the Fels Planetarium, the new I-Max movie, and the giant heart, we set out again into the warm sunshine of the beautiful fall day. We were soon on the Philly Phlash bus headed to the Reading Terminal for lunch. After filling ouselves with lunch and a little ice cream we then walked out of the terminal and discussed the the hour and whether we should head on home, as I knew I still had to navigate Friday rush hour on a bus full of commuters. It was then that Sophia asked me why the street signs were in Chinese? That she even knows it's Chinese as opposed to Korean or Japanese I put down to her Hello Kitty "Hello World" book. This book introduces children to 13 different cultures and greetings in their languages. I explained that this is where Chinatown was; Sophia couldn't believe that there was an entire neighborhood of Asian people living and talking in their own enclave of ethnicity. It was then that I realized that this visit into a completely new enviroment would be as interesting as it would be educational. I soon realized the education value of this detour was far greater than any museum we could visit, as it gave Sophia a better picture of America and it's freedoms and tolerances.

Off we went entering under the ornate Chinese Arch that signifies the beginning of a complete cultural change from the Philadelphia outside of the arch. The arch located at at 10 and Arch St. is actually a "Friendship Gate" and as we passed through into Chinatown we were greeted by a myriad of aromas and activity. The sidewalks were busy with shopkeepers and shoppers. We weaved our way through the fishmongers shop, the various gift shops and down the street, deeper and deeper into this "new" world. Finally we came upon a Hello Kitty gift shop and immediately entered. Of course this was all knock off Hello Kitty stuff from China, but Sophia didn't seem to mind, and my wallet wasn't complaining either. After 30 minutes and several dollars we parted and started our walk back towards Arch Street, Sophia having clearly enjoyed both the sights and sounds of our new found environment. It wasn't until we were on the plane home and recounting our week-end that I asked her what the best part of trip was for her. I clearly expected to hear the museums or the time spent with uncles, cousins and grand-parents; much to my surprise she said it was "Chinatown". Interesting, since we so often are reminded of just how small our world is becoming; it was nice to see that Sophia's got a little larger on this trip.