Beijing Day Seven - Mao Memorial and Grocery Shopping

For Eliza and my last day we went out with Dustin to see the Mao memorial in the morning.  We had to store our bags in a checkroom near the Mausoleum and then get in line and walk around the building twice before we could get in.  As we were getting in line Dustin was stopped and asked to put his camera in storage (Eliza had been made to put hers in her purse, so I was the only one left with a camera other than our Ipods).  We walked all the way around and then we got to security and I was turned away because of my camera - don't really care I had only been going in so I didn't loose the other two.  I went and retrieved the bags and met the other two at the exit.
They explained to me what they saw - basically Mao is in a crystal coffin and there is a light directly on his face and he does not look like he's been dead for 30+ years at all.  We started to wonder if perhaps its not actually real but we will never know for sure.  Eliza said it was the quietest she has seen it in China - there was no noise of any kind as people shuffled past the coffin.
After we picked up Dustin's camera we hailed a taxi to a foreign grocery store that Dustin had heard of from a friend at work.  It made me wish I lived in Beijing just a little bit because they had prepared western meals (roast chicken, pasta salad), and just a whole tonne of Western food, more than any of the stores I've seen in Nanjing.

This is all that I got at the Foreign Food Store - I know not really the most nutritious but I couldn't really buy perishables when I was about to get on a plane.  So I got Pop-tarts, cheetos, kettle chips, snack pack butterscotch, pretzels, Eliza and I got 7 Reese's peanut butter cups, 3 cans of Chunky Campbell's soup, and three cans of Chef Boyardee.  I have since discovered that if I want more of the soup in the last few months before returning to Canada I can order them from a Chinese website and have them delivered to the school. 

And that is the end of our 3 week trip around China.  Eliza and I catch a flight back to Nanjing today (Feb 15) at 3:50 and then Eliza leaves me for Australia on Sunday, which means I am back to teaching on Monday.  It's been so long I feel like I've forgotten the kids and how to teach these kids but I guess I will see on Monday.