"That Guy With His Mom...."

So, I'm pretty sure that a reputation has formed for me among the group and guides. I was tipped off to this when, today on the bus, our guide (Elsie) said over the intercom, "Okay, did everyone make sure to bring their passports?" Then she made a concerted effort to look directly at me and said, "Daniel, do YOU have your passport?"

It then dawned on me that this wasn't the first time that she felt the need to do the customized "circle back" with me. Indeed, this trend started way back in Beijing.

I'm not sure whether this is because I'm "that guy with his Mom" or b/c I really am forgetting a lot of things. Take this evening, for example. I was so proud of myself that we were the first family down to the lobby for dinner. But, since we were early, I decided to find a piano and play for Mia. So we found one - but on the 20th floor and took the elevator all the way to the top. Then, we came back down on time but forgot a feeding spoon for Mia. So, my Mom made the trek back up to the 12th floor and down. Then, we went to the restaurant and I reached for my camera to take a picture of Mia (b/c she was exceptionally cute in her high chair) when I realized that my camera was missing. I ran back to the hotel to look for it, condemning in my spirit all the 1.3 billion chinese people as petty thieves along the way. I employed the hotel manager, his staff, and Cindy our guide in my search. Hooray. It turned up...on the 20th floor...near the piano.

Then (you thought I was done, huh?), I got back to the restaurant...had a lovely meal...and returned back to the hotel. Our guide, Cindy, received a call from the restaurant saying that someone from our group had left their hat. As she headed out of the lobby and back to the restaurant, I gave her a very apologetic look - as if to say, "On behalf of our entire group, I'm so sorry that we're such incapable people." Which I thought was a rather statesman-like thing to do. I didn't know whose hat it was and, frankly, didn't care. I was just embarrassed at this point by the sheer volume of "dumb American group moves."

The guide returned from the restaurant and came back down the hallway of our floor with an "In & Out" hat in her hand. A black one. And before I could duck into my room, I heard someone down the hall shout knowingly, "That's Dan's hat!" Which was not a mean thing to say whatsoever. In fact, it was true. But his tone seemed to imply, "Who else could it be but the guy with his Mom?"

The scary thing is I'm really, really trying.