The Stunning Adventures "Not all those who wander are lost." Tolkien

So here we are at the Tanggu Train Station. Let's just say we didn't exactly blend right in. Even after spending a year and half in South Korea, it was somewhat surprising how out of our element we felt, but alas, this definitely was new territory. In the big cities, there are many people you meet out and around that can speak English and can help smooth the way, but this is much less common in the outlying areas such as in Tanggu. We wander inside the ticket area which is crowded with lines of people for windows that all pretty much appear the same to us. Hmmm...Greg makes his way to the corner one and Elizabeth with her backpack and towering height decides to stand still in the back thinking that maybe if she stays really still and looks at the floor, the wall, the ceiling, the stares will find their way to something else. Greg manages to get two tickets for Tianjin...interestingly I can hear the woman on the other side of the window because her voice is booming on a loudspeaker over the entire room...only when she is speaking to Greg. We get our tickets and head into the main area of the train station. It is a large round room which is very dimly lit and there is a crowd of people all seated on the other side of the station. We make our way over...looking at the floor, the ceiling, the walls...a little uncomfortable. We try to sit on a window ledge and eventually get the ixnay on that idea. We try to find seats. Impossible. We then decide to go back over to the side that we came from, throw down our packs, and bury our noses inside our books. Greg opts for the China Lonely Planet, and Elizabeth goes for her Christopher Moore novel. Finding it difficult to stay focused at times amidst this new environment, Elizabeth looks up to once again check her surroundings, plus, now she is seated and low to the ground as opposed to towering above the locals. She feels a stare out of the corner of her and turns her head to notice two men inching there way up behind Greg and trying to catch a glimpse of what he is reading. Elizabeth says, "Greg, you should you have some onlookers why don't you hold your book up for them to see. They seem pretty interested and would probably appreciate it". Greg does, and they do. Big smiles all around. Greg looks out as well to take in the new surroundings and notices some adorable Chinese toddlers ambling there way around not too far from us. "Oh, Elizabeth, look at that one in the yellow pants, there is a little tear in the seat and you can see her little butt," he shares with a chuckle. Elizabeth notices that the other chubby black-haired little one also has a similar tear and there are no diapers to be seen. She points this out to Greg. As soon as they have made their new observation about the wee-Chinese, the yellow clad child, squats down to the ground a little golden shower flows onto the ground. Ahhh...it all makes sense...good idea. They now have a new epiphany when taking in their surroundings. They are the only two sitting directly on the ground. Everyone else is squatting, sitting on a trash bag, scrap of newspaper...anything really so they are not in direct contact with the ground...Elizabeth and Greg only moments earlier, had learned why. Up on the backpacks they go. Soon enough, they are corralling in front of the gates, getting ready to head to Tianjin with a lot more insight in their fresh-off-the-boat little minds.