It was worth every single dollar I spent.
We had a group of 19 people total. (I opted for a smaller group experience rather than a whole busload of 50). We had an Irish woman, 5 Americans (a family), and all the rest were Chinese tourists. And our tour guide, Mike.
Having traveled with groups before, it was pretty easy for me to settle in and converse with others and ask million questions about their home countries and their impressions of the United States. But as an American visiting an US destination for a change, it was a different tour group experience. I got to hang out with foreigners all day! For the Chinese, it was an opportunity to practice their English. For the Irish woman, it was a chance to speak with another English speaker for companionship. For the American family, well, they kept to themselves for most part (although we did converse a bit since they're from Upstate NY-Waterloo).
Each person brought something incredible to me. The Chinese men entertained me with their quirkiness- some dressed in business casual and one wore a suit. I listened to the Irish woman's thick accent as she spoke of her job in an American company's branch in Ireland and her boys and education system and culture in the UK and Ireland. (At times, it was interesting to watch her struggle for the right idiomatic... I guess American... English?). The two young Chinese women, probably at least few years older or so than me talked excitedly about themselves as I peppered them with questions. One of them was just finishing up her exchange year at law school at Penn (she's studying law in China) and her parents were visiting for two weeks for the first time in the US from Beijing. Her mother was a darling even though she didn't speak any English. They insisted that KFC tasted better in China! The young woman traveled quite a bit around the US so I was pretty impressed. The other one was just tagging along with her parents for her father's business trip. She already held a masters in international business and was working for an international company so she's been traveling to France, Germany, Russia, and some other European countries. Oh, not to mention that she was at the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing Olympics as well as one of the badminition rounds. And even better for my degree of separation, she lived right where the earthquake happened in central China. She told me that help came pretty quickly because the children needed to get to school (after all education was important in Chinese culture). Certainly both of the women told me how much they needed English speakers for teaching jobs in China. (My parents would know that at this point, I began dreaming about taking a year off to teach ESL in Asia...being an adventerous traveler that I am).
It was just all completely different for me as I've spent my last tours with other Jews and Americans. The destination didn't matter (although Yosemite was so picturesque that you just could not take a bad picture). The people mattered. So... how would I want to book my international tour trip? Hmm.... I guess through an European based company so I'd get to be with Europeans... At least they're classy.
I thank my parents once again for providing me opportunities to travel with groups in Japan, Czech Republic, Germany, and Israel so I could learn to make the most of traveling with tour groups and foreigners. Without these experiences, I'd probably spend the whole day reading my book instead of paying much attention and talking to other people. Thank you, Mom and Dad!
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