Reading The Return of the Elephant 17

Ger Ger woke up to a lazy weekend morning. Full English breakfast was served until nearly noon, so she did not have to hurry out of bed.

Arriving at the hotel restaurant, she discovered that the entire dining hall was nearly packed full of people. Luckily she found a cozy spot.

During the meal, she witnessed the table before her being hijacked by incoming customers several times. The current customer would leave the table to get food, during which a newly arrived customer would come to his table and begin occupying it. At first Ger Ger told the new occupant the table was not available, but afterwards she decided not to bother.

After breakfast, Ger Ger ventured out to the city. Due to the rain, she did not take many pictures.

She went to the royal stables, twice, but it was closed. Perhaps horse horse was busy.

So she went to a museum. Along the way, she came across an indoor market.

Then, she stumbled upon this box of stuffed animals. She was outside and they were inside. She wondered why.

Later she learned about ECPAT, an international NGO that aims at ending sexual exploitation of children. To her surprise, there is a branch of ECPAT in Canada too. Sometimes we learn about ourselves when we look at someone else; likewise, she learned about Canada when she was abroad.

She entered Hallwyl Museum, the home of a wealthy Swedish couple. In addition to the rich and lavish interior decor, there were also many collection objects on display. Most notably were chinaware from the Qing dynasty, specifically from the periods of Kang Xi 康熙，Yong Zheng 雍正, and Qian Long 乾隆 emperors. Chinese blue and white porcelain was in high demand in Europe at that time in history, and thus she had seen them in a few museums around the world, although she was not a fan of museums.

After that museum, Ger Ger went into another museum called Medelhavsmuseet, The Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities, which she also stumbled across accidentally.

Through Medelhavsmuseet, she understands not only something about Sweden, but also something about humanity and the evolution of mankind — wars, struggles, survival stories.

Every one has a story to tell. What’s your story?