Mr. Lee takes the lead, waving his guide s flag. Miss Lee, the photographer from the tourist office, directs the middle part of our line, and Mr. Lee from the Los Angeles travel agency brings up the rear. People stream toward the Square, smiling and laughing, but not pushing. Friends hang on to each other. A few young military officers sit on benches, leaning back, smiling as people rush by.
Car horns sound.
An Men sidewalk as the year 2000 arrives. We hug each other, catch our breath, and look around in amazement. Strings of lights decorate the buildings, and enormous floodlights bathe the Square, making it almost as light as when we visited this morning. Meeting people from so many different countries it was as though the world had come to the world s largest square to celebrate this magical moment of the millennium. The people from Marymount joke about there being no Y2K glitches and compare how many layers of clothing we have on and how cold we feel in the -5 degrees C weather.