Yang sends me a WeChat that Elisa’s school will have her participate in some government event this week. I text back that Trump is in town on Thursday. “That must be it”, she says.

I am added to the WeChat group with the other parents of the 10 American kids selected from Elisa’s school. There are instructions in Chinese and English including dress code. The coordinating teachers ask for photos of what the kids will wear and we dutifully send. No black stockings for Elisa, white or grey is ok. Some details trickle in - welcoming ceremony, outside of great hall of the people, kids up front. There is no direct mention of Trump. We all know.

I am a bit conflicted. I am not fan of Trump as some of my social media posts attest. He is a national disaster. Should I pull Elisa out of the event? The other parents seem so excited for it that my first thought is I don’t want to expose how anti Trump I am to them. That it may even cause problems for Elisa at the school. My later thought is that I don’t want to co-opt Elisa for my political beliefs; that my job as a parent is equipping her with values and a mental framework. So I settle on being complicit. 2017 is the year of complicity. I resist making jokes in front of Elisa about certain hand jestures that can be used in a greeting.

Elisa’s school has participated in these kind of events in the past. Aidan has greeted Hillary Clinton and Lydia famously looked puzzed when Xi Jinping asked if she had a dream. I do get some ego that their school, the original Chinese state school that took foreigners, provides these opportunities and that Elisa was selected.

On the day, I dropped off Elisa at school at 7am and headed to work. At work I started to watch CCTV online and soon saw Trump’s motorcade go along Chang'an Jie and pull up to the Great Hall of the People which is directly across from Tiananmen square. Trump and Melinda Trump get of the car and it’s pretty clear right away the welcoming ceremony was a big one. Obama didn’t get anything like this. They play the US national anthem (Trump does not take a knee) followed by the Chinese national anthem. Cannons are fired. Military march inspection thing with soldiers holding bayonets. Trump and Xi stand in front of a military band and the turn and walk. Kids are then visible, jumping.

I can’t make out Elisa since the video is from the back. Later I can see her, first row, dead center. Trump and Xi stop directly in front of her and then the camera strangely shows a shot of the Great Hall of the People, just the top of the building, for maybe five seconds. I would later joke with this kids that this is the conspiracy moment. When it returns Trump is standing closer to the kids and Elisa. Elisa say he said hi to her and touched one of the other kids on the shoulder. Trump and Xi then keep walking and it is over, at least for Elisa.

I have work calls until 9pm that night so I don’t really get to talk to Elisa about the experience. The next day on the way to school she says it was “ok”. Nothing that special. I admit that I got a kick out of it. The kids jumping and waving flags and flowers became the iconic part of the welcoming ceremony. Front page of CNN, front page of the China daily. Heck, they even made it into two Trump’s tweets.