Sleepy in Beijing

It's late, but I wanted to post a few pictures of a fun day. Today we ate a late breakfast at our hutong guest house (Red Lantern House, West Yard) and then headed out to do the last exploration/shopping excursion in Beijing. We headed out on the subway to the Silk Market. It was not exactly what I expected. It was just like the market in Baguio, except the vendors, shall I say, are intimidatingly aggressive if you are not accustomed to ignoring sales people. You could say they are somewhat like multi-level marketers on speed. If you dare mention a word (chopsticks, scarf, underwear), someone will yell at you and then get very close to you, "You buy chop-a-sticka? I have! You come looka-looka. What color you want? Wood? Metal?" and it doesn't stop there. It's like they send a memo down the aisle and they keep getting louder and closer to you. I thought it was quite humorous that Jonathan started through a monstrous fit in the purse section. Jonathan and Kimmer now share a common sentiment, "Get me OUT of the purse section! And, NO, I do not want a man-bag!" I found the harassment more like an adventure race of weaving through crowds in search of finding the ONE salesperson who will actually give you a decent deal on some junk (OK, some of it is good stuff, but there are a LOT of fakes, too). We were able to find Kathleen and Jonathan's Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) outfits for the next few years. Of course, I just had to buy Kathleen a bigger sized "Burberry" dress to replace the one she has and loves. And Jonathan got his first suit. He even looked through the shirts to see what he could find. We actually got to the SILK section of the market and the hounding was so intense I decided to jump up and do a karate kick saying, "I want karate outfit!" The sales girls jumped back, laughed and said, "You a Bruce Lee!" (If they only knew!)

From the market, we had lunch and headed down the street to find a bookstore the Lonely Planet said had great children's books and best selection of foreign fiction. Unfortunately, it seems they had to downsize terribly - maybe a result of the bad economy. Books are not inexpensive commodities in China. If I can, I always like to pick up a book on where we have been, especially if it is related to children or written for children. Last time, we bought the coffee table book, China, a photo essay on the great country and it's beauty. We didn't find anything as good as that one this time, but we did get a photo book called, Children of China. Kimmer was able to find a book for the plane trip home and I knew I would be on duty on the airplane, so I opt to use any free time to sleep! The Place, the mall where the bookstore was located, was actually a fabulous mall with some great shops. We strolled around a bit and then found a Chinese restaurant where we were able to eat an early dinner. I have discovered that in pretty much every mall in Asia you can find a place where your kids can play for free or a nominal charge. We found Gymboree in Nanchang. And here we found three different options: sand play area (with structures and sand toys), electronic zone (video games and kid-related electronic items), or a scaled down amusement park setting. Knowing our children we went with SAND! And they loved it! Kathleen made friends with some of the girls. And Jonathan demonstrated his brute strength as he scaled up the climbing area and slid down slide without any help! I was pretty impressed with how he found finger holds without any help. Rock climbing may be a good thing for him!!! Kimmer was kind enough to get me a Starbucks while I played in the sand with the kids. What a good husband! He knows the way to my heart!

We get much fewer stares in Beijing and it was nice for Kathleen to be out of the market where all the Chinese would touch her and say how beautiful she was. It's beginning to ware on her and frustrate her. The subway, though, she still gets a lot of attention. As much as I don't want her to be touched and stared at, I feel so proud that the Chinese find her so beautiful. One mother at the sand area said, "Your daughter is so beautiful. She has big eyes and beautiful smile." It made me proud and then I responded, "That's because she is Chinese. Her beauty comes from China!" We had to ride back to our hutong at the tail end of rush hour and the first subway was PACKED. At one point, a man in a nice suit knelt down to talk with Kathleen and Kimmer got a little nervous. The man took out his ID card and he was a government official. He put Kimmer at ease and the gentleman was very impressed with Kathleen. Jonathan and I were at the other end of the car because of the crowds.

We meet nice, gentle and helpful people everywhere we go in China. Kimmer and I were sitting talking this evening in the courtyard of what Kathleen calls our Chinese house and we both agreed that right now...we don't want to leave. The only reason we want to get home is to give the children routine and a schedule that will help both of them in so many ways.

Last Day in Guangzhou

Today is our last day in Guangzhou and we fly back to Beijing tonight. We are going to try to make the most of our time at the hotel (i.e., use the pool for several hours).

Yesterday we had our consulate appointment and Jonathan was sworn in as an American citizen. They even announced his birthday as he turns two on May 27. We all clapped and Kathleen said, "He's Chinese-American like ME now!" Yup! There were about 40 Chinese children sworn in with us - from 10 months old to 10 years old and the majority of the children were deemed "Special Needs."

Jonathan had his first swimming experience and LOVED the pool. We will post a video of it when we get back. It jumped right in (as I suspected he would). He really seems to have no fear (for better or worse). Swimming lessons this summer will be fun - Kathleen borders on being a wimp in the water and Jonathan needs to develop a HEALTHY sense of fear.

We finally explored the grounds of the hotel and fed the koi in the large pond outside on of the restaurants (where we eat breakfast every morning). The five-story waterfall is incredible and the grounds are immaculate. Aside from the waterfall, I wish my backyard could be manicured like the grounds here!

We are at the point where we want to create better structure and routine for the kids. So last night we bowed out of going on a dinner boat cruise down the Pearl River. We did it last time we were here for Kathleen's adoption. I'm glad we skipped it this time, though. Both kids were SO incredibly tired of going and Jonathan needed some mommy and daddy time. Kathleen fell asleep at dinner at 6:30 and Jonathan fell asleep at 7:45. We were able to get a therapy brush from the occupational therapist we met who's also adopting. We used it on Jonathan last night and I did some serious WOOTING when we woke up at 6:30AM. HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! Hallelujah! He has been responding better to Kimmer and having less tantrums since we started using the brush and intervention ideas the therapist gave us. Thank you, God!

Looking forward to going to the pool again today!

Paradise......almost

Our guide referred to our hotel as "paradise" and it is after you've been outside in the heat and humidity for most of the morning and afternoon.

An FYI...I am unable to access my yahoo email right now. We are loving China, expect for the excessive filtering. I wish I had some sort of secret I was trying to share, but I don't. Just wanted to see if anyone emailed me as I miss everyone right now. Pray for us as we are nearing the point where we wish we were home right now. I absolutely love China and would move here in a heartbeat, but am sensitive about protecting my children and right now they are both getting tired of the stares and comments. It was not this obvious the last time we were in the country. This time, though, people are blatantly staring. Maybe the Olympic hoopla helped with less stares last time. Kathleen has resorted to telling people who insist on speaking Chinese to her 2 inches from her face, "I'm a white puppy!" And then she barks. I actually thought it was a pretty good defense mechanism on her part. Then Jonathan (who speaks quite a bit of Chinese) and she will jibber-jabber in pretend Chinese words. Kathleen has made up a few Chinese words and said them to Chinese people who are saying things about her to her face. They laugh...maybe she told them, "Step away from the stroller!" and she didn't even know it. I can only hope. Now I know how my missionary friends felt when the nationals would come up to their children and pinch their cheeks and touch their hair. Kathleen gets that wherever we go. Jonathan gets spoken to a LOT and some have actually asked him, "Where's your mama and dada?" I wish the phrase books had a culture shock section with phrases like:
Staring isn't polite. Please stop.
When you come to visit the United States, we promise not to stare at you.
Please don't touch my daughter.
He is OUR son!

I have resorted to speaking in Chinese saying hello and introducing myself to people in restaurants who don't feel shamed by staring and talking about us during their entire meal. It does help calm the mood for all of us. And many have been intrigued by the fact that we have a Chinese boy.

International adoption is not something talked about here. When people see Kathleen, they immediately see that she was born with a cleft lip. Jonathan has no visible defect, so we get even more intense stares. I learned to say, "He has a heart defect," in Chinese and that has stopped some chit-chat. Mostly, though, I just try to ignore it as I know we only have a short amount of time left and then the children will have stability and normalcy at home.

Adjusting to Two Toddlers

Last night was the first night Kathleen really started to want JUST mommy to put her to bed. Tonight...same thing. The only problem is that both nights the kids competed for mommy's attention with the battle of the cries. Jonathan in one room with mommy would cry, then he cause Kathleen to cry as she realized mommy was not with her, but with Jonathan. I told Kimmer, "That is why we bought a toddler bed and put it next to the crib in our room." For some reason I saw this coming. Kathleen has done amazingly well overall. She keeps telling us, "I love my little Jonathan." And she always takes his hand when we go out places and they race down the hall to the elevator together. They are so incredibly sweet together. And she loves it when he calls her, "Sister."

Tonight was a fun bedtime. Kathleen was very patient as Jonathan just would not go to sleep. Our hotel room is a suite with a living room, where Kathleen is sleeping, and a bedroom where Jonathan is sleeping in a cribI came out to Kathleen's bed. I attempted to get Jonathan down to no avail. I put him in the crib to try to get Kathleen to sleep. I held her and sang to her and she was out once before I even got to the second verse of "The Old Rugged Cross" (she requests it now..."The Cross song please, mama."). Jonathan, though was still wide awake and screaming in the other room. Kimmer had gone in there to make sure he didn't climb out of the crib - the boy has absolutely NO fear of anything. Unfortunately, Jonathan, especially at meal times and bed time, wants nothing to do with his father, yet. We know bonding will come. Jonathan has made great strides in just two weeks. Kimmer had pulled him out of the crib and let him play with his night time book. After I came back in, Jonathan sweetly reached to his father, gave him a hug goodnight and a kiss and then leaned back over to go into my arms. The silly boy fought sleep until he was so incredibly tired he couldn't keep his eyes open. That was at 9:30...ugh!

Please pray that we will continue to help Jonathan work through and stop his temper tantrums. It's a culturally accepted thing to allow a child to kick and scream and they give them what the child wants. Not in my house! So, we are trying to curb that behavior before we get home. I'm so glad there is an occupational therapist here, also adopting. She does a lot of behavioral intervention with foster kids and helps them with sensory integration. She has some ideas of things we can do and I am going to pick her brain tomorrow to start doing them with Jonathan right away. She said she had similar issues with her first adopted daughter and things turned around by the second day she had her. So, I'm all over that tomorrow! Just pray that we will be consistent, patient, and gracious with him as he is still grieving the loss of his foster family and his foster home with fellow children.

It was another HOT day in Guangzhou and all the adoptive families headed over to Liwan market today. It's a shopping area in Guangzhou that sells beads of all kinds (and finished jewelry), clothing, shoes, jade, pearls, and DVDs! Now that I have kiddos and don't want to pay $20 for ONE DVD, I gave in and bought a whole slew of them. Yes, they are in English. And YES, they are likely not the real deal, but they are good enough for my kids to watch. In order to get in a little window shopping to kill the rest of our time at the market, I broke down and bribed the kids with candy. I confess it...I gave them sweets to keep them happy! Hey...it worked  !When we got back on the bus to return to our hotel, Rebekah (our guide) said, "Let's go back to paradise!" She's right...on a HOT day like today, this place is paradise.

The first words out of Kathleen's mouth when we returned from lunch were, "May I watch the Little Mermaid now?"  She was so excited to see it while Jonathan napped. (Of course, she freaks out over several parts, so we fast forward through thunderstorms and anything remotely scary.)

Tonight for dinner we found a little slice of Ireland right here in Guangzhou. Little Paddy's Irish Pub was just around the corner from the hotel and had some pretty good fish and chips. That was a fun departure from rice and noodles! So far, the international cuisine available in the vicinity has been incredible - Thai, Italian, Malaysian, Turkish/Mediterranean, Irish, Japanese, and, of course, Chinese (which is usually less expensive than the international restaurants). Of course they have good old American junk food like KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's. We haven't been to any of those, yet, and don't plan on it (except we need to use their bathroom).

A funny moment came the other day when Kathleen said, "They have a LOT of squatty potties in China, Mama!" So, I asked her which one she liked better - toilet to sit on or squatty potty. "Squatty potty," she said and continued in her high pitched voice, "because it's so teeny weeny!" I'm fine with them for kids. It's so much easier than having to cover the toilet and worry about touching things. She can still do the Chinese squat, so it works well. Jonathan can NOT do the Chinese squat because he's got such a chubby belly.

The other day, Jonathan fell asleep leaning on the bed and it cracked us up. The boy can sleep standing up!!! That's one trick I don't think I ever learned.

Tomorrow is a big day...we go to the consulate in the afternoon to get Jonathan sworn in as an American citizen. Exciting! Sadly, only 2 more days in Guangzhou. I wish we had a little more time to explore the city. It's a great place, but we haven't even gotten to get on the subway to get out and see the city. We hope to some tomorrow. There is a big China Art Exhibit going on until May 25, so we hope to do that either tomorrow morning or Wednesday morning before we leave.

Moved on to Guangzhou

What a great time we have had in Nanchang! It is a city rich in history and a province rich in natural resources. We look forward to going back and exploring Jonathan's province again when he gets a bit older and can remember more. We were unable to travel out of the city of Nanchang on this trip, but once our guide told us the countryside is very similar to that of Guangxi and the Guilin/Yangshuo area, we knew what she meant (traveled there before adopting Kathleen) and that it was something to look forward to when we return. We were able to get out and do a little souvenir shopping the morning of the day we left. We actually took off from the hotel around 10:45 and after stopping in several shops and the time passed, we saw many people taking their lunch break. That wasn't a good sign for people who were trying to find their last minute souvenirs. During this shopping trip, we discovered three things about Chinese culture and more specifically Nanchang:
1. Do not attempt a shopping trip between the hours of 11:30 and 1:30. Everything shuts down for lunch.
2. If you get hungry while shopping, make sure you stop shopping and go eat when everyone else is eating. There's a high likelihood the restaurant you want to eat at will be closed by 1:30 or 2:00PM. We got incredible scowls when we walked in to a restaurant at 1:45 and were seated for lunch. Literally, everyone on that shift had to wait for us to get our food before they could leave. We gave our juice bottle to the waitress as she ate a prepackaged sandwich for lunch at the next table with her friends waiting for us to finish. We felt SO bad about being so ignorant.
3. Fake antiques are way more expensive than the quality, unchipped new product. Jonathan's province is know for the Chinese porcelain and clay tea pots, tea cups, vases and other creations. We hoped to buy one vase. We quickly decided not to attempt to buy an "antique" vase, but a newer one

Our guide picked us up at the hotel and brought us and our belongings to the airport at 4PM for our 6:20PM flight. It's only a 70 minute flight from Nanchang to Guangzhou. Slight problem, though. About 20 minutes after we were at the airport and happy with the idea that we would be in our new hotel room just after the childrens' bedtime, we noticed the reader board changed the status of our flight to delayed. Looking around the waiting area for our flight, there were about 10 adoptive families all awaiting the now delayed flight. And every single one of them were looking a little lost without their guides. So, off I went to the information counter with my handy-dandy phrase book in hand. Goal: To find out some type of accurate information regarding the status of our flight. I quickly thumbed through and had three different pages marked with fingers to help with the ease of translation. God is good, though. Not only did my limited Mandarin skills help us find out some pertinent information, I was also able to find the only girl who spoke some English and worked in the airport. SCORE! And not only did I get pertinent information, I was now the designated foreigner to get ALL the information for the foreigners on our flight! And the Chinese young lady who helped me became a quick friend. She would page me over if she got updates or wanted me to tell the other Americans the information (as all of them were trying to pump her for more information than she actually possessed). I was just praying they would all try to avoid fitting the stereotypical American visitor/tourist and be polite and understanding. Most actually were...of which I was very thankful. So, while waiting for a plane which was stuck in Guangzhou due to massive thunderstorms to arrive in Nanchang, I found another flight was possibly an option, but would cost us almost $700. As 7:00PM approached and that flight was delayed I sent a text to our guide in Guangzhou with the details. She responded letting me know that only one flight had taken off and one flight had landed in the last 3 hours. Oi vay! (A little Yiddish for my East Coast friends! I gotta spread some cultural diversity in Idaho somehow!) I let all the Americans know that we will either be spending another night in Nanchang or the one plane that took off was ours. The latter was it! Just about the same time the information came in about our flight, we were considering taking the bus, which would take about 8 hours.  We had one very brave and persistent pilot. (He did cause me to pray as we arrived in Guangzhou at 10:15PM and ended up circling THROUGH all the lightning strikes for almost 45 minutes before landing safely.) Several of us applauded his safe landing. The runway was covered with several inches of water and I just praised God that we landed safely. It did make me wonder if the pilot just said to himself, "No one else is landing now and there are a LOT of crying babies on this airplane. I'm landing this plane!" We found out later that all the other surrounding airports for about 100 miles were at full capacity with flights diverted from Guangzhou due to the storms. We arrived and are now in Guangzhou and it is REALLY humid here! (Today it was 90% humidity!) (After living in Idaho, I forgot what humidity does to my hair. Now that it's long...I forgot WHY I got a perm when I had long hair in college...this is NOT a pretty sight!)

We arrived at our hotel, The Garden Hotel, and WOWZER it is nice! For Kathleen's adoption, we stayed at The White Swan Hotel (one of the nicest hotels we've every stayed in...beats Westin hands down) in Guangzhou. The White Swan catered to the adoptive families from around the world when Chinese adoptions were moving quickly. They have a play room, sponsored by Mattel (the toy company), for children to play in, beautiful outdoor pools and the hotel is located on the the European architecture-rich walking island, Shamian Island. Kathleen even received a special Barbie doll holding an adopted baby as a gift. It was a perfect setting for our first adoption. Right now, the island is getting a face lift and EVERY road is torn up. Brick is being replaced with large 8-inch thick granite curbing and 3-inch slabs. It will be a nightmare to walk during rainy season, but it will be beautiful when they are finished. In true Chinese style, they are making the city look fabulous for the 2010 Asian Games later this year. Thus, our guides felt it best we stay off the island as it is really hard to get around on now. I'm so glad we are at The Garden (even nicer than the White Swan!). The room is much bigger and the proximity to things is perfect. We are able to walk out of our hotel and hop on the subway. Fabulous restaurants surround the hotel - and they are all much less expensive than the meals we could find on the island. I much prefer spending $10 to feed my family dinner than $40 or more.

On May 15, we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. Kimmer sweetly had an espresso waiting for me at the breakfast table and then took me (and the kids) our to a scrumptious dinner at Sultan Restaurant (a Turkish Restaurant across the street from our hotel). A Mediterranean feast in China - humus, cucumber/tomato/feta/lettuce salad, flat bread, BBQ chicken and lamb, cheese & veggies on flat bread, garlic/yogurt dip, and finished with a Turkish coffee and a rolled dessert similar to baklava. That was a heavenly meal, especially since we have primarily eaten Chinese food since we arrived 12 days ago. It was also nice to be in the minority in a different way. We were the only white folks among Middle Eastern, Turkish and Indian folks. The owner was a little confused why we had Chinese children, though. I told him in Chinese (as he didn't speak English) that I was Chinese. For some strange reason, he didn't buy that. To them Kathleen and Jonathan are adopted is A LOT of Chinese words, so I haven't learned it, yet.

The daytime, though, on the fifteenth, was not a very joyous experience. Every child up for adoption in China has at least two medical exams. The first is done when they enter the system in an orphanage. The final medical exam must take place in order for the child's visa to be granted. Unfortunately, the United States government makes arbitrary rules to which they have no experience or knowledge of it's ramifications. Since our last adoption (July 21, 2008), the US government (State Dept. or Homeland Security?) instituted a ruling that all adoptees from CHINA (not other countries) be vaccinated PRIOR to their visa being granted even if the vaccinations have already been received. That means that a child who has been removed from everything they have ever known just days before is being subjected to six to eight shots (depending on the age) - not gently administered. Something they already had to complete in order to be entered into the orphanage system in China. My question, why only Chinese adoptees? A visa is granted to a visiting Chinese citizen and they are not required to be tested for TB nor vaccinated prior to entering the country. At least 50 babies and children were seen at medical clinic while we were there from 10:30AM-noon and all of them had to have immunizations required by the CDC. I am glad I brought my vaccination card from Idaho this time so that Jonathan will not have to go through a THIRD set of immunizations. And all of this was done in a building which only had air-conditioning in the back exam rooms for the doctors. 85 degrees F with about 85 percent humidity and no air-conditioning makes for lots of cranky children and Westerners.

I was able find a bit of humor in the day, though: the band-aids they put on Jonathan were "Apple" (as in the Mac computer - see photo; we ARE Mac people, too!); the nurse administering the shots gave us the box for each immunization in the event there was a recall or problem with that batch...so glad she gave them to me as they are in Chinese and I can't read a single thing on it, except the company name. The hearing test was the best part of it all - a rubber ducky squeaked next to the right ear, then next to the left ear. YUP! He can hear! I just laughed and said, "Thank you God for Seattle Children's and Lakeside Pediatrics!" Jonathan did great with all the exams...he even found the light switch for the exam room and turned them off for everyone! His thought, "This is a bunch of hooey! I'll show you!"

Jonathan's measurements came in at:
Height = 86 cm (I don't think they did a very accurate measurement on that one, though, as they sort of eyeballed it)
Weight = 13 kg
Head circumference = 47cm (BIG brain capacity!)
Heart rate = 112 (also...not super accurate as the doctor held the stethoscope on his heart for a whopping 5 seconds)

We decided to fork over the $40 for a stroller for Kathleen (3, almost 4 years old) who is now vacillating between wanting to be a big sister and wanting to be a baby. It's a hard place! I'd much rather be a baby myself. Responsibility is sometimes a killer! I told Kimmer it was to save Mother Hen's sanity in the airport and around town. The only problem is that today (May 16), my large right foot made full contact with the wheel and it bent the axle. Uh oh! Kimmer said he would "fix" it. Kathleen has been thrilled with her stroller, though. So glad we already did the Great Wall!

I did locate Starbuck's today...right around the corner from our hotel!

Today, all the Small World and LIfelines (adoption agencies) adoptive families (four in all) went to the Botanical Gardens. Can I just say that is was flat HOT! We arrived at 10AM and by the time Kathleen and Jonathan finished feeding the fish it was 11AM and we were melting. Kathleen was quite the girlie girl feeding the fish one little pellet at a time. Jonathan decided, "Why feed the pellets to the fish when I could eat them myself?" Since when do statues of Buzz Lightyear, Hello Kitty, Spiderman, Pokemon, Garfield, and lots of monstrous (like 5-8 feet long) Dutch wooden shoes go with a botanical garden? It did make for a few fun pictures, though. We did find out that Jonathan does not like ice cream, yet. Kathleen didn't like it either when we first adopted her. I guess we should have kept her away from it because now in China when she gets hot she asks for ice cream. This is our one vacation of the year!

The Botanical Gardens were beautiful and immaculate, though. It was a joy to see and I hope we can come back when it is a little cooler.

It's almost midnight and I need to head to bed as both Kathleen and Jonathan wake up for "MAMA" when the sun comes up!

Tomorrow (May 17 China time/May 16 US) dear friends of ours, the Andrews family, have their Gotcha Day for Liqu (pronounced Lee-chew). Please keep them in your prayers as they are in China now adopting Jesse, age 3, and Liqu, who turns 14 on May 29. This will be a big transition for their family and for Liqu, who would have become a ward of the state of China had he turned 14 and not been adopted. I am so thankful that the Andrews and other families see themselves as giving hope to these teenagers who would otherwise have a very limited and sad future if not adopted. Liqu was born with a cleft lip and palate and as a result of poor nutrition and eating habits and possibly genetics, has experienced stunted growth. Pray for his Gotcha Day and the weeks following to go smoothly. Pray for Liqu as he is gaining a family, but is also facing so much change from everything he has ever known (language, food, culture, etc.). Pray for the Andrews biological teenage children and their developing relationship with Liqu. They are looking forward to having him for a brother and are 100% behind the decision to adopt him. Pray for more families to answer the call to adopt teens who are approaching the end of being adoptable.

We have met some great families during our time in China. So many people see the need of the more than 150 million orphans in the world. I just pray more will answer the call.

An Evening with a Heavy Heart

I had to stop writing my last post and just send it as I got very emotional thinking about Jonathan sitting on the steps to a hospital alone. I wanted to write about some of the funny things we encountered today, but my heart is not there tonight.

Last night, I checked the yahoo group from Kathleen's province, which I belong to and there was an update on a family who is in China adopting like us. They desperately need your prayers. They are presently in Nanning, Guangxi (where we adopted Kathleen) and are grieving the loss of their adopted daughter who passed away unexpectedly of pneumonia soon after they received her. They are the Greig family and you may view their blog at www.ladybugmakes4.blogspot.com. I can't even imagine the loss they are feeling right now. Please lift them up!

I will likely write more in the morning, but right now my heart is hurting for the Greig's and needing some quiet time away from the computer as we saw and took in some emotional moments today and yesterday.

The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

Yes, it was destined to rain on us in Nanchang. I'm so thankful for the folks who were here a few weeks ago from our agency who posted that they experienced massive rains. It helped us pack appropriately as we did check the forecast before we left and it did say it was to rain the entire time we were supposed to be here. Thank you, God, that you allowed us to have four days of sunny (or overcast) skies before they opened up and dumped on Nanchang again. So, today we did not go to the park to kill time and play OUTside. Instead, we found a department store where we circled every floor of ridiculously expensive clothes and shoes too small for us to kill an hour, then went downstairs to the Parkson Supermarket (for some reason all the supermarkets are in the basement in Asia...never have figured out why that is). We let Kathleen pick out a special treat for being so good roaming through all the five floors of the department store while Jonathan napped in the stroller. We then headed across the street to a building called "Rainbow" (another department store, but various stores on 9 levels). Our guide said there was a play area in there, but we needed to pay for each child to enter. Not a problem, the kids were getting sick of seeing the hotel lobby (our only open area to really let the kids run around some). And I'm not exactly a fan of letting my kids run around a hotel lobby. So off we went to find the play area. In looking at the store listings, Gymboree was listed on Level 8. "No way!" I said to myself. I had heard Gymboree was big in China, but I had forgotten about it once we arrived. The elevator opens to the 8th floor and there was a GYM with weights and treadmills, but no "Gymboree" for toddlers! Bummer! They must have "borrowed" the name unknowingly. So, I tried to explain to Kathleen (3, almost 4 years old) that they must have liked the name Gymboree and used it for their workout room. She asked if we could check another floor and we did. At another elevator, the listings had Gymboree on the 7th floor. I opted NOT to tell Kathleen about this. We got to the 7th floor and we began walking around the children's clothes and toys, and tucked away in a corner there it was...GYMBOREE!!! It was just like it was back home, except they served Kimmer and I espresso and the girl who spoke English let the kids come in and play for free after she found out we were here to adopt and would not be staying the entire year. (I'd love to, but we have some people who want to meet Jonathan before we decide to move overseas.) We ended up staying for about an hour and a half. It was perfect for the kids to burn some energy at a clean and safe place. What a God send that was!

Our guide ended up meeting us there as were going to see Jonathan's "finding place" (the place where he was found). This is such a moving time for adoptive parents and eventually becomes very meaningful to adopted children as they are missing pieces of their past having been abandoned. Despite the pouring rain, I trumped through the puddles and raindrops to take as many photographs as possible of the two places of meaning to Jonathan. The police station is of significance because the man who found Jonathan was an officer here. Jonathan's Chinese name Yuan Tao partly comes from the name of the police station. Yuan is part of the name of the police station. The tall building and the gates in the photos posted are of great significance as this is the location where Jonathan was found. Technically he was found at the gate of the Women and Children's Hospital pictured. We do not know which gate; there are several. I took photos of the ones we could access. The building is very nice inside and out. Our guide said it was quite possible he was born in the hospital and then brought outside to the gate once it was discovered he had a heart issue. This we can not confirm, it is only a theory. Parents are still limited as to the number of children they can have and a child with a health or physical issue is considered a burden and sometimes culturally shameful. My eyes well up with tears as I try to wrap by mind around why or how someone could abandon a child. I am so glad God gave us the opportunity to give Jonathan and Kathleen a family to love them, a chance at a great life, physical healing, hope in Jesus and a heavenly Father who will never abandon them.

Making Strides, Making Friends and Giving Jonathan Closure

We have seriously lucked out with the weather in Nanchang. Once again, today was sunny and warm, but a bit more humid than it has been. Nothing to complain about, though! We have been able to get out, stroll around, explore and see a bit of Nanchang that we would have avoided had it been pouring down rain (weather we planned for). The kids have enjoyed nightly baths as they are getting dirty running around and playing. Jonathan asks every time someone goes to the bath if he can get in the bathtub, so we might as well let him enjoy it at least once a day. We are so thankful it seems his skin is not as dry as Kathleen's. He has a healthy radiant glow.

This morning after the Kathleen and Jonathan spent time following each other around the room in our slippers we headed out to the local "market". All the guides take the adoptive parents to Walmart (my least favorite store on the planet) when the first receive their children. Looking at the prices, though, I told our guide we could find better prices at a local market and she agreed. So she told us how to get there and we explored there some on Tuesday and we got Jonathan a shirt. We knew we had more time to explore this morning, so off we went for our walk…with NO strollers this time. It's much easier doing the stairs without a stroller.

The way from our hotel to the Wan Shou Gong Shang Cheng local market is a short walk (if you are an urban walker) taking you down a typical street in China lined with businesses of all kinds, restaurants, shops, and bakeries. All the shops had their glass doors open for business. The sidewalks are lines with tiles I would normally expect to see at an entrance to a mall or large shopping center. Many are cracked or broken, but the work that went into making them and installing them is incredible and visible on every street. Since we were here in 2008 just before the Olympics, it seems trees have not just become an element of beautification, but a reality for China as it begins to tackle the effects of industrialization and massive urban growth and development. Spaces for trees have been created along all the streets of Nanchang, typically along the sidewalks. Often forced into the street to walk due to crowded walkways or painters working or children playing, you need to stay alert. China is still the proud home to more bicyclists than any other nation in the world. Bicycles (and motorized scooters and mopeds) all get a semi-designated lane on the far right side of the road in both directions. This doubles as a passing lane, bus stop lane, walkway and peddlers set-up zone. The hustle and bustle of Asian streets are a photographers dream! So many photo-ops and so many accidents waiting to happen, but rarely do. Several minutes walk down the lu (street) and we are at true pedestrian only walkway, referred to as a walking street. This street is solely for pedestrians and is lined with shops and semi-permanent sales stalls in the center. Be careful of the puddles on a sunny day! They are where the local children relieved themselves (usually on the sewer line, though, so it's easy to avoid). (Now you can truly appreciate why people ask you to take of your shoes before entering their house!) Of course, KFC and McDonald's (two, in fact) can be found along this walking street. We have to confess…we did go to McDonald's yesterday. But we only used it for me to change Jonathan's diaper. No food was ordered there by us!

There are some fun little finds in the shops along the walking street, but better buys are had at the local market (Wan Shou gong Shang Cheng) at the end of the walking street. If you don't know what you are looking for, then you would likely miss it. It's a typical Asian market building. You enter and you see vendor after vendor selling their wares to you. And in true Chinese fashion, all the fabric vendors are on one floor, all the children's clothes and shoes vendors are on another floor. Seven floors in all and you wonder why there are so many deaths in earthquakes in developing or third world countries.

Kathleen picked out a pretty dress for herself. Despite the sales ladies trying to convince her of other dresses, she knew what she wanted. We also found her a "Tinkerbell" skirt (a green tutu-style skirt) for only $3! Love those finds and I LOVE bargaining! Sometimes I just want to ask the Target manager if I can get a better deal on a shirt than the tag says. Sure wish it would work! We found Jonathan another shirt and then made our way towards the delicious Chinese restaurant we found yesterday. Unfortunately, BOTH Kathleen and Jonathan fell asleep in our arms on the way back. (My achy breaky back!)

We ended up ditching that idea and headed straight for our hotel. We figured we'd just order something from room service for the two of us and take the kids out when they woke up. On the way into the hotel Kathleen woke up when we met a family from Oregon who had just adopted a little albino girl. We ended up sitting down to chat while Jonathan slept in my arms. We connected immediately as we both like to get out and explore the local culture. We were able to give the wife some hope, too, as her daughter screams whenever she comes close. Jonathan has been reacting like that to Kimmer whenever I am not in the room. We are not alone in this adoption journey!

After lunch, we were able to do something very special for us and Jonathan. We were able to meet his foster family. As we said before, the Nanchang Social Welfare Institute has apartments on the grounds. Within those apartments is a "house" for six children and Jonathan's foster parents took care of those six children in that home. They had him since he was just a baby (it was estimated he was a month old when we arrived). Because they are on the orphanage grounds, we were not able to see the orphanage itself. It was so kind of his parents to come outside of the orphanage to meet with us for just a few minutes in the van. We got about 15 pictures for Jonathan's adoption book. We were able to tell them how thankful we were that they took such good care of him and we gave them a token of our appreciation (a small gift). Because we respect the CCAA and the work they have done in allowing us to adopt Jonathan, we will not post pictures of the foster family, but keep those for Jonathan. We look forward to returning someday with Jonathan to visit them, meet with the orphanage director and hopefully tour the orphanage. The director was so gracious when she came to bring Jonathan to us at our hotel. She has a lot on her plate and seems to be doing so well.

As Jonathan got to say goodbye to his foster parents, he cried and was visibly sad, but with just a minute he was calling me Mama again and had a smile on his face. I believe it was good closure for him. Each child is so different, but I think that last goodbye is helpful for our little ones as they are facing so much change so quickly.

Praying both children sleep through the night and my stomach issues settle down (ate something that is causing my ever-present amoeba to get upset, I guess). Kimmer had the joy of trying to feed both children at dinner by himself. The funny thing is that the staff in the restaurant went over and fed Jonathan and took care of him since Jonathan wanted nothing to do with Kimmer.  They both survived, though! Jonathan's eyes seem to be less goopy. Praise God!

 

 

A Day Exploring part of Nanchang

We had a great time today seeing a bit of Nanchang's history. We got to tour and explore the Tengwang Pavilion. It's a gorgeous structure that was originally constructed in 645 during the Tang Dynasty. China is rich in history, but unfortunately, like most historic sights, the pavilion has been rebuilt many times, the most recent being in the 1980s. Like the Great Wall, though, it is still an amazing structure with incredible detail. We were able to watch a performance of Chinese dancers and musicians, which kept Kathleen enthralled and put Jonathan to sleep. It was interesting walking around the six floors of the pavilion and on each floor people would come up to Kathleen and Jonathan and do a double take at Kimmer and I. Then we would either hear them talking about us or they would ask Mary (our Chinese guide) if the children were Chinese. Sometimes she would say they were Chinese and sometimes she would say they were American. She laughed and told me that some people when they hear American respond with, "That's in Europe." Exactly what are they teaching in school here? Good question. Adoption of Chinese children to internationals is not something that is publicized and I can understand why. I have encountered people on both sides of the fence while here. But many people who see Kathleen recognize that she has a repaired cleft lip and understand why she is with us.

There was a huge koi pond with ducks and turtles on the grounds of the pavilion. This time Kathleen saw the koi pond and said, "I'm not going swimming, Mommy and Daddy. I already did that and it wasn't fun." She cracks me up! The pavilion sits right on the edge of the Kan River. It used to be the tallest building in Nanchang, but now there are scads of skyscrapers in all directions. It's still a breathtaking view from up at the top. There are three beautiful bridges which cross the river. The one closest to our hotel (Gloria Grand Hotel) is a suspension bridge, which is lit up at night as part of the evening light show of buildings along both sides of the river. There is a ferris wheel along the Kan River on the opposite side as our hotel. Our guide notified us that it was taller than the London Eye. I had never even heard of it. It's HUGE...should we take the kids for a ride?

The rest of the day we ventured out on our own looking for a market to buy Jonathan some shoes and shirts that fit him. As much as I love Walmart (NOT!), their prices were higher than I would have paid for clothes for the kids back home. So, I told our guide that I would look at the local market for a few things. My favorite shirt I picked up today to look at had more spelling and grammatical errors than I could count. It was humorous looking at all the English words on shirts and wonder, "What were they thinking?" Most of them made no sense whatsoever. We found a pair of sandals for Jonathan. (Hope it's not snowing in Idaho when we return.) And one shirt. We are going back tomorrow to look for more shirts, but this time with no strollers. Too many stairs and a scary elevator situation. What's a few missing buttons and doors that don't close all the way on an elevator?

Kathleen and I have spent a little time each day doing "school" together. She is getting so much better with her handwriting. The ladies who work in the lobby restaurant get a kick out of us doing her work there.

The weather was perfect today. Warm, sunny and a little humid! Jonathan is going to have no problem adjusting to Idaho weather. He was a bundle of sweat on Gotcha day in a long sleep shirt and corduroy pants. He's been wearing shorts every day since, but he's not used to them. He keeps trying to pull them down to his ankles. They are long shorts, but not that long, buddy! Maybe the 3T shorts will be "pants" on him!

Kimmer and I both found out today that Jonathan has is strong in many ways. He has very strong legs and arms. So we are thinking we need to teach him the haka (New Zealand) and get him into rugby (I'm not really an American football fan). We already know we have hospital trips waiting for us with him. We may nickname him Bruiser...he runs full force into things and it just doesn't phase him. Kathleen said, "He's a tough cookie!" That he is! He seems to be quite smart, so we don't want to damage the brain cells with too much contact sports at an early age. He has already picked up several English and sign language words. This is only day three! He's called me mama, called Kimmer da-da, and he said Kathleen, potty, drink, wa-wa/water, no (he's almost two...he's GOT to say that one!), quack, hot, and Beep! Beep! He sweetly picked up Kathleen's socks and gave them to her when he saw we were getting ready to go to dinner. He even gave her princess to her that she dropped. He asks for the stroller and loves it. He is really attaching well so far. He mostly wants mama, but there are times he will go to Da-da (like this morning at the pavilion). He had a hard time falling asleep tonight, but that may have been because he slept so long during his afternoon nap AND fell asleep this morning for 45 minutes.

Keep Jonathan's health in your prayers. He has a deep cough and thick green boogies and possibly pink eye. I am debating on giving him the antibiotics we brought. If anyone has advice on that or Erythromycin Ophthalmic Ointment (which I have) for the pink eye, email us! We cannot access our blog from China (at least not in Beijing nor in Nanchang), so leaving a comment there will not help. I also have no access to Facebook from China. Both sights are blocked and heavily filtered. I was thinking I may start the eye ointment and the oral antibiotics in the morning at breakfast, but I would love someone to call a pediatrician or talk to a doctor before I start giving him some. Symptoms for oral antibiotics: deep, raspy cough and you can feel a tightness in his chest and hear wheezing as he breaths; boogies are thick green; he's running a low grade temperature. His ears are bothering him as he picks at them constantly. I cleaned out a TON of wax, but he has a TON I do not want to go deeper to get nor push further in. Symptoms for ophthalmic ointment: green goopies in his eyes daily and very watery. I am super susceptible to pink eye, so I do NOT want to get it if he has it. I'm being extra careful! Thanks for any help you can give via email. 

Looking forward to tomorrow...we get to meet and thank his foster parents from the orphanage!

Cultural Conundrums

Having lived in Asia for six years, I (Amy) LOVE moments when it just doesn't go the way you had planned and you just have to laugh about it. Because after a year of things happening to you that you didn't expect or not finding things that you thought you could find or not communicating the way you wanted, you HAVE to laugh. If not, insanity quickly follows!

So, I thought I would take a moment to share a few funny and interesting moments we have had while traveling here in China. I hope I can communicate the humor we found in them.

• While ordering at Chinese restaurants IN China, you are presented with a beautiful menu that looks more like a coffee table book than a menu. The pictures of the food are so beautifully presented. The literal translations sometime catch Westerners off guard, though. My favorite thus far has been steamed bullfrog testicles with glutinous rice. Went into a restaurant in Beijing to have dinner and after looking at the menu we realized there was every part of the animals, EXCEPT the general meaty or muscular portions that Westerners usually eat. The only thing we could find were chicken wings. So, I asked how many wings were on a skewer (in broken Chinese) and the waitress held up four fingers. That's good! We only needed two for Kimmer and one for each child. Dinner was on it's way! So, when the wings came, there were two wings on two sticks. Exactly where did the number four figure into that scenario? She certainly wasn't saying it was enough for four people. At a restaurant in Nanchang, we ordered using the pictures and a few words I got out in Chinese. The pictures looked delicious and we couldn't wait for the food to arrive. The only problem was that when it arrived we looked at each other as each item came and wondered exactly which item went with which picture. NOTHING looked like the pictures. They must have a good marketing/menu design company! The great thing about China, though, is that the food tastes nothing like it does it the States. That is to say, it tastes phenomenal here! We avoid eating Chinese food out at "American Chinese" restaurants as they just don't taste like Chinese food! The food we have had has been incredibly delicious (despite the picture feux pas and the literal translations of items). Our best meal so far consisted of sticky rice with pork ribs and Chinese dried plums, pork and vegetable steamed dumplings, stir fried rice noodles with egg and cabbage and sesame balls (our favorite dessert!). All for only $10 US!!! Woot!! (Then we had noodle soup with eggs for dinner for only $1...for ALL of us!)
  
• Making phone calls in China can sometimes be tricky. Most people only speak Chinese and a phrase book doesn't get you far when they are speaking Chinese quickly and you only have pinyin (a romanized pronunciation system for Chinese words) in your phrase book and only understand pinyin. Yesterday, when our guide called our room, I answered in Chinese. She responded in Chinese and immediately asked what room number then proceeded talking up a storm. I had to interrupt her in English and she just laughed saying, "I thought I called the wrong room number. You were speaking Chinese." Honestly, I know enough to make simple conversation and bargain at the market. Kimmer, though, will be the first to confess that he was not blessed with the gift of acquiring languages. That being said, he wasn't thrilled when I asked him if he could call housekeeping to get extra pillows. He graciously called and said, "Could you please send up some extra pillows?" He repeated himself three times. Then we heard a ring at the door. Housekeeping! Wow! That was fast! But the woman was holding towels and tissues! He said, "No, pillows. Two pillows, please." She understood after he put his hands to his head like he was sleeping. (No fault of hers that she knows limited English.) Once she returned with pillows, Kimmer tried to give her the DVD player housekeeping had delivered the day before to our room. She said, "Housekeeping no take." Really? But you delivered it to us! So, we're not sure who to call to get the DVD player out of the room.
  
• Today we were out exploring Nanchang and the market area. On our way back we stopped at a small store/stall for ice cream. An older woman, probably in her seventies, stood up and started saying things in Chinese I didn't know. All of a sudden she's pulling at my son's pants and looking inside. I guess sometimes you just have to check to see which is which! Jonathan slept through the whole conversation and pants check. Never did find out WHY she had to look.
• Two words I have learned well are "tea" and "water". Two distinctly different words. That didn't seem to matter today when we went to lunch and asked for tea (even after our guide had ordered it before she left). I asked two different waiters for tea, then finally pointed to the Chinese characters in my book that said, "Pot of tea." Yeah! We got a pot of tea! We poured it, drank and Kimmer and I looked at each other. That tastes an awful lot like water to me! I picked up the lid of the pot and lo and behold....WATER! We just laughed. Never did get tea at that meal.
• I now have a list of words that Lonely Planet and Berlitz need to add to their phrase books. One of them would be, "Drive faster, please," or, "We are in a hurry." They probably didn't put them in the books because those are not words usually needed in China.I like the driving in Asia...a little scary for some who aren't used to it, but give me free reign of my horn and I have fun driving in Asia! For some reason, though, Kimmer and I have this knack for flagging down the SLOWEST taxi drivers in the world when we are on our way to an airport. From Mexico to China, we do it every time. Our taxi going to the Beijing airport actually STOPPED at yellow lights (they do NOT make a habit of that here) and he let a car pull in front of him to make a left hand turn across four lanes of traffic. And I've never been in a taxi that was the slowest vehicle on an expressway! It really was a good thing our flight was delayed!
• When telling our guide that our room got really hot at night she said very matter-of-factly, "They always turn off the air conditioner at night." That's not exactly what I thought she was going to say.