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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.
