When you arrive in Guangzhou (GZ), everything feels better. By that time, you've had enough of the local province, enough of the difficulty getting around and enough of that hotel's restaurant. By that time, you and your new child are getting to know each other… you're more comfortable with each other. And in GZ, it starts feeling a little like you're on vacation (tho we're also very ready to be home). The hotel is very nice, the people don't gawk at you quite as much, you know your way around, and there are more restaurant and grocery store choices. And plus, you get to meet back up with the families you started out in Beijing with (typical trip is all the families together for 2 days touring in Beijing to get over your jetlag, then each family flies to their child's province for M-F to receive the child, do the local paperwork, and wait for the child's passport, then all the families together again in GZ for the US side of the paperwork.
And while the hotel in Nanchang (Galactic Peace Hotel) was very, very nice… the China Hotel in GZ is realllllly nice… and to top it off, it's just been renovated and it's absolutely gorgeous. The breakfast buffet is wonderful, there are local restaurants along with several choices in the hotel, lots of souvenir shopping, etc… not to mention a Starbucks, 7/11, and a McD's right next door.
Only issue with this hotel is that you have to pay for the internet, which was totally the norm last time, but we've been spoiled in BJ and Nanchang this time with free internet. We can go down to the coffee shop and use it for free (or the price of a cup of coffee, I suppose), but it takes a long time to upload pictures, and I know what's far more important than my silly ramblings. So I'm rambling in MSWord for now, then we'll probably upload pictures tonight and post them with this.
The pictures we'll upload have shots of the pavilion/pagoda/park place in Nanchang that I posted about last time, and Faith's shots included a few video clips… some just silly… but I don't know if Shutterfly will take them. Hope you enjoy what we post.
So, I think that was on Wednesday, and then on Thursday, we mostly went shopping. First to a porcelain (why doesn't that look right?) shop because that's one of the things Sam's province is known for and we wanted to have something for him from his home. We got a piece that looks more like wood than porcelain and it can be used as a pencil holder, or perhaps napkins, or just sit on a shelf and collect dust, but it has written on the back something about, "You must work hard to be successful." and on the front it has a horse (Chinese symbol for success) and the word success on it. There wasn't much else to choose in a porcelain shop, other than tea sets, which after growing up American, I don't think will be very important to Sam. Anyway, we liked the saying - working hard is important (to support his old parents:). After that, it was all about the girls… shopping for shoes and jeans and such (Faith's been saving birthday money for possibly 3 years to buy jeans in China). Faith got a pair of shoes (think fold over hi-top Chuck Taylor), a sweat shirt and 2 pair of jeans, Theresa Lin got shoes and a coat and Abby got shoes and a sweater, and all were thrilled. I saw some really cool lanterns for Chinese New Year, but just couldn't figure out how to get them home. J
Friday was fly day, but not until 5pm, so we ate breakfast fairly early and then braved the walk to McD's on our own for lunch, and needed to be out of our hotel by 2pm. It's always kind of a sad day because you're taking your child from his hometown, but hopefully on to a better life. Sam decided he wasn't the happiest baby in the world (we think it was his tummy) just about the time we hit the airport. We had a long wait at the small airport, so he got strolled from here to there, but it didn't help a whole lot… and by the time we got on the plane, he decided to tell everyone on the plane just how unhappy his tummy really was. He started crying well before take off, and might have stopped about 10 minutes before we landed. We're very happy we thought to bring prunes, cuz he certainly turned out to be "full of it".
We arrived in GZ on Friday night, got checked in and were in our room by 8 or 9… but had to be ready to roll by 8:30 the next morning, so we were all in bed fairly quickly. Breakfast was as wonderful as we remembered, then off to the medical checkup required by the US, in order for Sam to enter the US as a citizen. The trouble is, now that we're under the Hague treaty, the poor little guy had to have 6 shots and a TB test (another shot), which of course was not very fun for anyone. The rest of the checkup is pretty routine - height, weight, temperature, ENT, listen to his heart (by 3 different dr's because of his ToF), etc, but because it has to be done on a Saturday to get the results to the US Embassy/Consulate in time, it's always a very long morning. A trip to the grocery store on the way back to the hotel and the afternoon was ours.
We met with the other families for dinner at a Japanese restaurant that evening - pretty pricey but a fun experience, and beautifully decorated - and the restaurant was totally fine with the kids bringing McD's in with them, rather than ordering from there, so not as pricey as it might have been. I think after this trip, the kids might just hate McD's almost as much as I do. Remind us to tell you about the cheater floor around the low (sit on the floor) dinner table. We ended up in our own little room because the big tables with the grill (like Sakura at home) were full, but the fun thing was that we had our guide, Amy all to ourselves.
Tonight we all ate together again, tho not planned by our guide. It was at another restaurant in the hotel called Food Street - very Chinese, but much better priced. And we all sat in the same section together this time… one of the fun things about a travel group is getting to know the other families and keeping in touch afterwards. We don't live near most, but one family does live fairly close, and another Mom and I have been emailing since June or so. We still get together for social events with families from our 1st two trips and we're so very grateful for them.
Earlier today was sightseeing at a cultural museum and also a tea ceremony at a tea shop… both places we've been to before, but still very fun. The cultural museum has these huge, huge double doors, each painted with huge, huge warriors on them. I remember Theresa being terrified of the warriors on both Abby's trip and Faith's trip, so this time, I didn't tell her we were about to see them again, then when she was standing right next to one, I took her picture and told her about them. Also at this place was a man making black and white paintings using only his hand… the side of his palm, his fingertips, his fingernails… and all very beautiful… just not in our price range, tho not too bad and I came close. Faith recognized this place from her adoption trip and wasn't thrilled about going, but then didn't want to leave. It has all these carvings on the roof line, and when we got inside, there were several young art students sketching the carvings. She tried to play it off like she wasn't all that interested, but I saw her about 5 minutes later going back to look at their work.
I'm really enjoying the 6 other families. One family is Chinese, having 2 bio sons and a bio daughter, and now a new daughter. The family of the Mom I've been emailing with prior to the trip has 2 Chinese daughters at home, along with an older bio daughter, and now have a new son. Another family has kids at home, but are here by themselves and have adopted a 9 yo daughter who's very sweet. The Dad of this family has become Alex's "best friend ebber" - sorry Johnny/David/Joshua. One family has their son and daughter here with them, and now have a new daughter. Their son is somewhat of a wild child like Alex, but he's a few years older. These 2 families have been together the whole time, as their new daughters are from the same province. One family has husband and kids at home, and just the Mom and new daughter are here. And the last family has their Chinese daughter here with them (3-ish yo) and a new son, but they also have the grandparents here with them as well. All are becoming fast friends and once again, I feel very blessed to have known them and spent this special time with them.
Funny thing - Faith said she didn't remember this hotel when we arrived - which makes sense because of the renovations. But the next day, she was looking out our window down at the street and remembered the place across the street, because we were here JUST before Chinese New Year and people were lined up outside that building to get tickets home to their families, as is tradition. The cell phone tower (I call it the Honda tower because of the neon lights on it) that you can see from the room is not lit up, but I think if it had been, she would've remembered the hotel that first night.
Abby and Theresa have both finished their homework, except that they're to journal about the trip and bring back photos and mementos, all of which they're working on. You can pray for Faith and her homework tho. She's working on it, but it isn't easy (right, Johnny?). All 3 girls are having a good time mothering Sam, and he's eating it up. Again, Alex is thrilled to have a baby brudder to take a bath with.
Sam's showing his temper and his impatience a bit more… or should I say, he's feeling comfortable enough with us to let them show (which is good, but…). He doesn't usually want to bother finishing his mouthful of food before adding more… and if you stop him, he's not too thrilled. With hindsight we can see that thankfully most of the stubbornness from Friday was likely just constipation, and we also know the hoarding food in his mouth is just typical orphanage behavior. Today he finally started to get that I wasn't going to let him have more until what he had was gone, and hopefully he's also starting to get that we're going to feed him regularly and that there's no need to store up for winter. He's also showing his funniness and charm. Tonight after dinner, we were walking back to the room and he had my hand and Abby's and at some point, he started taking 2-3 steps and then a funny little jump/stutter-step and laughing his heart out. That, combined with the size 12 mos pants that were quite literally falling off, especially with the jumping… made for quite a comical walk back. His tiny-hiney and little bird legs are too cute, but we can't wait to put a little meat on them.
Tomorrow we go to Shaiman Island for trinket shopping (DJ/Demarie - I've remembered, BION). Amy said we'll have 3 hours, but that if it's not enough, it's easy to take a cab back, which we've done before (about $2 US). That's in the afternoon, but in the morning she goes to the US Consulate on our behalf, so please pray that all our collective T's are crossed and I's are dotted correctly.
Not sure what's on the agenda for Wednesday, other than the swearing ceremony at the US Consulate, but already I've got the wanna go/don't wanna go syndrome. As I look at how many days we've got left, I want to make sure we make the most of every moment, and yet I CAN'T WAIT to get home and get into our routine… to introduce Sambo to his loving family, to get him to the dr's and ped. cardiologist, to get on with getting over the jetlag, and to sleep in our own beds… you know, all the things that make home home.
For now, I'm off to bed. Look for the pictures after they get uploaded. Hope you enjoy them and thanks so much for praying us home. We love you very much!
Let's Roll!!
