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Updates:

Have started something new - a BLOG! Check it out on the links page.

Still writing the last Travel Entry

Now posting on the Home Updates page 01/31/09

Email from the website is not working. My personal email address larawade@sbcglobal.net

China Time:

Travel Date: 1/18/2009
Subject: Shopping and Paperwork

What we did today:
My brain is totally fried! But if I tell you why first, it will totally mess up the order of our day. So you’ll have to wait to find out why.

It is great to be back together with the other families in our travel group! Meeting the familiar faces of people you know at breakfast and sharing stories of our adventures in the provinces where we each met our children was so great. Our nine families went to six different provinces so many of the families experienced the same loneliness we felt. Now our group is not only larger, but also louder and busier.

After breakfast we loaded onto our group bus to go SHOPPING! Our first stop was Shamian Island. Many of the consulate offices for different countries used to be located here. Even though the US consulate has moved to a different location, this is still a shopping Mecca for adoptive families.

We had a definite mission today!

A friend from home who adopted a daughter from China a couple of years ago now has another daughter adopted from Kazakhstan. While here in China before, they had developed a relationship with one of the shop owners and purchased several pairs of squeaky shoes. Don’t know what those are? Squeaky shoes are incredibly cute Mary Jane type shoes or sandals made of leather with a squeaker in the shoe. They encourage little ones to learn to walk because each step rewards them with a sound. Fun!

So after getting lost for a while shopping in one store, we had to find Sherry’s Place. God is so good. We wandered around looking but not finding the right shop. A young Chinese woman struck up a conversation as we walked down the street.

The Chinese are masterful salespeople! First they develop a relationship with you. Chatting away while we walked. “Where was our daughter from? Oh, a spicy girl! I’m from Chongqing too. How old is she?” Then they reel you in. “My shop is right down this street. You come in and take a look.” Now you are inside and then they obligate you to do business. “Here for your daughter. For free.” Yes, we have “Sucker” written in bold letters on our foreheads…and Hui Dong knows it too. As we walked into the temptresses shop, I noticed Sherry’s Place was right next door!

We sorted through the squeaky shoes and found just the right sizes and colors. We needed to get back to our bus, but plan to do more shopping SOON, and promised Sherry we would return.

After our Shamain Island adventure, more fun was in store – grocery shopping! The whole bus load went to the Carrefour (Chinese version of Super Walmart). First of all, LOVE the shopping carts! They don’t just move forwards and backwards; they have swivel wheels and can move side-to-side and diagonally. Perfect for Chinese drivers! Then, this store isn’t just one level so there are shopping cart escalators. You pull up and ride it up or down. So cool!

Since we don’t have a baby, we don’t need diapers, wipes, and baby formula. We were shopping for bottled water and yogurt primarily, but managed to fill our cart with more than just a six-year-old girl. Candies, cookies, crackers, and chips…who do you think choose these? Two guesses and neither one was me! We also picked up some Cup O’ Noodles type meals which ended up being great for lunch today. Hui Dong also twisted our arms for some canned milk drink things that she loves. My great find – Coca-Cola Zero! When we were in Beijing in 2007, Coca-Cola Light was served at a lot of the places we went, but on this trip it has only been regular Coke or Pepsi, depending on which province we’ve been in. I miss Diet Coke!

After a quick lunch, I drew the short straw and got to represent our family at the glorious Paperwork Party! After collecting tons of paperwork in the US just to get here and filling out paperwork in Chongqing to officially adopt Hui Dong, there is more paperwork to be completed to apply for her visa to come home. Tired, sleep-deprived parents sat in a conference room being walked line by line through the process to complete each form. What city and state was your spouse born in? Your wedding date with city and state? Her Chinese name in Chinese order, her American name in Chinese order, her Chinese name in American order, her American name in American order, date mm-dd-yyyy, date dd-mm-yyyy. Ugh! It took almost two hours. Now do you know why my brain is fried?

Since this was really the first time I had left Christopher and Hui Dong alone together, I was really hoping to come back and find that she hadn’t screamed for two hours. Best case scenario…she would have taken her much needed nap. No such luck. There had been an impromptu freeze tag game in the hallway. She didn’t really join in and play with the other kids, but did watch for a while. I found the two of them playing a game of memory together (thought it would be a great way to introduce some words). She was much better than her Baba.

As I sat down and began to write this journal entry, they needed a new distraction. Christopher again tried to read English words to her out of our Chinese/English book. He would say the work in English and she would only say the word in Chinese. Who was learning?

Since that wasn’t working and she was wrestles, they divided into the suitcase to see what they could find. Hui Dong wanted to play with the bubbles, but Christopher found some long skinny balloons like you use to make balloon animals and a pump that I found at the dollar store. Surely they could find a nice and fun way to play together? The next thing I hear is an enormous pop as the first balloon exploded. Hui Dong thought my jumping and screaming was hysterical. Next thing I know, they are out in the hallway sword fighting. Giggles and laughter filled the room and the halls. (Thankfully we haven’t been kicked out of the hotel yet.) They had so much FUN, but it really wasn’t the quiet and calm balloon animal activity I envisioned.

Some of our travel mates stopped by to load photos from their camera onto their website. They previously adopted their four year old daughter from Fuling, just like Hui Dong, and are here to adopt their second daughter. We hoped Hui Dong might play nicely, but she completely shut down at first and then turned into her wild-child self. Finally she settled down when they watched a video together. Social skills need some work.

With no nap and her wild behaviors, we decided to play it safe and try Pizza Hut again which is also right next to the hotel. She still doesn’t like pizza. We ordered a small plain cheese pizza and a small Works. We thought surely she’d eat something. She spit out the cheese from the cheese pizza and only ate the crusty part before rejecting the rest of the slice. She wanted to try the Works again, but quickly rejected if again.

The spitting thing…yuck. It is another behavior that she has that is very Chinese. Grown adults will just spit as they walk along. I even watched a lady stick her head out of a bus to spit. So when she doesn’t like something, she just spits it out…on the floor, on the table, any where. At least we are trying to keep it on a napkin right now.

Tomorrow (Monday) was supposed to be our medial exam day, but there are so many families that we will now wait to do that on Tuesday. Instead our group will tour some around the Guangzhou area. The princess I snow asleep and her Baba fell asleep before she did so I think I’ll turn in too.

Just four more days and we leave on the fifth day!

Photos... (click image to enlarge)

The breakfast views from the 45th floor