Hong Kong and Home

John blogging again,

It has been over a month since we arrived home. But I thought I would backfill our last days in China so everyone would at least have some closure.

The flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong was delayed a bit because of the weather in Hong Kong. When we arrived in Hong Kong, it was raining so the flight attendants started to hand out ponchos. I declined because I'm not afraid of a little rain... When I stepped off the plane, the rain was coming down sideways. I was wishing I would have taken a poncho.

Because of the rain we didn't do any sight-seeing. Dang, I would have loved to glimpse Jackie Chan's house.

View outside our hotel window.


Then came the 12 1/2 hour flight to California where we missed our connecting flight to Idaho. We were able to get the next flight out so it wasn't too bad.

Our only regret is that somewhere in the San Francisco airport is the stroller we bought in China.

Shamian Island

On Shamian Island, there are a bunch of little shops set up which carry items that most adoptive parents buy, because most adoptive parents from the US usually stay at the White Swan hotel located here. I guess the hotel was booked when they tried to get us in so we are not staying there. However, the guide is bringing us here each day to shop. John and I have the bartering thing down and we didn't even know it. We just do what we do in a normal store: be hesitant. They come down in price when they see we're interested but hesitant. John got an interesting item from the 7-Eleven shop you see here... Sprite On Fire (Ginger Sprite).

This evening we went on the Pearl River Cruise. There was a dinner buffet but I felt a little ill so I held the baby while John tried new dishes. He didn't try the duck tongue...I guess even HE has his limitations. The girls and I had Pizza Hut later in our room.

It's John again. Last day in Changsha. So the girls decided to go out and get their hair done while I tended Mira.

We're now in Guangzhou. We had to do Mira's medical examination. Someone said that the babies would probably cry. As soon as Mira saw the doctor she freaked. All the babies except one were just wailing. What a blast!

Changsha Sightseeing

Hi. This is John. I'm blogging today.

We went to a Confucian University today. It's a nice place to study philosophy. My wife and children have decided to enroll.



Oh, we also went to a Walmart...in China. Way cool. It is very much like our Walmart except it's smaller and is on two floors and instead of a little lobster tank there is a small swimming pool filled with live fish. There are also some fish tanks nearby. I get the feeling they're not for the aquarium. Anyhow, Mira just loves Walmart. Can you blame her?



That is all.

Faryn has been taking some of our pictures

Mira is very playful and very social. She waves and talks to many people. She is a happy baby. She will go to John now. I can leave her with him for a few minutes and she will cry at first but settles down fairly quickly and will play with him. Today she said "Da-Da". She has been saying "Ma-Ma" but I think today she actually meant me.

More Mira

Mira ate more today than I'd ever expect from someone so small. She ate watermellon, eggs, rice cereal, pears, fish soup, steamed pumpkin, and rice. She kept asking for more of everything but I think we finally filled her up. Yesterday she wouldn't eat, today she wouldn't drink. I just hope there was enough water in her food to keep her hydrated. She had 3 messy diapers today!

I went to the local market today to get something to put in her hair. You can really see her curls now! She pulls the bands out when she gets sleepy and she likes to play with the hair on the back of her head while going to sleep (reminds me of someone else in the family).

About the bonding: Mira won't even ride in a carrier. I have to carry her everywhere we go. She still won't go to anyone, but I found out that she screams harder if John, Tessa, and Faryn leave while she's screaming. She makes herself stay awake until they return. She wants to be sure all of us are here when she goes to sleep and when she wakes up. I think she's bonding to the whole family, even though she won't let the others hold her.

Gotcha Day!

Mira is ours. She is SOOOO BEAUTIFUL! She even has curly hair! But of all the spicy Hunan babies today, I think we got the spiciest! When we went to pick her up at the government office, she was the only one brought into the room screaming. She screamed all the way back to the hotel, the other couples on the elevator with us said, "Remind us not to ride on the elevator with the Blake's and their baby!" And she screamed for a long time in the room. Faryn cried and hid her head under the pillow, Tessa slipped up to the window sill behind the curtain and John and I tried everything known to humankind (with patience and love, of course) to get her to quit screaming.
Finally, Chinese TV and Cheerios did the trick. I can tell she understands Chinese even though she doesn't speak it (at least I don't think she does) except to say "Ma" which means "mother". I can tell she was well cared for and loved by her foster family. The only thing I can see on her is a few mosquito bites.

Once things calmed down, Faryn and Tessa came out and played with her while she sat on my lap. We got her really smiling and laughing.
We were even able to take her down to lunch in the hotel, where she fell asleep in the high chair eating Cheerios (we can't get her to eat anything else yet...not even a bottle, she drinks water from a cup though).


Tonight was a repeat of earlier... screaming, hiding, more screaming... so I gave her a bath (thought it couldn't get much worse). She finally fell asleep in my arms. John tried all day to take her and she won't go to anyone but me. I guess she's bonding? I would like her to bond with John a little too - especially during the screaming sessions. I'm exhausted!

Greetings from Changsha!

August 9th we went to the Great Wall and it was a huge climb. None of us made it to the top (although Tessa and Faryn both claim they could have). It drizzled all day, which was a good thing because it wasn't so hot and there were a lot fewer people at the tourist attractions. We went to a professional Kung Fu show that evening - a play performed with Kung Fu moves, ballet, and acrobatics combined. It was amazing! We saw it in a theater that was built just 2 months ago and was very cool.

We are now in Changsha. We will get Mira tomorrow morning at 8:30. I'm sure those are the posts everyone is most interested in.

Forbidden City, Summer Palace

The Forbidden City and Summer Palace are where we went today. It is a beautiful place in Beijing, with all the pagodas. We liked the story of the Dragon Lady, a cruel lady, who ruled China through a "puppet" emperor. But the highlight of our day was when we ended at a Chinese tea house, where we sat in cute bamboo chairs in a quaint little tea room and were given a demonstration of many different kinds of tea. Here is a picture taken in the tea house, with the girl who gave the demonstration there as well as 2 other couples who are also adopting here through CASI.

Tiananmen Square & Hutong Tour

I think we have jet lag. We sleep from afternoon through night and find ourselves so awake at odd hours in the very early am that we have parties in our room until we can fall to sleep.

Today we went to the oldest part of Beijing where many families live together in very tight spaces and met one family (the Wongs) who live in their own space; we rode a cycle rickshaw to the bell tower and climbed 85 steep stairs to the top (it was just as scary coming down) where we looked out over the city; our tour ended with a stroll around Tiananmen Square - a very large area surrounded by different notable buildings where there were many, MANY people. In front of the National Museum of China there is a large red sign counting down the days, hours, minutes, seconds to the 2008 Olympics which will be held here in Beijing. We are all loving the Chinese food here and Tessa is proud that she learned how to use chopsticks today.

Our guide, Michael, with the girls

We went to the Beijing zoo and saw the panda bears. As we were walking through the building, we saw this one's face through the barred window that you see at the left, while he was eating, but Michael and I told John to wait and get a better picture from outside the building, this is what we got. None of the pandas were very cooperative for pictures. It is very hot and muggy (although Michael keeps telling us that it is much, much cooler than last week).

We made it!

We made it to China in spite of our adventures along the way.
We wondered if we’d find our way in the San Francisco Airport. We took the step-ladder off the plane, to the ground and had to take the shuttle to the main terminal. Knowing that our flight was to be found at gate 98, we went to the very end of the terminal only to find 90 to be the highest. We finally found the international terminal by going through an obscure emergency exit from the main terminal around gate 70 and taking another shuttle. (It’s a good thing we had a 2 hour layover there.)
The 12 hour flight was more difficult to endure than any of us had planned. With Faryn asking every hour how much longer, and Tessa’s sinus problems, we wonder how we’re going to do on the ride back with baby in tow.
Beijing is a big city and we were glad to find our guide, “Michael” (what he has Americans call him) at the airport waiting to help us with our bags (I think he thinks we over packed...hmm...) and find our way to the hotel. At the airport people kept saying “taxi?” to me and I thought it must be some Chinese word because surely I don’t look like a taxi driver. Chaotic traffic was a blast. Half the time we weren’t in a lane but driving between, right down the dotted lines with cars on both sides!
Tessa went to bed while the rest of us went to eat at the restaurant in the hotel. Faryn liked her food the best - fish and chips (although I think the ketchup tasted a little soy-ey) - and nearly ate it all. John ordered the tuna sandwich. I ordered the chef salad which was beautiful to look at but not much on taste. And they don’t have ranch dressing here so I received a VERY soy-ey tasting Thousand Island. It surprised us to see that each of our meals was around 70.00 (of course, that’s in Chinese money but it looks very surprising on the menu)!
The beds are almost like boards but it felt so good to lay down and sleep after this exhausting day. Now we’re all wide awake and it’s 3:00 AM and so we broke the locks off of Tessa’s and Faryn’s suitcases (having left the keys at home) and are having a morning party in our room. We are having fun!

Exact Travel Dates and Times

This is the schedule we have as of today. We should get our full itinerary this week (I hope before Thursday!)

AIRLINES                  DEPART             ARRIVE             DURATION
 
United         04Aug 9:21A     10:01A        Non Stop
                  Boise     San Francis CA     1:40
 
United         04Aug 1:55P    05Aug 4:55P    Non Stop
               San Francis     Beijing        12:00
 
China          10Aug 11:10A     1:30P        Non Stop
Southern         Beijing       Changsha        2:20
 
United         21Aug 11:45A   21Aug 9:15A    Non Stop
                Hong Kong     San Francis     12:30
 
United         21Aug 11:25A     2:01P        Non Stop
               San Francis      Boise          1:36