Well, we have had quite the first day/day and a half since we got home.
First of all, while we were in China, Michelle's Aunt Rhonda (Beyer) passed away. She had been battling cancer for the past couple of months and she passed away on Thursday (I may have my days mixed between our China days and Paducah days). Michelle and our family loved Rhonda very much and are very sad about this for Jerry and their kids (Robert, Ryan and Jennifer) and our family as a whole. We have had a pretty bad year on this side of the family healthwise this year.
We got our wake-up call at 4:30 am on Friday morning (2:30pm Thursday Paducah time) in Guangzhou for our 8:30 flight to Hong Kong. The flight is pretty short non-eventful for Coee. We then get ready for our 11:30 am flight out to Chicago that will take about 14 hours and 09 minutes. We have dreaded this trip for so long with a small baby that hadn't ridden in a car very long, much less an airplane for that long. The flight went amazingly well and Coee was great. I had two empty seats on my row (Michelle and the kids were the entire middle row behind me) so when it came time for Coee to go to sleep, I made her a bed next to me and she slept for 4/5 hours. Trey and Dillon also slept for 4 hours or so. I slept for maybe an hour and Michelle probably didn't sleep that long. We arrived in Chicago on time and were met with the rude awakening of US immigration! We went down an escalator and saw a sea of 500-600 people waiting to get through customs and immigration. In China, they have about 12 lanes set up for this and even on our big flight into Beijing, it only took about 10 minutes total to get thru customs and immigration. In the US, they had about 3/4 lanes open and way too many people to get thru there. I could see this taking hours!
About 3 minutes into standing in line, a guy came to the crowd and shouted for "anyone with small children, follow me"! I felt like the old Budweiser commercial "I love you man"! He took us (3 or 4 families) to a special room for our immigration processing. It only took about 10 minutes and we were on our way. Coee was now an official citizen of the US!
We then had to re-check our bags to get them to Nashville, which we did and they all got re-checked without a hitch. (more on this later)
We had a layover of about 3 hours, the kids were hungry and we had been up for about 21 hours or so................good times.
We got the kids fed and watered and set out to find our gate for departure to Nashville. The video screens showed the flight on time and leaving from gate F1. We got to that gate and it was crowded for another flight so we made our way across the aisle and got our 3 kids, 3 carry on bags, 4 backpacks and spread them out in our little area. I took a nap for about 45 minutes and our kids (Coee included) ran free in our gate area! I am sure the other passengers were thinking bad thoughts about our parenting skills, but we didn't know them, there wasn't a DFS (dept. of family services) Office in the airport and we just really didn't care!
About 15 minutes before we thought we would board the plane, we gathered up our stuff and headed across the aisle to our gate. When we got there, I was a little alarmed that the flight information on the digital board was for another flight and it wasn't to Nashville. I went to the desk and asked what was up and she informed me that she had announced on the louspeaker that the flight to Nashville had been moved to gate 4. We then moved our traveling circus to gate 4. The flight information on the board there showed the flight was going to Iowa or some such place. I then proceeded to ask about our missing flight to Nashville. She informed me that it had then moved to Gate 2. Finally we found the right gate. Michelle then decides that she needs to change clothes and change Coee for our triumphant return to the South side of the Ohio River! We had about 3 minutes before boarding to get it done and she did it!
Michelle and Coee slept for the 1.5 hour flight to Nashville.
When we got to Nashville, a big group of people were waiting for us and it was a huge relief to finally be "almost" home! There were tears, hugs and kisses all around. Everyone was kind of excited to see Coee and she did great and wasn't overwhelmed at all.
After all the initial hugs and chit chat, we set about finding baggage claim. Neil, Chad and I went down to baggage claim and got two of our checked bags. The other 3 were missing and I had to fill our a claims form. The baggage lady (bag lady?) said that many flights were overloaded and they had had to pull quite a bit of luggage all day.
We (20 of us) left the airport and went and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was great food with great people. Coee showed out and made quite a first impression on everyone!
After dinner we said our goodbye's and drove home. We got home at 10:00pm and got to bed about 1:00 am (our little travel extravaganza had lasted for 35 hours with about 2 hours sleep for Michelle and I). Michelle's cough found it's way south with us and she couldn't sleep until about 4:00am. She did 3 loads of laundry and watched Grey's Anatomy!
I slept until 8:00 or so, the boys had to be woken up at 10:30 for Dillon's final basketball game. Michelle and I went to the basketball game and then got ready for the visitation services for Aunt Rhonda at 3:00pm. Dillon also had his basketball awards banquet this afternoon and my mom took him to that.
After the visitation we then went to Mona's house for food and play for the kids.
It is now 10:53 and all is quiet at our house. Everyone is asleep, the boys downstairs with Chad and Ethan, and Coee and Michelle are in our bed snuggled up, and Michelle isn't coughing.......................life is good.
I will take some pictures tomorrow of Coee at our house and post them. She has been a big hit with everyone and has assimilated into our life so quickly it is simply amazing. She only fusses when she is hungry and is such a good baby.
We were hoping to be at Church tomorrow, but the funeral for Rhonda is at 11:00, so we won't make it this week. We will see everyone from Church next week and if you want to come see Coee, our house is open!
Thanks everyone again for all the support during this time of our life. It has truly meant so much to us to hear that people enjoyed reading our blog and keeping up with what we were doing. We had many people tell us tonight at the services that they had watched our story and were touched by it. That means so much to us, I don't even have the words.
God is good and it has sure been quite a Journey to Coee! We are so lucky to have this precious little girl with the big smile and big voice!
Amen.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Day 13 in Guangzhou- Our last night in China!
Well, we have finally reached our last night in China. We are all ready to leave and to get our 14 hour flight over with. We have a wake-up call for 4:30 in the morning and our checked bags will be picked up for us and taken to the airport at 5:00. I think we leave the hotel at 5:30 for the bus ride to the airport. There are 3 families of us left flying out tomorrow.
We have most of our stuff packed, but are trying to get everything packed tonight so we don't have to worry about doing much at the wee hours of the morning.
Today we went back to Shiamen Island and did our best to help the Chinese economy. We bought lots of traditional outfits for Coee in several sizes for her to have as she grows up. We also bought enough "squeaky shoes" to last her for a couple of years (I think she now has a dozen pair at least).
We also bought a few other things and were carrying so much that people were trying to sell us more suitcases to haul it all.
Late this afternoon we went across the road to a mall called the "Friendly store" and were once again shocked at how much shopping is available in this city. On the first floor there was a Ferrari car dealership, so Trey and Dillon got to see a Ferrari F-450 up close. There was also a Maserati dealership, and they had a nice Maserati setting out on display. Inside the store, there was a Rolex area, a Hermes area, several British watch manufacturers, and just a whole lot of very expensive brands in the area of watches and make-up.
On the second floor there was Mens wear, luggage, etc.
On the third floor there was sporting goods (badmitton and tennis are the main sports along with basketball)
On the fourth floor there was jewelry and a grocery!
On the fifth floor there was womens wear
On the sixth floor was Baby stuff
All the merchandise was very high end and we even bought oreo cookies and M & M's at the grocery!
The boys were very excited to get the US candy!
Trey and Dillon have been working on their homework alot the last few days and have a plan for the plane of working on 1/2 of the remaining papers, watch a movie, then finish the rest of their papers.
We will see how that goes............
Coee was once again a hoot today! She is awesome as long as we are going somewhere or doing something. If we have to stand and be still for a long time, she gets a bit restless, but no more than any other 11 month old. If you are shopping with her, you will never know she is around until you hear her cackling laugh or her cute little yell that you will become all too familiar with in the next few weeks and months.
We didn't take any additional pictures today, so it is just an informational post!
Michelle may post her version of today when she gets Coee to sleep.
Thanks again for all the thoughts, prayers, support and love that you guys have sent our way the last few weeks. We need a few more to get us through tomorrow, as it will be the most trying day for all of us, but also the most rewarding as we get back to familiar soil and to our wonderful family and friends!
We have most of our stuff packed, but are trying to get everything packed tonight so we don't have to worry about doing much at the wee hours of the morning.
Today we went back to Shiamen Island and did our best to help the Chinese economy. We bought lots of traditional outfits for Coee in several sizes for her to have as she grows up. We also bought enough "squeaky shoes" to last her for a couple of years (I think she now has a dozen pair at least).
We also bought a few other things and were carrying so much that people were trying to sell us more suitcases to haul it all.
Late this afternoon we went across the road to a mall called the "Friendly store" and were once again shocked at how much shopping is available in this city. On the first floor there was a Ferrari car dealership, so Trey and Dillon got to see a Ferrari F-450 up close. There was also a Maserati dealership, and they had a nice Maserati setting out on display. Inside the store, there was a Rolex area, a Hermes area, several British watch manufacturers, and just a whole lot of very expensive brands in the area of watches and make-up.
On the second floor there was Mens wear, luggage, etc.
On the third floor there was sporting goods (badmitton and tennis are the main sports along with basketball)
On the fourth floor there was jewelry and a grocery!
On the fifth floor there was womens wear
On the sixth floor was Baby stuff
All the merchandise was very high end and we even bought oreo cookies and M & M's at the grocery!
The boys were very excited to get the US candy!
Trey and Dillon have been working on their homework alot the last few days and have a plan for the plane of working on 1/2 of the remaining papers, watch a movie, then finish the rest of their papers.
We will see how that goes............
Coee was once again a hoot today! She is awesome as long as we are going somewhere or doing something. If we have to stand and be still for a long time, she gets a bit restless, but no more than any other 11 month old. If you are shopping with her, you will never know she is around until you hear her cackling laugh or her cute little yell that you will become all too familiar with in the next few weeks and months.
We didn't take any additional pictures today, so it is just an informational post!
Michelle may post her version of today when she gets Coee to sleep.
Thanks again for all the thoughts, prayers, support and love that you guys have sent our way the last few weeks. We need a few more to get us through tomorrow, as it will be the most trying day for all of us, but also the most rewarding as we get back to familiar soil and to our wonderful family and friends!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Day 12: Guangzhou - Michelle edition
Well, I have bypassed my nightly 20 minute coughing fit (to the point I can't breathe, talk and sometimes end up throwing up.) Nice. It only happens immediately after I get Coee down for the night. Who knows.
We had a good day today. Trey and Dillon are a bit behind on getting their school work done so we did several stretches of uninterrupted worksheet time while Terrell did a bit more shopping for me. The whole group had dinner together. We took pictures of each of the families, discussed that we need to keep all of our girls in touch since they came from the same orphanage, and said our farewells. It's amazing how quickly and close you become with these families, but we are sharing a monumental happening within our families halfway around the world.
Did you know that the tap water in China is not for drinking? I mean nobody in China drinks straight out of the tap. Every one of our hotels has provided a hot pot in our room. They also provide two bottles of purified water per day per room. Before using the tap water for brushing our teeth or any consumption, you have to boil the water for three minutes. Even when you are in the shower, you have to keep your eyes and mouth closed because you can't get the water in your body. They don't purify their water to a consumable state. It felt like the right thing to do in the first two hotels, but it is hard to believe that we are in a super-nice 5 star hotel, and can't drink the water. Amazing. Between making bottles, brushing teeth, making hot chocolate and ramen noodles and washing dishes, I have kept the hot pots majorly busy.
I know we have said it before, but it is truly amazing how lucky we are. This is a city of 12 million people. There are tall buildings after tall buildings after tall buildings. There is public transportation, a subway, HUGE multi-level malls, but there is no heat in most apartment buildings (which is where the large, large majority of the population lives. We have seen ONE house the whole time we have been in China. One.) People do not have washers and dryers. Every single apartment has an expandable clothes "line" outside its' window or balcony, with clothes hanging to dry. Many, many apartments have meat hanging to dry right beside the clothes. We have seen beggars, many of them. We have seen homeless people sleeping on the curb - right next to the street- in the middle of the day with no shoes on. Sound asleep. We have seen women with the stick over the shoulders balancing two baskets of bananas and clementines to sell - right outside our hotel. This trip has certainly opened our eyes to the world. You can see it on t.v., but it doesn't do justice until you have seen it with your own two eyes. The contrast is amazing.
We are gearing up to head home day after tomorrow. I am looking forward to being home and seeing everyone, but I am not looking forward to the fourteen hour flight and twenty-four total hours of travel time. Please keep your prayers with us as we travel, that we have a safe trip and Coee does well on the long trip home. We love you all!!
Michelle
We had a good day today. Trey and Dillon are a bit behind on getting their school work done so we did several stretches of uninterrupted worksheet time while Terrell did a bit more shopping for me. The whole group had dinner together. We took pictures of each of the families, discussed that we need to keep all of our girls in touch since they came from the same orphanage, and said our farewells. It's amazing how quickly and close you become with these families, but we are sharing a monumental happening within our families halfway around the world.
Did you know that the tap water in China is not for drinking? I mean nobody in China drinks straight out of the tap. Every one of our hotels has provided a hot pot in our room. They also provide two bottles of purified water per day per room. Before using the tap water for brushing our teeth or any consumption, you have to boil the water for three minutes. Even when you are in the shower, you have to keep your eyes and mouth closed because you can't get the water in your body. They don't purify their water to a consumable state. It felt like the right thing to do in the first two hotels, but it is hard to believe that we are in a super-nice 5 star hotel, and can't drink the water. Amazing. Between making bottles, brushing teeth, making hot chocolate and ramen noodles and washing dishes, I have kept the hot pots majorly busy.
I know we have said it before, but it is truly amazing how lucky we are. This is a city of 12 million people. There are tall buildings after tall buildings after tall buildings. There is public transportation, a subway, HUGE multi-level malls, but there is no heat in most apartment buildings (which is where the large, large majority of the population lives. We have seen ONE house the whole time we have been in China. One.) People do not have washers and dryers. Every single apartment has an expandable clothes "line" outside its' window or balcony, with clothes hanging to dry. Many, many apartments have meat hanging to dry right beside the clothes. We have seen beggars, many of them. We have seen homeless people sleeping on the curb - right next to the street- in the middle of the day with no shoes on. Sound asleep. We have seen women with the stick over the shoulders balancing two baskets of bananas and clementines to sell - right outside our hotel. This trip has certainly opened our eyes to the world. You can see it on t.v., but it doesn't do justice until you have seen it with your own two eyes. The contrast is amazing.
We are gearing up to head home day after tomorrow. I am looking forward to being home and seeing everyone, but I am not looking forward to the fourteen hour flight and twenty-four total hours of travel time. Please keep your prayers with us as we travel, that we have a safe trip and Coee does well on the long trip home. We love you all!!
Michelle
Day 12 in Guangzhou- the visa day
Well gang, this little journey of ours is quickly coming to a close. Many of our group are leaving tomorrow, three couples of us are leaving on Friday, so we get one more day here.
Today we had our "swearing in" ceremony at the US Consulate here in Guangzhou. A large room full of probably 50 families who were all adopting children met at the Consulate this afternoon to get our kids visa's so that they can enter the US and become citizens thru one of two methods: 1.) In most states, since we have adopted them, as soon as we enter US airspace or land in the US, they become US citizens. 2.) In some states or if one of the adopted parents aren't here in China, the child has to be re-adopted in the US to become a citizen.
We are in the number 1) group, so as soon as we land, Coee is a citizen.
This morning, we had another leisurely breakfast and took a walk around the grounds of our hotel outside the breakfast restaurant (see picture below). It is a very peaceful place in this urban jungle of Guangzhou.
I went back to Liwan Plaza today for a little extra shopping for things that Michelle needed. If possible, I will take our video camera there tomorrow and video the scene. It is completely unlike anything I have ever experienced shopping anywhere (even New York City). In this one shopping center and surrounding streets, there are probably 1,000 stores or more in an area of about the size of our mall and mall parking lot. There are thousands of people there too, all the stores are doing good business.
My ability to do enough sign language to purchase what we need was tested today by our need for an Albuterol inhaler for Michelle. Her persistent cough has caused her alot of problem at night, so one of the Doctors in our group adopting a child (there are 3) told me to get her an inhaler. Well, let me tell you, trying to explain an inhaler to people who don't speak your language is quite a fun task. I drew pictures, mimiced asthma and breathing problems and anything else I could think of at the drug store that I found. Finally after the picture I drew, they understood a little and showed me the area they were in behind the counter. And no, you don't need a script for them. It is made by Glaxo Smith Kline, so I felt pretty good about it and got it for $4!!! I understand they are quite a bit more than that in the US.
Tomorrow we are going back to Shiamen Island and buying a few more things for Coee. After that, we are headed back to the hotel and start packing. We get our wake up call at 4:30 am on Friday. Our guides get our checked luggage to the airport for us and get us to the airport by 6:30 for our 8:30 flight to Hong Kong. We then leave Hong Kong at 11:00 and arrive in Chicago at 11:09 am the same day, but 14 hours later! The time change is gonna be pretty odd for us. We will have some kind of night of sleep and still arrive on Friday before noon!
We then leave Chicago at 3:30 or so and arrive in Nashville at 5:30 pm if everything goes as planned.
Well enough about all that, here is what Coee is doing!
We went to eat tonight at an Italian restaurant with most of our group and Coee showed out! She is very loud and is a camera hound! She also does many of her tricks on demand, so Trey and Dillon enjoy showing her off!
She had our whole table cracking up at her noises, faces and smiles.
Well I am going for now, we will post tomorrow night and then be ready to head home! We are all looking forward to getting back to the US and see how Coee adjusts to everything and to see everyone again. We appreciate all the love and support you guys have sent our way. It has made the time hear go by quickly having a routine of getting comments and posting everyday.
This is the waterfall outside our breakfast restaurant. We even found a "star fruit" tree in the garden and almost got hit by falling fruit!
Here are my two girls!!
Today we had our "swearing in" ceremony at the US Consulate here in Guangzhou. A large room full of probably 50 families who were all adopting children met at the Consulate this afternoon to get our kids visa's so that they can enter the US and become citizens thru one of two methods: 1.) In most states, since we have adopted them, as soon as we enter US airspace or land in the US, they become US citizens. 2.) In some states or if one of the adopted parents aren't here in China, the child has to be re-adopted in the US to become a citizen.
We are in the number 1) group, so as soon as we land, Coee is a citizen.
This morning, we had another leisurely breakfast and took a walk around the grounds of our hotel outside the breakfast restaurant (see picture below). It is a very peaceful place in this urban jungle of Guangzhou.
I went back to Liwan Plaza today for a little extra shopping for things that Michelle needed. If possible, I will take our video camera there tomorrow and video the scene. It is completely unlike anything I have ever experienced shopping anywhere (even New York City). In this one shopping center and surrounding streets, there are probably 1,000 stores or more in an area of about the size of our mall and mall parking lot. There are thousands of people there too, all the stores are doing good business.
My ability to do enough sign language to purchase what we need was tested today by our need for an Albuterol inhaler for Michelle. Her persistent cough has caused her alot of problem at night, so one of the Doctors in our group adopting a child (there are 3) told me to get her an inhaler. Well, let me tell you, trying to explain an inhaler to people who don't speak your language is quite a fun task. I drew pictures, mimiced asthma and breathing problems and anything else I could think of at the drug store that I found. Finally after the picture I drew, they understood a little and showed me the area they were in behind the counter. And no, you don't need a script for them. It is made by Glaxo Smith Kline, so I felt pretty good about it and got it for $4!!! I understand they are quite a bit more than that in the US.
Tomorrow we are going back to Shiamen Island and buying a few more things for Coee. After that, we are headed back to the hotel and start packing. We get our wake up call at 4:30 am on Friday. Our guides get our checked luggage to the airport for us and get us to the airport by 6:30 for our 8:30 flight to Hong Kong. We then leave Hong Kong at 11:00 and arrive in Chicago at 11:09 am the same day, but 14 hours later! The time change is gonna be pretty odd for us. We will have some kind of night of sleep and still arrive on Friday before noon!
We then leave Chicago at 3:30 or so and arrive in Nashville at 5:30 pm if everything goes as planned.
Well enough about all that, here is what Coee is doing!
We went to eat tonight at an Italian restaurant with most of our group and Coee showed out! She is very loud and is a camera hound! She also does many of her tricks on demand, so Trey and Dillon enjoy showing her off!
She had our whole table cracking up at her noises, faces and smiles.
Well I am going for now, we will post tomorrow night and then be ready to head home! We are all looking forward to getting back to the US and see how Coee adjusts to everything and to see everyone again. We appreciate all the love and support you guys have sent our way. It has made the time hear go by quickly having a routine of getting comments and posting everyday.
This is the waterfall outside our breakfast restaurant. We even found a "star fruit" tree in the garden and almost got hit by falling fruit!
Here are my two girls!!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Day 11 in Guangzhou- full free day
Today has been a nice laid back day. We began the day without having to rush to be anywhere at any certain time, so we had a nice leisurely breakfast by the waterfall. It was beautiful...until I spilled a full glass of orange juice on me and my feshly laundered jeans and t-shirt. The remainder of the meal was a bit of a sticky mess. While we had to be in our room from 10:00 to 12:00 to wait for a call from Dennis, and hope to not get one because that would mean the U.S. Consulate was requesting more information, Trey and Dillon worked on their school work. We didn't receive a call from Dennis needing additional information, so we celebrated by taking the kids to the small playground on-site again. They all enjoyed themselves there. Trey and Dillon have been playing with their new Chinese version of the hackey sack all day today. (See pictures of them in the hall below).
After that, we got a taxi to take us to a mall, but we ended up at a textiles mall. It had all of the fabrics and wholesale home goods you could imagine, but that is not what we were in the market for. We hailed another taxi and asked him to take us back to the plaza we went to day before yesterday. We bought a few things there and Terrell enjoyed the bargaining process immensely.
We had dinner tonight at the revolving restaurant on the 30th floor of the hotel. It was a huge seafood buffet and I did not come close to eating enough to justify the price we paid for it. Oh well. It was the experience of it, right? When we first sat down, Trey, Dillon and Terrell all decided that the floor wasn't moving but instead the outside walls and the interior buffet/restaurant section was moving. I disagreed and they argued. The weird thing was that when they came back from filling their plates on the buffet the first time, the surrounding buildings had begun to move too!!! Isn't that weird? Case closed. Coee loved the boiled shrimp and was not a fan of the chocolate cake. Doesn't like chocolate? We will definitely have to work on that. It will come with time.
We are back in the room now. Coee has had a bath and Trey and Dillon are doing a bit of school work again before bed. We are free tomorrow until 3:00 pm, when all of the families will go to the U.S. Consulate to do the adoption swearing in ceremony. Most families are leaving out the day after that, Thursday morning. We will be leaving Friday morning, so we still have two days left to shop and one empty suitcase to fill. We've got our list and work cut out for us.
Again, thank you for all of the comments. They make our day. Keep them coming!! See you all in three days!
Trey and Dillon's class, here are the questions of the day:
What is the longest river in China?
Is it longer or shorter than the longest river in the US?
Bonus points if you know the longest in the US without looking it up!
This is Trey and Dillon playing Chinese hacky sack in our hallway of the hotel. The hacky sack is very much like a badmitton birdie with additional weight on the nose of it.
Trey and Dillon fed the fish after breakfast this morning. The fish are big fans of the bread at the buffet!
Trey and Dillon helped Coee go "up" the slide several times today!
This is Liwan Plaze and is a huge shopping area attached to a few malls all around it! There were thousands of people there today, which is pretty common because there are thousands of people everywhere in a city of 12 million! One mall that we went into has all jewelry on one side of the circular plaza and clothes and miscellaneous stuff on the other side. The jewelry stores are incredible with 3' tall, 18" diameter bags full of pearls! The workers are constantly working packing boxes to ship to stores all over the world.
Coee loves her some bathtime!!! This is the sink in our bathroom.
After that, we got a taxi to take us to a mall, but we ended up at a textiles mall. It had all of the fabrics and wholesale home goods you could imagine, but that is not what we were in the market for. We hailed another taxi and asked him to take us back to the plaza we went to day before yesterday. We bought a few things there and Terrell enjoyed the bargaining process immensely.
We had dinner tonight at the revolving restaurant on the 30th floor of the hotel. It was a huge seafood buffet and I did not come close to eating enough to justify the price we paid for it. Oh well. It was the experience of it, right? When we first sat down, Trey, Dillon and Terrell all decided that the floor wasn't moving but instead the outside walls and the interior buffet/restaurant section was moving. I disagreed and they argued. The weird thing was that when they came back from filling their plates on the buffet the first time, the surrounding buildings had begun to move too!!! Isn't that weird? Case closed. Coee loved the boiled shrimp and was not a fan of the chocolate cake. Doesn't like chocolate? We will definitely have to work on that. It will come with time.
We are back in the room now. Coee has had a bath and Trey and Dillon are doing a bit of school work again before bed. We are free tomorrow until 3:00 pm, when all of the families will go to the U.S. Consulate to do the adoption swearing in ceremony. Most families are leaving out the day after that, Thursday morning. We will be leaving Friday morning, so we still have two days left to shop and one empty suitcase to fill. We've got our list and work cut out for us.
Again, thank you for all of the comments. They make our day. Keep them coming!! See you all in three days!
Trey and Dillon's class, here are the questions of the day:
What is the longest river in China?
Is it longer or shorter than the longest river in the US?
Bonus points if you know the longest in the US without looking it up!
This is Trey and Dillon playing Chinese hacky sack in our hallway of the hotel. The hacky sack is very much like a badmitton birdie with additional weight on the nose of it.
Trey and Dillon fed the fish after breakfast this morning. The fish are big fans of the bread at the buffet!
Trey and Dillon helped Coee go "up" the slide several times today!
This is Liwan Plaze and is a huge shopping area attached to a few malls all around it! There were thousands of people there today, which is pretty common because there are thousands of people everywhere in a city of 12 million! One mall that we went into has all jewelry on one side of the circular plaza and clothes and miscellaneous stuff on the other side. The jewelry stores are incredible with 3' tall, 18" diameter bags full of pearls! The workers are constantly working packing boxes to ship to stores all over the world.
Coee loves her some bathtime!!! This is the sink in our bathroom.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Day 10 - Guangzhou - The medical "exam"
Don't fall over...it's actually Michelle posting this time. Coee and I took a two plus hour nap this afternoon so I am spry as a spring chicken and ready to help Terrell out with the post. Today was the day that we went to Shamian Island to the medical center to have all of the babies "checked out." This consisted of them measuring her head, checked her tummy, weighing her, measuring her length, and "testing" her hearing and eyesight. The hearing test consisted of holding a toy to one side of her head, squeaking it, then doing the same thing on the other side. She turned her head towards the toy on both counts so she passed. She weighed in at 8.6 kg (almost 19 lbs.) and her length is 75 cm (approx. 25 inches).
After we finished and passed the medical exam, we were free to shop on Shamian Island. Shamian Island has largely become the adoptive families haven. There are many small shops geared towards the adoptive family and their Chinese daughters. We bought everything from squeaky shoes for Coee (see picture below, but I'm not finished shopping for those yet) to a traditional Chinese dress to two new suitcases to carry all of our purchases home in. Trey and Dillon racked up by each getting a SET of swords, plus a practice sword each. They are out in the hall now "practicing" with them. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we only had two hours to shop. Boy did we do some damage in those two hours.
Then all of the families met at the White Swan hotel for the traditional "Red Couch Photo." As all American families adopting from China have to pass through Guangzhou to receive their daughters visa, most families have stayed at the White Swan Hotel. It is a tradition to have the babies pictures made on a (the) red couch in the hotel in their traditional Chinese outfits. Imagine the chaos. Eleven babies, each with at least two accompanying adults and some with accompanying siblings. Lunch time. Let's put them all on the couch and take a photo! Who thought of this tradition? Coee was in the middle of her bottle, so she cried the whole time - big time. She was not alone. I'm guessing there were maybe two babies that were not crying. Big fun. See picture below.
Following the photo opp, we all went for a traditional Dim Sum lunch. This is where you sit at a large round table with a lazy susan in the middle of it. They bring lots of different dishes for all to share. Trey and Dillon generally hold out for the fried rice or noodles during these dinners. Fortunately, they generally end up having one or the other to eat.
After our big morning, we spent the afternoon in the hotel watching movies and resting. Trey and Dillon have had ramen noodles for dinner, and Coee is following in their footsteps in regard to their love for ramen noodles. She had to have some too.
Coee is doing great. We have had much better bedtimes the past two nights. Instead of rocking her, we just put her on the bed with us and she WOLLERS (sp?) all over the bed until she finally gives out and falls asleep. It took almost 45 minutes last night. She is happy the whole time, doesn't cry, and doesn't try to get off the bed or even near the side. She was non-stop activity, like a wiggle worm, for the full 45 minutes. But it works, and it is better than the hour of crying that we had a week ago. Can you believe we have had her over a week already? We can't, but it kind of seems that she has always been here too. It's good to have that week behind us and know her and her wants/needs. I know that she doesn't cry unless she is hungry or tired. We know that she is a funny, funny little girl, full of personality. She knows how to get attention (by being loud) and LOVES the camera. We got the camera out a bit ago to take a picture of all of her shoes. She got so excited, thinking we were going to take her picture. She loves noodles, and watermelon. I told her that it is going to be sad when we leave here because we won't have watermelon until next summer, but I bet there are several people that will happily plant extra so she'll have all she wants. Oh -one more thing we have learned - she really wants a Nintendo DS like her brothers have. She can't keep her hands off of those things. We told her it would be several years. She can do patty cake. Terrell has been trying to teach her that he is Daddy, so he says "Daddy" and pats his chest. Since she is an expert at mimicing, she will pat her chest too. So now if we ask her where is daddy?, she pats her chest. Oh well. She loves to laugh and smile and does so at every opportunity. When she cries she goes from "waaaa" to "mmmmm" to "ooooooo" and it is REALLY cute.
We have a free day tomorrow. The only thing we have to do is be in the room from 10:00 - 12:00 while Dennis takes our paperwork to the U.S. Consulate to complete the adoption according to the U.S. We have to stay in the room in case they have questions, so he can get in touch with us immediately. After that, we will be back out shopping. Looking forward to Friday and seeing you all. Thank you so much for all of the comments. Please keep them coming. Trey and Dillon wake up before dawn and want to see the comments. Terrell and I usually read them around 3:00 am. Obviously, they are very important to us.
Trey and Dillon's class, here is another question for you:
In China, a "large" city is one that has over 5 million people in it. How many large cities are in China and in the US?
Talk to you tomorrow!
The beginning of a serious love affair with shoes!!! And we aren't even done yet!
Coee was pretty good at the Dr.'s office.
They checked her hearing too.
Happy kids..................not! Coee is on the front row, far right. Crying like there is no tomorrow!
This is our missing suitcase! The Chinese don't mess around with missing luggage! We couldn't believe it came crated!
Real swords................the perfect gift for 8 yr old boys....................wow, what were we thinking.
After we finished and passed the medical exam, we were free to shop on Shamian Island. Shamian Island has largely become the adoptive families haven. There are many small shops geared towards the adoptive family and their Chinese daughters. We bought everything from squeaky shoes for Coee (see picture below, but I'm not finished shopping for those yet) to a traditional Chinese dress to two new suitcases to carry all of our purchases home in. Trey and Dillon racked up by each getting a SET of swords, plus a practice sword each. They are out in the hall now "practicing" with them. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we only had two hours to shop. Boy did we do some damage in those two hours.
Then all of the families met at the White Swan hotel for the traditional "Red Couch Photo." As all American families adopting from China have to pass through Guangzhou to receive their daughters visa, most families have stayed at the White Swan Hotel. It is a tradition to have the babies pictures made on a (the) red couch in the hotel in their traditional Chinese outfits. Imagine the chaos. Eleven babies, each with at least two accompanying adults and some with accompanying siblings. Lunch time. Let's put them all on the couch and take a photo! Who thought of this tradition? Coee was in the middle of her bottle, so she cried the whole time - big time. She was not alone. I'm guessing there were maybe two babies that were not crying. Big fun. See picture below.
Following the photo opp, we all went for a traditional Dim Sum lunch. This is where you sit at a large round table with a lazy susan in the middle of it. They bring lots of different dishes for all to share. Trey and Dillon generally hold out for the fried rice or noodles during these dinners. Fortunately, they generally end up having one or the other to eat.
After our big morning, we spent the afternoon in the hotel watching movies and resting. Trey and Dillon have had ramen noodles for dinner, and Coee is following in their footsteps in regard to their love for ramen noodles. She had to have some too.
Coee is doing great. We have had much better bedtimes the past two nights. Instead of rocking her, we just put her on the bed with us and she WOLLERS (sp?) all over the bed until she finally gives out and falls asleep. It took almost 45 minutes last night. She is happy the whole time, doesn't cry, and doesn't try to get off the bed or even near the side. She was non-stop activity, like a wiggle worm, for the full 45 minutes. But it works, and it is better than the hour of crying that we had a week ago. Can you believe we have had her over a week already? We can't, but it kind of seems that she has always been here too. It's good to have that week behind us and know her and her wants/needs. I know that she doesn't cry unless she is hungry or tired. We know that she is a funny, funny little girl, full of personality. She knows how to get attention (by being loud) and LOVES the camera. We got the camera out a bit ago to take a picture of all of her shoes. She got so excited, thinking we were going to take her picture. She loves noodles, and watermelon. I told her that it is going to be sad when we leave here because we won't have watermelon until next summer, but I bet there are several people that will happily plant extra so she'll have all she wants. Oh -one more thing we have learned - she really wants a Nintendo DS like her brothers have. She can't keep her hands off of those things. We told her it would be several years. She can do patty cake. Terrell has been trying to teach her that he is Daddy, so he says "Daddy" and pats his chest. Since she is an expert at mimicing, she will pat her chest too. So now if we ask her where is daddy?, she pats her chest. Oh well. She loves to laugh and smile and does so at every opportunity. When she cries she goes from "waaaa" to "mmmmm" to "ooooooo" and it is REALLY cute.
We have a free day tomorrow. The only thing we have to do is be in the room from 10:00 - 12:00 while Dennis takes our paperwork to the U.S. Consulate to complete the adoption according to the U.S. We have to stay in the room in case they have questions, so he can get in touch with us immediately. After that, we will be back out shopping. Looking forward to Friday and seeing you all. Thank you so much for all of the comments. Please keep them coming. Trey and Dillon wake up before dawn and want to see the comments. Terrell and I usually read them around 3:00 am. Obviously, they are very important to us.
Trey and Dillon's class, here is another question for you:
In China, a "large" city is one that has over 5 million people in it. How many large cities are in China and in the US?
Talk to you tomorrow!
The beginning of a serious love affair with shoes!!! And we aren't even done yet!
Coee was pretty good at the Dr.'s office.
They checked her hearing too.
Happy kids..................not! Coee is on the front row, far right. Crying like there is no tomorrow!
This is our missing suitcase! The Chinese don't mess around with missing luggage! We couldn't believe it came crated!
Real swords................the perfect gift for 8 yr old boys....................wow, what were we thinking.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Day 9 now in Guangzhou
Thought I would start off the post with a very cute little girl!!!!!Well it was a sad day for Lone Oak. Great season though and I haven't been around excitement like that in a long time for a sports team out of Paducah.
Today we went to Shiaman Island and had our children's picture taken for their visa's to get back into the US. After the pictures, we went to a mall and did a little shopping. We bought some pearls, turquoise, and dvd's. We only got two hours to shop, so we did fast shopping, but will probably go back in the next few days.
Tomorrow we are going back to the island and doing our child's medical exams. After that, we will stay on the island and shop over there. The boys are enjoying the shopping and we are all looking forward to just getting out and shopping ourselves.
We also had a great night last night at bedtime, we figured out the "putting Coee to sleep without her crying" dilemna. We just let her play on our bed until she fell asleep! It worked great and was much better than our other plans the previous nights.
I am including some pictures from yesterday at the airport and from the hotel. It is so much nicer than any of the other places we have stayed.
Here are some more of the pictures:
This is the quantity of luggage that 11 families generate for a trip to China!
This is Trey and Coee sitting together on the flight from Nanchang to Guangzhou.
One of the many hotel gardens and ponds. This one is outside our breakfast restaurant. You can eat outside by the water too. There are many waterfalls around also.
This is quite an impressive stairway in the lobby.
This is the check-in desk at the hotel.
This is Michelle, Coee and the boys outside one of the gardens here
This the hotel playground, Coee like the slide and the boys did a good job sliding with her.
She was proud of herself after she slid!We will post again tomorrow!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Moving day!
Well, I knew that people would be getting up soon and would want to know what is going on in China today, so I am posting without pictures for the time being.
We got up this morning in Nanchang to another day of cold, grey, nasty weather. We left the hotel at 8:00 am and went to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou, in the southern part of China. We had our first bit of trouble when Michelle left our baby wipes box on the bed in the room when we and everyone else had loaded the bus! I ran upstairs like OJ running from the law and retrieved the box and found a pair of pj's we had left of Coee's.
Our next bit of drama was when we went thru security at the airport (and no, I didn't have my knife with me) and I grabbed my backpack, but left our carry-on bag on the x-ray machine. We got to the gate as the plane was loading (traffic problem on the way delayed us a few minutes) and I had to make like OJ again and run and get the bag, luckily it was still there and hadn't been confiscated.
The flight was incredibly easy with Coee. She sat in Michelle's lap and just played for the hour flight. We fixed her a bottle to help her ears during ascent and descent and it worked great.
The last bit of drama was when we got to baggage claim and we are short one checked bag. We still don't have it and don't know if we will get it. It contained some clothes and the porcelain we bought yesterday at the porcelain market.
Oh well.
Our day changed for the better as we drove into the town of Guangzhou. It is a port city and is the 8th largest city in China with a population of something like 12 million people. It is much more modern and westernized than Nanchang and even Beijing. The people we see in the city are much more diverse culturally than in the other two cities. We have seen all nationalities here.
Our next bit of good luck came in the form of our hotel! It is unbelievable.
It is truly a 5-star hotel in every sense of the word. It has fantastic restaurants, great design, and a very sweet room that we now occupy! We have a 2-room suite and it has a separate shower and tub, bedroom with flat screen tv on the wall, living room with flat screen on the wall, a desk with high-speed port, bar area, and a great view. It is very modern in it's decor and each floor is decorated in different style wood and furniture.
The contrast of the cities that we left from today to the one we are in now is shocking. You can tell by the drive in how much more vibrant the economy is here. Although Guangzhou is only the 8th largest city in China, more than 45% of all the tax revenue comes from this one city!
We ate a late lunch at McDonalds and Pizza Hut across from our hotel. We will probably eat at the revolving restaurant on top of our hotel a meal or two.
Here is a link to our hotel:
http://www.thegardenhotel.com.cn/
I will take some pictures of our room and post them later.
Coee is doing great today, no fussing at all and is being taken care of very well by her big brothers.
We filled out our last bit of paperwork tonight (US immigration stuff) and she will be an official citizen very soon.
I will post again either tonight with pictures or tomorrow after our trip to Shiamen Island for shopping and a little adoption business.
Oh yeah, my last bit of good luck came in the form of...............................ESPN! We have it here!!!!!
And....................GO LONE OAK!!!
Talk to you soon,
Terrell
We got up this morning in Nanchang to another day of cold, grey, nasty weather. We left the hotel at 8:00 am and went to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou, in the southern part of China. We had our first bit of trouble when Michelle left our baby wipes box on the bed in the room when we and everyone else had loaded the bus! I ran upstairs like OJ running from the law and retrieved the box and found a pair of pj's we had left of Coee's.
Our next bit of drama was when we went thru security at the airport (and no, I didn't have my knife with me) and I grabbed my backpack, but left our carry-on bag on the x-ray machine. We got to the gate as the plane was loading (traffic problem on the way delayed us a few minutes) and I had to make like OJ again and run and get the bag, luckily it was still there and hadn't been confiscated.
The flight was incredibly easy with Coee. She sat in Michelle's lap and just played for the hour flight. We fixed her a bottle to help her ears during ascent and descent and it worked great.
The last bit of drama was when we got to baggage claim and we are short one checked bag. We still don't have it and don't know if we will get it. It contained some clothes and the porcelain we bought yesterday at the porcelain market.
Oh well.
Our day changed for the better as we drove into the town of Guangzhou. It is a port city and is the 8th largest city in China with a population of something like 12 million people. It is much more modern and westernized than Nanchang and even Beijing. The people we see in the city are much more diverse culturally than in the other two cities. We have seen all nationalities here.
Our next bit of good luck came in the form of our hotel! It is unbelievable.
It is truly a 5-star hotel in every sense of the word. It has fantastic restaurants, great design, and a very sweet room that we now occupy! We have a 2-room suite and it has a separate shower and tub, bedroom with flat screen tv on the wall, living room with flat screen on the wall, a desk with high-speed port, bar area, and a great view. It is very modern in it's decor and each floor is decorated in different style wood and furniture.
The contrast of the cities that we left from today to the one we are in now is shocking. You can tell by the drive in how much more vibrant the economy is here. Although Guangzhou is only the 8th largest city in China, more than 45% of all the tax revenue comes from this one city!
We ate a late lunch at McDonalds and Pizza Hut across from our hotel. We will probably eat at the revolving restaurant on top of our hotel a meal or two.
Here is a link to our hotel:
http://www.thegardenhotel.com.cn/
I will take some pictures of our room and post them later.
Coee is doing great today, no fussing at all and is being taken care of very well by her big brothers.
We filled out our last bit of paperwork tonight (US immigration stuff) and she will be an official citizen very soon.
I will post again either tonight with pictures or tomorrow after our trip to Shiamen Island for shopping and a little adoption business.
Oh yeah, my last bit of good luck came in the form of...............................ESPN! We have it here!!!!!
And....................GO LONE OAK!!!
Talk to you soon,
Terrell
Friday, December 7, 2007
Day 7 in Nanchang continued
This is the famous Dennis. Trey and Dillon love him and always seem to know where he is. He has been a fantastic guide for us. He takes care of an immense amount of work for 11 families and has been a true help for all of us.
This is typical Coee in action.
I love my big brothers!!!
More personality!!!
This is the Teng Weng Pavillion that we visited yesterday. They light it up for the weekends and it is gorgeous. We can see it out our hotel window and from the restaurant we ate at tonight.Day 7 in Nanchang continued
Well, I am going to write the rest of this, Michelle is already in bed trying to rest up for our day tomorrow.
Coee had another great day today. She played in the floor of our room for a long time today and required little supervision. She was just playing by herself, with us and with the boys very contentedly. She is even more playful than yesterday and is really showing her personality.
When we leave and go somewhere, she is perfect. She sits in her carrier (Ergo baby carrier plug!), and just hangs out, naps and makes faces!!
She is very good and is awfully funny. Tonight at dinner, everyone was a little surprised at how loud she can be, how well she can walk with almost no help and her social interaction skills.
Trey and Dillon also continue to impress. A different lady tonight at dinner told us how impressed she was with how they play/take care of Coee and how they behave. We told her that we were also very proud of them.
We are headed to Guangzhou tomorrow and are anxious to see how Coee does on her first plane trip in the morning!
Day 7 in Nanchanghttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6080423343833249821
This trash pile is outside the house that we visited. There is no trash pick up and nowhere to put their garbage, so they throw it outside or in the creek.Their water supply is the creek that they throw the garbage in.
When they kill a duck or chicken, they hang it out for 40 days to dry out. Then it is ready to cook or whatever they do with them.
The above is the living room of a house in the countryside. There were two chairs, a toy car, a set of tires and a motorcycle in it. Very little else. Bare concrete floors and no heat.
This was the bedroom of the same house. The person who lived in the house was very proud of his house and his life. He smiled and asked us to come in and look around.
This is the rest of the bedroom area. There was one bed for the three people in his family. People in China can only have one child unless they pay a large tax.
This is the kitchen of the house, it only has a propane stove top with one or two burners. They have no electricity and no refrigerators.Day 7 in Nanchang
Their water comes from the creek that runs thru the community and is carried to some of the houses while a few (this one) had running water to one spigot on the outside of the house. The toothbrushes and a bar of soap set in the window outside by the spigot.
This is our last day in Nanchang and we are very glad! It means one more stop (for a week) and then we are headed home!
We leave tomorrow for Guangzhou for the final paperwork and visa stuff for Coee, then we catch a plane out next Friday for Hong Kong and then Chicago, and then to Nashville, TN. What a day that will be for an 11 month old baby and two 8 yr old boys!
Today we went to the porcelain market in Nanchang and to the countryside, just outside of Nanchang. It is shocking to see how people live outside the US.
We bought a few things at the porcelain market. I am sure the stores love it when a tour bus pulls up, we are kind of a captive set of customers with fewer options than their normal customers. Jiangxi Province, where Nanchang is located, is the porcelain capital of China.
Just a few things about the areas we have been to and what we have done that we haven't reported on so far:
1. The pollution in China is incredible. Beijing was bad, Nanchang has been worse. It looks very hazy most days and the air stinks and makes your throat burn.
2. The food is pretty good, but not really kid friendly. Trey and Dillon have done pretty well with it, but the food is just quite a bit different from the States. Breakfast at our hotel is very good. They have bacon and eggs every day and both are excellent. The fruit bar is also very good with honeydew, watermelon, grapefruit (peeled), and fuji apples.
The scary parts of breakfast are the braised goose intestines (today), dim sum, corn in milk, beans for breakfast, various types of braised parts and many other interesting dishes that would be right at home in a Survivor episode.
3. Traffic- like nothing you can even imagine! There are very few traffic lights even though there are tons of cars/scooters/bikes and pedestrians all sharing the road. When cars approach an intersection, they just go in accordance to who gets there first and they honk their horns to let you know their intent. Traffic lights would just get in the way of the flow! Their are no parking lots or room for them, so you just park on the sidewalk and sometimes you drive there too! Imagine the mall parking lot and streets on the friday after Thanksgiving with no stop signs and people just making their own way.
4. Living conditions- again, like nothing you can imagine. We are posting pictures of some of this today and in the next few days. Most of the buildings are made of concrete and are very sparsely furnished. People hang their clothes out to dry in the polluted air and hang out their meats for food also. A duck hangs outside for 40 days before it is dried out enough for dinner!
The stores are on the first floor of the buildings and there are appartments above all of them in high rise buildings. The stores are all lined up and there seems to be 4 similar stores in a block, with no rhyme or reason to any of it. All of the buildings are also in some sort of disrepair.
When construction of a building is going on, the workers live in the building being built.
Michelle will post again about our personal stuff, I just thought that people might be interested in this stuff.
For Mrs. Sanders class:
1. Bailey: The Great Wall of China is approximately 6400 km (4000 miles long).
2. For the Daily question: There have been 11 Dynasties in China's history
3. For Natalie: Most of the food is good, especially the noodles, bacon and eggs. We are not a fan of the squid on a stick!
4. For Isaac: We only know- Shia Shia (sounds like sha-sha) is "thank you". Everything else we do is by sign language or pointing. We have a guide/interpreter with us most of the time.
5. For Emily: Coee is 11 months old. She was born on New Years Eve last year.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Day 6 continued'
This is in the lobby of our hotel. Trey and Dillon usually push the stroller and they get Coee bundled up when we go out.
Coee likes to chatter up with the boys and make faces and stuff. They just get along very well and it is awesome how Trey and Dillon have accepted her as their little sister and want her to be content. They are already her big brothers and have accepted that role with joy. I couldn't be prouder of how they act towards her and how they take care of her.
This is Coee's first go with Pizza Hut pizza and she loved it!Here are a few more pictures from the day and an update on Coee!
She had her best day with us and is becoming more "contented" daily. She has been a pretty major "daddy's girl" up til' today, with me being the main one who could get her to stop crying, etc. It was even to the point that if I got up and left her with Michelle, she would just tune-up and cry until I got back.
Today, however, she would play with the boys in the floor, sit with Michelle, and even go to Michelle easily and not cry at all. The "daddy girl" thing is very common with adopted children here because of feeling abandoned by the nannies at the orphanage.
Anyway, Coee had a great day and is being very well cared for by her big brothers. They constantly help us with doing things for her and watching out for her on the bed and in the room.
For Trey and Dillon's class:
Question of the Day- How many dynasty's have their been in China's history?
See ya' tomorrow.
Day 6 in Nanchang
Today, we went to the Teng Weng Pavillion. It is one of the 5 major pavillions in China and is pretty amazing. It is similar in style to the buildings in the Forbidden City that we toured last Saturday in Beijing.
It is 6 stories tall and is very close to our hotel (about a 3 minute walk). I have included pictures of it below. We also saw a Chinese dance performance there today. It was neat, but very loud (need a new sound guy).
After the Pavillion, we just came back to the hotel and chilled for awhile. We did stop at a kite shop across the street from the hotel and looked at kites for Trey. He wants a "bird kite", like we saw at Tienanmen Square. They look like hawks flying overhead and are built very well. We will probably get one in Guangzhou.
We had Pizza Hut pizza for lunch and it was very similar to pizza in the US. Nice change from all the food we have had.
Tonight we ate at a restaurant a few blocks from the Hotel and it was great. Ordering is a challenge, none of the waitresses spoke any english and they broke out their phrase book. We do alot of pointing and sign language. Word of advice, the next thing they ask after you order steak is "how well you want it done", same as in the US! You just have no idea what they are asking and I know of know sign language that works for that.
For dad and anyone else interested in the weather............it sucks. It is about 50 degrees most days with no sun,................although I'm not sure you could see the sun anyway for the pollution. We all have raging coughs from breathing this foul air. We are just across a river from some really tall buildings, but you can't see them at all for the crap in the air. It is really amazing how polluted the air and water are here.
Trey and Dillon continue to attract attention. Trey went incognito at dinner tonight and wore a sock hat! They had people taking pictures with them at the Pavillion today. They have grudgingly accepted their celebrity!
Tomorrow we go to the countryside and to the porcelain areas.
See ya',
Terrell
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Day 5 in Nanchang
Squat Pot- need I say more?!! 
This is the outfit that we received Coee in. Under the outer layer, which is as thick as a ski-suit, she had 4 other layers on! 3 of the layers were thick sweater layers. She couldn't bend her elbows at all and was pretty miserable. Most of the children had similar outfits on.
This picture above shows Coee's fantastic noodle eating ability. Her paperwork showed that noodles were her favorite food and she showed it tonight. She slurps her noodles with commitment and experience!
Her shirt tells how we feel about her!Well, today was a free day for us. We didn't have any group things to do, although we could go to the orphanage that our child came from if we chose to. We didn't. I had wanted to have Trey and Dillon see where Coee had been raised, but it was going to be a 3 hour bus ride each way to see the orphanage and I didn't want to put them thru that kind of trip after all the other traveling we have done.
So, we just hung out around the hotel and didn't do much of anything. Trey and Dillon continued their world championship game of "hallway hide and seek", and we went to the health club in the hotel for a little while.
Coee produced more snot today than any person of any size should be able to! We constantly were wiping her nose today and that made her very happy.............not!
The above pictures are from today and from "gotcha' day" when we got Coee. I also included a photo of a "chinese style" toilet, which is affectionately called a "squat pot". Trey and Dillon were a little shocked!
They are everywhere here. Our hotel has western style toilets in the rooms, but in the health club has both styles. The airport had both styles and most of the tourist places we have been have at least a few western style, but the majority are squat pots.
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