Saturday, November 6, 2010
At Home in Minnesota
After 14 hours of flying and almost 24 hours of travelling, we arrived home with Grace late Thursday afternoon, November 4th. She continues to be a beautiful, healthy and happy young lady. Her three brothers are taking great joy in getting to know her and taking care of her. They are taking turns feeding her, reading to her and playing with her. Special thanks to Joe and Adeline Tarin, (Christine's parents), who took great care of our boys while we were in China for two weeks. Also, many thanks to all the friends and family who have been so generous with their warm wishes and gifts. We look forward to introducing you all to Grace.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Guangzhou - Friday
We arrived Guangzhou Friday night our time. Grace was a trooper on her
first plane flight. She slept for about half the time. Our flight was
delayed, so it was almost 10:30 pm before we left the airport and 11:30 pm
before we got into our room. Grace was so wound up from all the excitement
that it was past midnight before she drifted off to sleep.
Guangzhou is a very different scene than Nanchang. You even notice it on
the drive from the airport. The roads are better and well landscaped. The
city is cleaner and more modern. At breakfast this morning another
difference was evident...the number of western adoptive families. There
mist have been 50 families which Chinese children eating their Cornflakes
and Cheerios. The hotel sits on the Pearl river and the view from the
hotel is quite beautiful.
Today was a big day for Grace. She had her picture taken for her U.S. Visa
and then her official immigration medical exam. Come to find out Friday is
a big arrival day in Guangzhou for adopting families. That means Saturday
morning is a big day for medical exams! All 50 famalies from breakfast
were crowded into a medical clinic that was built to hold about 10. Long
lines snaked through the halls with screaming babies being poked and proded
by doctors.
We had to wait for 2.5 hours to get through the process. Grace got a clean
bill of health so she passed her exam with flying colors. The last hurdle
was immunizations. Children are required to take up to 8 shots at a time.
Luckily, the clinic at Grace's orphanage had taken care of many of her
shots. She only needed three. She had a big smile on her face until the
first needle went in. Big screams and lots of tears throughout the
multiple sticks. Not sure who was hurting more from the shots, Grace or us.
Back at the hotel now and Grace is back to her happy self. She is an
amazing young lady,
Warm regards,
Frank & Christine
first plane flight. She slept for about half the time. Our flight was
delayed, so it was almost 10:30 pm before we left the airport and 11:30 pm
before we got into our room. Grace was so wound up from all the excitement
that it was past midnight before she drifted off to sleep.
Guangzhou is a very different scene than Nanchang. You even notice it on
the drive from the airport. The roads are better and well landscaped. The
city is cleaner and more modern. At breakfast this morning another
difference was evident...the number of western adoptive families. There
mist have been 50 families which Chinese children eating their Cornflakes
and Cheerios. The hotel sits on the Pearl river and the view from the
hotel is quite beautiful.
Today was a big day for Grace. She had her picture taken for her U.S. Visa
and then her official immigration medical exam. Come to find out Friday is
a big arrival day in Guangzhou for adopting families. That means Saturday
morning is a big day for medical exams! All 50 famalies from breakfast
were crowded into a medical clinic that was built to hold about 10. Long
lines snaked through the halls with screaming babies being poked and proded
by doctors.
We had to wait for 2.5 hours to get through the process. Grace got a clean
bill of health so she passed her exam with flying colors. The last hurdle
was immunizations. Children are required to take up to 8 shots at a time.
Luckily, the clinic at Grace's orphanage had taken care of many of her
shots. She only needed three. She had a big smile on her face until the
first needle went in. Big screams and lots of tears throughout the
multiple sticks. Not sure who was hurting more from the shots, Grace or us.
Back at the hotel now and Grace is back to her happy self. She is an
amazing young lady,
Warm regards,
Frank & Christine
Friday, October 29, 2010
Nanchang
It is Thursday morning here. Grace had another good night of sleep, (which means we did too.)
Yesterday, we spent the morning visiting a historic sight here in Nanchang.
The Teng Wang Pavilion was built in roughly 600 AD by the Emporer's23rd son. The building is 9 stories high and situated on the river. While there, we saw a group of school children all dressed in matching blue and white track suits. They enjoyed practicing their English on us and all admired Grace. Everyone comments on Grace's fair complexion. Apparently, that is seen as very beautiful in China. We also met a Buddhist nun who played with Grace and commented that it was "destiny" that we all met. I agree.
During the afternoon we strolled through a pedestrian area near the hotel.
It was lined with food stalls selling lots of exotic looking and smelling things. There were kabobs with what looked like skinned baby mice.
Luckily we were not hungry.
Last night we decided to venture out to dinner with 3 other families to a French restaurant. When the cabs arrived to pick us up at the hotel, the taxi driver started yelling at the bellman. This went on for about 5 minutes and of course it is all in Mandarin. Apparently, the driver did not want to drive us during rush hour. We all got out and agreed to wait until 7 pm, after rush hour. During the second attempt to go to the restaurant, there were no arguments, but the taxis dropped us off in the wrong place. All thee taxi's pull up, we get out and walk in the direction the drivers point. There is a large Chinese restaurant, but nothing French. At this point we are in a pickle. We have no ideas where we are in a city of 5 million people with which we cannot communicate.
Luckily, the hostess at the Chinese restaurant spoke a little English. I gave the card with the address of the place we were looking for. She disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a waitress. She shouts out some orders in Chinese and we received the international sign for "follow me" from the waitress. We all parade down a dark street for about 10 minutes. Finally we came to Cafe 100, our intended destination. I tried to tip the waitress, but she would not accept it. We were all of course incredibly grateful.
We had a cheap and delicious meal and, other than the taxi ride home, the evening was uneventful. The waiter at the French restaurant went into the street and flagged down 3 taxis for us. Simple enough, but they all stopped on the opposite side of the street. We had to take our lives is our hands to get to the other side. It was also complicated by several cars, bikes and motorcycles driving the wrong way on a one way street.
Once safely into the taxi, it was a harrowing drive back to the hotel. The driver was listening to some music on the radio, he kept turning the volume higher and was signing along with the music. The louder the music, the faster he drove, weaving in and out of trucks, buses, cars, bikes, mopeds and pedestrians. How we did not kill someone in the process is nothing short of a miracle. We were all happy to arrive safely back at the hotel.
Today, we spent the morning in a village about 30 minutes outside of Nanchang. As we walked down the street, villagers were drying rice on the side of the street in front of their homes. Lots of residents came out to talk to Evelyn, our host. They were fascinated by these strange westerners walking through their town. We brought candy along to give to the small children. Everyone was very friendly. This was definitely a highlight of the trip.
It is now early afternoon and we are back at the hotel. We just got some photos back from the disposable camera that Christine sent to Grace's foster parents. We have photos of her foster mom, dad and a little sister.
Very cool.
Christine is feeding Grace her bottle. I swear she gets more cute every day. She continues to be happy and healthy. She has a great personality and loves to smile and laugh. We can't wait to introduce you to her.
This is our last full day in Nanchang. We fly to Guangzhou late tomorrow.
Will send another update soon.
Frank and Christine
Monday, October 25, 2010
Tuesday
OK, so Grace is human after all. After falling asleep at 9:00 pm last night, Grace woke up at 3:00 am crying. Ultimately, the only way to soothe her was to pick her up. She flirted with sleep multiple times, but every time we would put her down she would start crying. She fell asleep at 6:00 am finally. I can only imagine how tramatic this whole experience must be for her. Regardless of the ctying though, we are hopelessly in love
with her.
Today we make an excursion to the Walmart Super Center to buy baby supplies. (Almost out of diapers.). We also have a doctor visiting to give Grace a physical. Still windy and rainy outside, but the forecast is
for it to clear up. Let's hope Chinese weather forecasters are better than those in the States.
Frank and Christine
with her.
Today we make an excursion to the Walmart Super Center to buy baby supplies. (Almost out of diapers.). We also have a doctor visiting to give Grace a physical. Still windy and rainy outside, but the forecast is
for it to clear up. Let's hope Chinese weather forecasters are better than those in the States.
Frank and Christine
Update
We are not able to access our blog due to mainland China's recent internet policy change so we won't be able to post any
updates until we are back in the states. The write-up below is a summary of our first 24 hours with Grace. (Thanks mom for posting this for us.)
>
> It's a gray, windy and rainy day today as the tail of Typhoon Megi sweeps through Nanchang. You'd never know it though due to the sunshine named Grace" that has come into our lives.
>
> The past 24 hours have been life changing to say the least. Yesterday at this time our flight landed at Nanchang airport where we met Evelyn from CCAI. We boarded a mini-bus with the Maniaci's and traveled the 40 minutes to central Nanchang where we checked into the Jin Feng Hotel. Along the way we saw a moving chaos of cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and people on what appeared to be a freeway, but doubled as a sidewalk. Construction cranes dot the sky trying to keep up with the housing demands of 4.5 million people. Very different than Hong Kong. A world away from Minneapolis.
>
> About an hour after reaching the hotel, Evelyn, the orphanage director and a nanny showed up with Grace. With a knock on the door of room 712, Grace came into our arms and our lives. Our fears of us terrorizing her world were unfounded. She immediately went to Christine and then to me. She has only cried when she's hungry or tired. Within 30 minutes of meeting us we were exploring the hotel with her. It's as if she had read our adoption application and had chosen us. She loves to be held and takes turns in my arms and Christine's arms.
>
> We had dinner last night in the hotel restaurant with the Maniaci's and Jing, their 6 year old newly arrived daughter. Their son Anthony, 5 1/2, came on the trip as well. The brand new brother and sister who can't understand each other played together at dinner like it was any night around the dinner table. That is until Anthony fell asleep in mid-bite of his dessert. Very cute. We tried to put Grace down for sleep, but with all the excitement of the day she took some time to wind down. Around 10 pm she drifted off to sleep in the tiny roll away crib in our room. Christine, however, did not go to sleep until about 3 am. Some combination of excitement, fear of Grace crawling out of the crib, an occasional whimper from Grace and jet lag kept her awake.
>
> I was up early, but Christine and Grace slept to about 7:30 am. Grace woke up hungry, but happy. "Two strange old white people who I can't understand hovering over me...no big deal.". At breakfast we met a couple from Rhode Island who got their baby Mia last night. Also a couple from Boston who got their baby Jamie last night. Also their 6 year old adopted Chinese daughter was with them. Grace and Mia sat in high chairs next to each other while all the adults shared their experiences with each other. (Both couples had also been waitind 5 years.). Just your normal every day hotel breakfast...
>
> We met Evelyn in the lobby at 9:00 am and headed off to the Provincial Registration office. We took the elevator to the 25th floor of a non-descript office building where we saw our new friends from breakfast, in addition to about 5 other western families with their adopted babies. First, we had a picture taken of the three of us. Then we had to be interviewed on why we were adopting. Finally we had to pay the balance due to the orphanage and various registration fees. I was very happy to hand over the large sums of cash I had been walking around with since we left Minneapolis 4 days ago. Finally, we went into a large room lined with flags from all over the world. One by one someone walked out with the official adoption documents for each child. You can imagine that this was a room filled with joy. Lots of cheers, hugs and tears of happiness. It was pretty emotional when Evelyn walked out with Grace's. Wow...
>
> Next stop on the adoption express was the notary's office. Another mini interview about our occupations, why we are adopting and if we promise never to abandon her. "Are you kidding?". More pictures. Jing decides she has to go potty so she pulls down her pants and pees on the sidewalk in front of the notary office. Before anyone can say anything her business was done and it was if nothing had happened. We all had a good laugh.
>
> Back on the bus, then back to the hotel. We took a quick walk up the street to a small grocery store. Very cool to see all the food labeled and not be able to read any of it. Along the way we got lots of strange looks from the locals. They don't see many westerners here. Especially ones with Chinese babies. We had a quick lunch at the hotel and now Grace and Christine are taking a nap while I write this note. Tomorrow we go to Walmart for baby supplies, (no kidding), and the doctor will come give Grace a physical.
>
> A couple of fun facts about Grace we learned from the orphanage director. Her nick name is Hui Hui, pronounced "we, we.". She does not sleep much for her age. She's impatient. She has big ears, (which in China means good luck.). See, she really is a Wheeler.
> We will post another update to the blog with photos when we are back in the US.
updates until we are back in the states. The write-up below is a summary of our first 24 hours with Grace. (Thanks mom for posting this for us.)
>
> It's a gray, windy and rainy day today as the tail of Typhoon Megi sweeps through Nanchang. You'd never know it though due to the sunshine named Grace" that has come into our lives.
>
> The past 24 hours have been life changing to say the least. Yesterday at this time our flight landed at Nanchang airport where we met Evelyn from CCAI. We boarded a mini-bus with the Maniaci's and traveled the 40 minutes to central Nanchang where we checked into the Jin Feng Hotel. Along the way we saw a moving chaos of cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and people on what appeared to be a freeway, but doubled as a sidewalk. Construction cranes dot the sky trying to keep up with the housing demands of 4.5 million people. Very different than Hong Kong. A world away from Minneapolis.
>
> About an hour after reaching the hotel, Evelyn, the orphanage director and a nanny showed up with Grace. With a knock on the door of room 712, Grace came into our arms and our lives. Our fears of us terrorizing her world were unfounded. She immediately went to Christine and then to me. She has only cried when she's hungry or tired. Within 30 minutes of meeting us we were exploring the hotel with her. It's as if she had read our adoption application and had chosen us. She loves to be held and takes turns in my arms and Christine's arms.
>
> We had dinner last night in the hotel restaurant with the Maniaci's and Jing, their 6 year old newly arrived daughter. Their son Anthony, 5 1/2, came on the trip as well. The brand new brother and sister who can't understand each other played together at dinner like it was any night around the dinner table. That is until Anthony fell asleep in mid-bite of his dessert. Very cute. We tried to put Grace down for sleep, but with all the excitement of the day she took some time to wind down. Around 10 pm she drifted off to sleep in the tiny roll away crib in our room. Christine, however, did not go to sleep until about 3 am. Some combination of excitement, fear of Grace crawling out of the crib, an occasional whimper from Grace and jet lag kept her awake.
>
> I was up early, but Christine and Grace slept to about 7:30 am. Grace woke up hungry, but happy. "Two strange old white people who I can't understand hovering over me...no big deal.". At breakfast we met a couple from Rhode Island who got their baby Mia last night. Also a couple from Boston who got their baby Jamie last night. Also their 6 year old adopted Chinese daughter was with them. Grace and Mia sat in high chairs next to each other while all the adults shared their experiences with each other. (Both couples had also been waitind 5 years.). Just your normal every day hotel breakfast...
>
> We met Evelyn in the lobby at 9:00 am and headed off to the Provincial Registration office. We took the elevator to the 25th floor of a non-descript office building where we saw our new friends from breakfast, in addition to about 5 other western families with their adopted babies. First, we had a picture taken of the three of us. Then we had to be interviewed on why we were adopting. Finally we had to pay the balance due to the orphanage and various registration fees. I was very happy to hand over the large sums of cash I had been walking around with since we left Minneapolis 4 days ago. Finally, we went into a large room lined with flags from all over the world. One by one someone walked out with the official adoption documents for each child. You can imagine that this was a room filled with joy. Lots of cheers, hugs and tears of happiness. It was pretty emotional when Evelyn walked out with Grace's. Wow...
>
> Next stop on the adoption express was the notary's office. Another mini interview about our occupations, why we are adopting and if we promise never to abandon her. "Are you kidding?". More pictures. Jing decides she has to go potty so she pulls down her pants and pees on the sidewalk in front of the notary office. Before anyone can say anything her business was done and it was if nothing had happened. We all had a good laugh.
>
> Back on the bus, then back to the hotel. We took a quick walk up the street to a small grocery store. Very cool to see all the food labeled and not be able to read any of it. Along the way we got lots of strange looks from the locals. They don't see many westerners here. Especially ones with Chinese babies. We had a quick lunch at the hotel and now Grace and Christine are taking a nap while I write this note. Tomorrow we go to Walmart for baby supplies, (no kidding), and the doctor will come give Grace a physical.
>
> A couple of fun facts about Grace we learned from the orphanage director. Her nick name is Hui Hui, pronounced "we, we.". She does not sleep much for her age. She's impatient. She has big ears, (which in China means good luck.). See, she really is a Wheeler.
> We will post another update to the blog with photos when we are back in the US.
>All our best, Frank and Christine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)