Our Trip Journal
June 8, 2005 - July 1, 2005
Tech Support Note: I removed some older pictures to hopefully keep the site up and functional as we add more pictures of Abigail.
June 8-9, 2005
Our journey began on Wednesday, June 8 at 10:00 a.m. with our flight from Washington Dulles to Chicago to Beijing, China. We arrived in Beijing on June 9 at 2:45 p.m.--over 12 1/2 hr after leaving Chicago. We somehow lost a day of our life somewhere in our travel, but NEVER saw the sunset. It was daylight the entire flight as we flew north out of Chicago, up into Canada and if I have my geography correct, to the Yukon Territory, up over the Arctic Ocean, over Russia and Mongolia and finally into Beijing. We were exhausted! We then flew to Shanghai at 6:00 p.m. and FINALLY arrived at our final destination for the next 4 days at around 10:00 p.m. (to our hotel). We are staying at the HengSheng Peninsula International Hotel in Shanghai. We were met at the airport by our tour guide for the next 4 days, Linda and our driver, Mr. Yan.
June 10, 2005
We had an action-packed day today. We awoke early upon hearing the city down below us waking for a new day. A school below us had children out in on a basketball court playing basketball at 6:00 a.m! We got up early to walk around town and see how the locals live. This walk was very eye opening. We were able to see a great deal of sites today as Linda and her driver guided us around. We went the Confuscious Temple where Confuscious, The Great Thinker, is honored. It was established in 1249!! We then went to the third largest TV tower in the world, named Oriental Pearl Tower. We went up 263 meters to the sightseeing floor, where we could see straight down 263 meters due to the rain and clouds obscuring any forward view. A twenty-something year old girl wanted her picture taken with Tammy in the tower. Either she thought Tammy was a movie star or alien, we're not sure.
Next we had authentic chinese food, which put the Annapolis, MD, Court of Shanghai to shame. Don't panic when we list the food we had, we didn't eat it all. We had a plate of pickels, a plate of pork, a gallon bowl of egg drop soup, beef with green and red peppers, and Tammy's favorite, Kung Poa Chicken. Not done yet. We then had egg fried rice, steamed eggs that looked like tofu and custard in beef broth, a dish of vegetables and a spinach look alike, watermelon, and fried pastery with dipping sauce like you'd put on a cinnabun.
After lunch a our food coma ended, we went to a silk and embroidery factory where we learned how silk scarfs, blankets, etc. are made. We even help make a silk comforter. This tour was suprisingly very interesting. We then went to a tea ceremony and learned about how to properly prepare and drink tea. Yes, there is a proper way to prepare and drink tea and it and it entails more than a tea bag. Next we went to a childrens art school and watch children ages 5-8 play instruments and dance. These kids were exceptional at their art. It was a pleasure watching them. And they were all so cute.
You guessed our next stop I'm sure. With all this touring we are hungry again. Again, we had local fare and again way too many dishes. Even for Steve to finish! After dinner, we went back to the room where Steve entered his second food coma and fell asleep for 3 hours. The weather was rainy the whole day, which wasn't bad, but we weren't able to walk around town in the evening.
June 11, 2005
This morning we awoke early to go for a run and mingle with the locals. The locals sure like too stare at us, but we are getting used to it. We are also speaking to them in their language. As you can imagine, it's a short conversation, but they appreciate the effort. On the way back to the hotel, we bought four bottles of water and two 20oz. bottles of Coke lite (Diet Coke in the rest of the world) for only $1.30 US. We'll post pictures later, we're going to get ready for the rest of the day. Talk to you later.
After breakfast, our personal tour guide and driver arrived at 1000 and took us to the Shanghai Museum. We saw artifacts from as far back as 400 B.C. Next, we went to the Shanghai Jade Buddha Temple and saw Buddha himself. It was an interesting temple in that burning incense was extreme and many people bowing and praying. Our guide said the parents come to pray for their kids to get high grades in school and pass entrance exams into college. After this, we went to a pearl store where Tammy picked an oyster from an oyster tank and the salesman proceeded to tell us about pearls. He opened the oyster and 15 pearls were inside. Lastly, we went to Nanjing Rd. where there is lots of shopping. Actually, it was more like a place to practice survival skills. We have never seen so many people in one place, ever. You could barely move without someone bumping into you. Well, we're done for the day, until tomorrow, good night.
On a side note, out of the 18 million people here in Shanghai, we were actually approached by the SAME MAN twice in one day at separate locations! We were amazed! We had run into him while on our morning walk when he wanted us to pay him $1 (US) for him to draw our portrait! We then were approached by him about 1 hour later at the Shanghai Museum, where he immediately recognized us and thought we had changed our minds about this offer. No such luck for him.
June 12, 2005
Well this was an interesting day for us in that we were both wide awake from 1:00 a.m. until 2:45 a.m. this morning. Going to bed at 8:30 at night isn't good afterall! After logging onto the internet, we both decided to give sleep another try. As a result, we have both been a little on the sleepy side today...and it was another busy day.
Our tour guide picked us up at 9:00 for our trip to Suzhou. It was a 2 hour drive, which direction from Shanghai is a guess. We are not sure. Our driver, Mr. Yan, is amazing as being on the roads here is a free for all. The roads are shared by bicyclists, scooters, pedestrians and cars, vans, trucks, buses. There are traffic lights, but we are not sure who actually abides by them. The bikes and scooters apparently do not abide by the lights and will be out in the middle of the road making turns, going straight, just doing whatever they feel they need to do to get to their destination. No one stops for pedestrians and you literally put your life in your hands when you cross the street. For my friends at work, crossing Catherine Avenue is NOTHING compared to this! Needless to say, Steve has his work cut out for him in keeping me safe! :-)
While on our drive to Suzhou we passed many factories. It was interesting seeing some of the countryside and how the people in the more rural areas live. Suzhou is not rural by any means, with a population 5 million! While in Suzhou, we toured 2 traditional Chinese garden parks. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, and it felt good to be walking around outside. Tammy had her first experience with a "squattie" toilet and opted to wait until later to use the "facilities" that were more familiar. After visiting the first garden, we went to the Suzhou Silk Mill for lunch, which was of course, Chinese food. We both enjoy Chinese food, but we are both wanting a bit of variety in our food choices and would love to have a good old American cheeseburger right now! We had a tour of the silk mill after lunch and were able to observe women working in making the strands of silk from the silkworms. It is a really interesting process.
After lunch we toured our 2nd Chinese garden, Lion Grove Garden, and walked off our lunch. It, like the 1st garden, was interesting to walk around and enjoy the garden and the great weather (not to rub it in to everyone back home in ND where it is raining!). From the garden, we then took a boat ride on river through the city that was a series of canals that eventually led to the city river. Now when I say boat ride, we are not talking about a boat that resembles our by any means. This one was made of wood and had a long oar off the back that was used by a man to steer and manuever the boat. He sang as he steered the boat down the canal. He even let Steve try his hand at steering the boat. He did a pretty good job. Because of the canals, we were told that they call this "Venice of the East". While on this ride we were able to see a great of the culture and how people live in this area.
Wrapping up our touring in Shanghai and Suzhou, we feel grateful for what we have back home. The lives the people lead here in China (at least what we have seen) appears to be very hard. It's very primitive and things that we take for granted, such as running water are not as readily available. We have seen people brushing their teeth outside of what appears to be their front door with no running water, we have seen women handwashing clothes in buckets on the street, we also learned that many families share parts of their homes with other families that are not even related to them. The family will have perhaps 1 room partitioned off into sections for living quarters, sleeping quarters and share a kitchen with another family. We learned that many families have more than 1 generation living together in these cramped living spaces. It is hard to even imagine until one sees it with their own eyes. It also isn't unusual to see men squatting on the side of the streets or on the sidewalks. We have included a photo to show you.
June 13, 2005
We got up at 4:30 a.m. (this time change has been a little difficult to get used to with our sleeping habits) and went out for a run along The Bund. This is an area along the waterfront in Shanghai where a “boardwalk” has been made out of concrete for tourists and locals alike to enjoy. The locals are out in droves in the mornings, doing Tai Chi, flying kites, doing martial arts with swords, walking. It is a nice time to get out and see the locals beginning their day staying fit. We ran into our “friend” yet again today. Yes, out of 18 million people in Shanghai, we have seen the same Chinese man 3 times in 2 days in a 15 square mile area! Today, all he did was greet us with a good morning and did not try to sell us a portrait of ourselves.
Shanghai has 2 airports, 1 international and 1 domestic. We arrived into 1 and left out of the other. We were supposed to be on the 1:00 flight to find out it has been canceled. We were placed on the 12:00 flight, which ended up leaving at 1:00 anyway. Our experience with the airports here in China has been excellent. Other than the delay, we have not had any problems with checking in quickly for our flights, our bags have arrived safely, and our flights have been good, even when we had to be bussed to/from our airplanes to remote locations on the airport property.
We arrived in Beijing and met two other families from our adoption agency that came in around the same time. Allen, our tour guide, and Wan, our bus driver, met us at the airport. Comparing the two cities, Shanghai is New York City on steroids and Beijing is Washington, D.C. Beijing has tree-lined streets, grass and parks throughout the city. We passed Embassies on our way to our hotel. We even spotted a Sizzler Steakhouse. We have never been happier to see a Sizzler Steakhouse! Beijing’s population is 14 million with 10 million bicycles and 3 million cars! It is still very busy and congested, but not nearly as bad as Shanghai. Beijing has a highway system composed of what they call “rings”. There are 6 rings that are around the city.
We ate dinner with two other families in our group. A request had been made for us to take a picture of the spread. Therefore, here this resembles what we have been served for lunch and dinner since we arrived here in China. The interesting observation we have about this large spread is that they have a plate the size of a teacup saucer for you to eat all of this food. We are both getting pretty good at eating with chopsticks, as oftentimes forks are not on the tables.
Outside of the restaurant there was a gathering of about 20 women playing the drums, and the not kind of drums we would have at home. It was interesting to see and hear.
June 14, 2005
We got up early yet again and went downstairs to work out in the gym. We were meeting our tour group to begin our Beijing touring. We began our by visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. This square is the largest square in the world, holding over one million people. It was amazing to be standing there seeing it with our own eyes! There were crowds of people there and we even had locals standing in our group listening to our guide explain some of the history.
From there we walked into the Forbidden City, spending a great deal of time looking around at the 200 square acres with 9,999 buildings, which all seem to be connected. The roof tiles of the buildings are yellow. This yellow color is only allowed by the emperors, and no other buildings in China are allowed to have this colored rooftop. While we were walking through the gates of the Forbidden City an entourage of Lamas from Tibet (and not the animals!) came. While walking through one of the gates, I attempted to take a picture of one of the guards, which is apparently not allowed as he immediately held up his hand to me signifying not to do it. Entering many of the buildings (homes, temples) have a high threshold/ barrier as you walk in the entranceways. You are to step OVER the threshold and not onto it as the belief is that it keeps away the evil spirits. The Chinese also believe that zigzagging bridges, lions at entry ways also help keep out evil spirits.
After lunch we were off and running again, visiting the Beijing Yuan Long Silk Corp. This was the third silk factory we have visited, but the first for our tour group. Steve and I are feeling like we could give the tour!
In Beijing there are 25 HuTongs, local neighborhoods in Beijing with home that are at least 100 years old. The government replaced the others with high rises or apartments. We visited the neighborhood, which translated into English is “Back Lake HuTong”. We took at rickshaw ride through the neighborhood. Our first stop along the way was to a Pre-school and Kindergarten as well as an after school care for the older kids. We visited three classroom where the children greeted us by singing in English and at one point jumping up and grabbing one of our hands to dance and sing. Two little girls were fighting over Tammy as to who got to dance with her. From the school, we got back on our rickshaws for a ride to the Drum Tower. This tower had 69 unbelievably steep and high steps up to the observation deck and drum room. Going up the steps, we felt like we were putting our knees up to our chests and chins. We were able to get a great view of the city and we were able to hear the drummers. There is a Bell Tower next to the Drum Tower. The Bell Tower rang in the morning letting the people know it was morning and time to get up and the Drum Tower rang at night to alert them to close the gates to the city and lock up for the night. From the Drum Tower, and once we climbed back down those 69 “steps of terror”, we found our rickshaw driver again and were taken to a home to meet a family and we were invited into their home to see what a typical home in a HuTong looks like. A typical home in the HuTongs is 20 square meters per person and 60 square meters per family (for us Americans, this means tiny!). In this family, we met the daughter, mother and cousin. In this home, this family had their own kitchen, living area and bathroom. We then went to another home in the HuTong where we had a home cooked meal. This home was over 200 years old and although we say home, they are not single-family homes. We are not sure if this family had their own kitchen and bathroom, but it is common to share this with other families and typically they are members of the extended family. This whole experience in the HuTongs was one the highlights of the trip. The families were so friendly and accommodating…and the food was GREAT!
Our last event for the day was a boat ride on the Back Lake. A young girl playing the PiBa, a stringed instrument similar to the mandolin, serenaded us. On the way back in we put paper boats with lit candles in the water, leaving a stream of lit candles in the water behind us. It was getting dark out and it looked pretty with the setting sun and reflection of the water. This boat ride took us around the lake where many outdoor bars and restaurants are. These became popular with the SARS epidemic, as the Chinese believe that open fresh air would keep them from catching it.
After an action-packed day, we finally got to the hotel and crashed.
June 15, 2005
Today was another exhausting day. We thought it be good to get up early (again without having to wait for the alarm to go off) and go for a run on the treadmill. We were meeting our group downstairs at 8:30 to go to the Great Wall. On our drive to the Great Wall, we stopped off at the Jade Factory. It was an impressive sight, as was it to see Steve in action negotiating for 2 jade bracelets at 2 different times. No buyer’s remorse here! He did a great job! Chinese custom is that when a daughter turns 18 years old, her parents give her jade bracelet and is a symbol of good fortune. We have learned that jade is a hard stone, hard as diamonds; it scratches glass and is very durable.
Next was the Great Wall! We were taken to the Ju Yong Gang section of the Wall. This was the last section of the wall to protect the city of Beijing. All of the pictures of the Wall do not even come close to the impressiveness. Words cannot even come close to describing the magnitude of the Wall. The amount of stone that needed to be moved to create this thing BY HAND is astonishing. WE were given an 1 ½ hrs to climb the 1200+ steps up to the top. Sixty-nine steps yesterday at the Drum Tower pale to these steps! We were up for the challenge, had not come all this way not go get to the top, and see the spectacular view. The steps are uneven, some very shallow and some very high, so there is no rhythm you can get into climbing the steps. It was interesting to see the crowds thin out the higher and higher we climbed. The Wall is not a flat line is along a ridgeline, it was like climbing up a mountainside, up approximately 1,000 feet. It does not sound long, but it sure is challenging. Once we got to the top, it was so worth it! Quick side note: When we were in Shanghai, we met a chaperone from Houston traveling with a group of kids. Well, we heard this voice above us in the lookout tower at the top of the Wall say, “Hey, you guys are following me from Shanghai.” Yes, it was this chaperone! What a small world again! What is remarkable is that very few people are able to make it to the top of the Wall and then for us to meet the same man we had met in Shanghai 1 week ago! OK, back to the Wall…after we came down with our legs feeling like rubber, we were off to lunch as we had worked up one heck of an appetite.
Remember, we had “warmed up” this a.m. by running 30 minutes on the treadmill!
We had our lunch at the Cloisonné factory. Cloisonné is a form of Chinese enamelware, which originated in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty (1450-1456). We saw how the painting and firing of the Cloisonné. It is beautiful work and Steve again used his negotiating talent. He was able to cut a deal against strong resistance from the management. Again, no buyer’s remorse!
Again, group tour, another Chinese traditional tea house…enough said about that. Tammy had her first experience with the squatty toilet. This toilet, if you want to call it a toilet, is really a hole in the floor where one has to strategically squat and aim over hole. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
As our final event of the day, we saw a Chinese acrobat show that was amazing. The men and women performers were exceptional. Tomorrow is our final day of sightseeing in Beijing and we start early.
The weather has been great. The temperatures have been in the 80’s and there is no humidity. It rained the first afternoon in Beijing, but then cleared up after the rain. The last 2 days have been sunny. The people have been friendly and seem to appreciate our little bit of their language that we are speaking to them. We have really enjoyed Beijing.
June 16, 2005
Before we start updating everyone on what we did on our last day in Beijing, we would like to thank our “technical support person”, Michael, for downloading the photos to this website for everyone’s viewing. Michael, we really appreciate it!
Ok, now on to our day! Surprisingly, we were both able to get out of bed without any difficulty or cramping in our legs. We felt pretty good after climbing a mountain yesterday. Our first stop today was to Temple Heaven. This is a park where many (and I mean many) people come every morning to exercise. It is a Thursday morning and the park was full of older adults exercising. We saw groups of people doing Tai Chi, badmitten, dancing, ballroom dancing, singing, playing Chinese chess, playing cards, selling their crochet-works. Steve was coaxed into playing a game tossing a ball with a paddle. He got pretty good at it and the locals seemed to enjoy it. There was this one particular area of the park where stationary exercise equipment is available for the locals to use. It looked like a playground for adults. We tried our hand at some of the equipment.
From there we went to another pearl factory tour. Enough said. Lunch was a pleasant surprise as it was a buffet, which had American food on it. Tammy was so excited to eat a plate full of spaghetti, with a side of cauliflower and French fries. What a combo!
After lunch, we went to the Summer Palace. This was the summer home of the Empress, also affectionately known as the Dragon Lady. We took at dragon boat tour to the other end of the lake and walked through the longest corridor in the entire world. The paintings on this outdoor corridor were beautiful and due to it being outside, it has to be repainted every year.
Then the best part of the day was our trip to the Beijing Tibet Hospital Foreign Medical Care Center. A Tibetan physician spoke to us and explained how medicinal herbs from Tibet are used to cure common ailments. After this, we were given the opportunity to have our pulses felt and our tongues inspected (this is how they diagnose any ailments). Steve was diagnosed to have thick blood and on the verge of kidney problems and high blood pressure. We think it was all a ploy to get us to buy the herbs from them as everyone in the group who had their pulses felt, had something wrong with them. After this, we were given a foot massage. After yesterday, this was a wonderful treat. We have enclosed a photo showing this.
We are leaving Beijing in the a.m. for Xi’an where we will be until the morning of the 20th. We have been having a great time and have met a great group of people we are traveling with. We are all joking that we will know more of each other than we care to by the end of our 2-week journey. That is all for now. Signing off from Beijing.
June 17, 2005
We have to add a bit more from yesterday’s activities. Last night we were packing our suitcases for our next flight. As usual, Tammy does not look down when she walks. This has gotten her into trouble more than once. For instance, on an Oakland, CA sidewalk, she walked into a nice setting of warm mushy doggie doo. On the Great Wall Tammy forgot there were more steps and decided to skip a few on the way down. Well last night she walked into the suitcase and either jammed or broke her toe. We think it is just jammed, but it sure is big and has an array of pretty colors. Tammy hasn’t let this get in her way, she still is climbing stairs and walking everywhere.
We left on our uneventful flight to Xi’an on time and met our tour guide, Jessica, at the airport where she led us to lunch, at the airport, yippee. Today was a little frustrating because after lunch, instead of going to the hotel to change out of travel clothes and drop off our carry on bags, we went on a tour. When we got to the bell and drum towers, which are the same as the towers in Beijing, we were told we could leave our bags on the tour bus but bring our valuables with us. Well everything is valuable. So, we lugged our backpack, purse and laptop computer with us. We were not happy campers. It was 85 degrees, humid and we were dressed nicely while lugging what seemed like 100 lbs. on our shoulders, well I should say my shoulders because as you remember Tammy is limping around with a bad toe.
You are probably asking yourselves, where is the checked luggage? Good question. We picked up our luggage from baggage claim and the tour guide said another van was taking our luggage to the hotel while we ate and toured the city. We were back to the hotel and checked into our rooms by 2:30 pm. Our bags did not arrive until 5:40 p.m., six hours after the van drove off with our bags. We were definitely not happy.
We went to a Chinese Opera and a dumpling banquet in our sweaty tour/travel clothes because we didn’t have enough time to change clothes. The opera was a nice show. This opera is not what we would think an opera is in the States. It was a lot of dancing and instrument playing, but no singing.
The dumpling banquet followed the opera. This dinner entailed 14 courses of dumplings. Steve went to town. This feast is what the doctor ordered. We forgot about the delay in our bags and Tammy’s sore toe. Dumplings in Chinese culture symbolize the family, and are the food that is served for the Chinese New Year.
We (Tammy) are washing our whites (under garments) in the tub and gathering the other things together to send off for a thorough washing. Good night from Xi’an.
June 18, 2005
Today started off with us moving to a new room down the hall due to a malfunctioning toilet (no fault of ours), a weak air conditioner, noise from an outdoor car accessory show being held right outside of our room, and being next to the stairwell. Our new room is smaller but much more comfortable temperature wise—and we have a “special” bonus, a see through shower. From anywhere in the room we can see into the shower through a glass wall.
We started our touring today by going to the Terra Cotta Warrior Factory where we learned how they make the replicas of the Terra Cotta Warriors. We went to a park wher the emperors used to use as their winter homes as there are hot springs there that kept him warm in the winter months. Lunchtime. After lunch Steve and Michael, someone in our tour group, had eyed some Polo brand shirts in the gift shop. As Steve has quickly gotten a reputation for being a good negotiator, Michael assigned him to the task to get a good deal on these shirts. They were both extremely pleased with buying the shirts for $12 each.
Next was the Terra Cotta Museum where we saw the 8th Wonder of the World, the Terra Cotta Warriors. If you are familiar with terra cotta pots, these life-size soldiers are made of the same material. They are believed to be over 2,000 years old and were buried underground all these years and found by a farmer in 1974. Since then, archeologists have been diligently restoring them as many of them were in pieces. What is interesting about them is that they were painted, but once they were unearthed, the paint disappeared quickly and now they are clay colored. It was an amazing sight to see.
After dinner this evening, we had some free time so we took a walk toward the Bell Tower. There is a big shopping mall located there, but it is nothing like our shopping malls. One department store had 6 floors to it. We bought a t-shirt for Steve and it is quite a process to go through to purchase it. The sales person writes up a ticket (we think, as it was written in Chinese), you then take this ticket which has the price on it to the cashier to pay for the item, then return to the sales clerk with your receipt to pick up your item you purchased. All of this for a $7.50 t-shirt!
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a bakery. Tammy was hoping for something with chocolate or even peanut butter. She was very disappointed to find out they had neither. Desserts here are nothing like the desserts back home!
One thing we have noticed is that people in China do not wait in line. They do not have any qualms about cutting in front of you, pushing you, invading your personal space. We have learned quickly not to leave much space between us and the person in front of us if we are in line for something.
It was a very warm day here today with temperatures well into the 90’s. There are many people (young and old) outside. Air conditioning is not common in many homes so families will be outside with their children in public areas well into the evening hours. The traffic here seems worse than any of the other cities we have been in as there are very few stoplights and we have yet to see a stop sign. It is impossible to even try to explain how they drive around here, as there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to anything they do. We are amazed that we have not seen a car accident or a pedestrian hit by a car yet. Pedestrians do not have the right of way in China and it almost appears that the cars and buses are aiming for them.
If anyone is wondering, my toe is feeling better. It is still bruised, but I think I will make it! And, I am still tripping over curbs. Good night.
June 19, 2005
After a restful night (cool room temperature, working toilet and quiet room), we started our touring today around Xi’an. Xi'an is the home to the 1st Chinese dynasty back in 2100 B.C. Another dynasty, the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. -206 B.C.) was when the Terra Cotta Warriers were created. It is amazing that they can trace them back that far! This area has many farmer and their main crops are winter wheat and corn. As we drove to Xi'an from the airport on Friday, we saw mounds of dirt with grass grown over them, similar to what looks like landfills in the US. These mounds are where the remains of emperors are buried and they call them mosoleums. Xi'an is a smaller city and has a population of about 7 million people, covering 9,900 square kilometers (I am not sure how many miles that is)!
Today, we first went to the Wild Goose Pagoda and surrounding museums. There is so much Chinese history in and around Xi’an from as far back as 221 B.C. Lunch today was on the 20th floor of a hotel in a revolving restaurant overlooking the city. It was a good view of the city. We also saw the ancient City Walls of Xi’an, the oldest preserved walls in Chinese history. This wall surrounds the city and in ancient times, it protected the city from invasion.
It is an extremely hot day with temperatures well into the 90’s again today. We all feel exhausted and worn out from the heat. We are back in our rooms and will be going to a Mongolian restaurant for dinner. We leave in the morning for Changsha and FINALLY get our babies on Tuesday morning.
There has been some questions from some of you reading this journal regarding a the toilets in China. It is amazing that RARELY is there toilet paper in the public restrooms. What we have been told is that it is expected that you supply your own toilet paper, so even in the most modern and clean restrooms, toilet paper is not available. It is the weirdest thing, but I have learned to carry tissues with me.
Another odd observation we have made is how they dress their babies. The pants of the babies have a split at the center of them. There is no visible diaper. How parents are not soiled from their babies remains a mystery. We have been told that they train them to go on command by blowing a whistle. I really do not know. All I can say for sure is that we have seen a great deal of bare bottoms of the babies around here.
Our tour guide in Xi'an taught the group a new Chinese phrase every morning, such as "so-so", "good morning", "very good". She was pretty funny and told us all some good jokes. We enjoyed our time with her and learning about the Chinese culture from her.
June 20, 2005
We awoke this a.m. and packed up to move to yet another city. We were made aware of the strict regulations that Xi’an airport imposes with the weight limitations of checked luggage. Every person is limited to 20 kg (44 lbs). Well, for all of you who know me well know that I cannot possibly have packed ONLY 44 lbs of my “stuff” to get me through 3 wks! Based on our history with Xi’an’s transportation of baggage and the fact that we knew we were definitely over our 44 lb per person weight limit, we made the decision to pull out our duffel bag we had packed as a “back up bag” and take it on the airplane with us as a carry on bag. We looked like a couple of pack horses with all of our carry on bags. We filled it with some of our clothing to get us through a few days if our bags did not make it to Changsha with us. We passed the “weight test” at the airport with flying colors! Our flight to Changsha was uneventful except for an observation about how our landings have been in China. The pilots slam on the brakes—and I mean slam. We all are pulled forward in our seats as they do whatever is possible to make it to the taxiway that they are aiming for, not taking into consideration the passenger comfort. Steve has commented on more than 1 occasion that they are lucky that they are not blowing a tire by slamming on the brakes as hard as they do as the temperatures are well into the high 80’s to low 90’s.
At the airport here in Changsha, Shigu, our facilitator from the adoption agency, met us. We got to the Hua Tian Hotel, our home away from home for the next week. It is a very nice hotel (a 5-star hotel in China). Our room is up on the 16th floor, but we do not have a great view. We walked in and the first thing we saw in our room was a crib! It is so exciting to think that by this time tomorrow (actually, in 12 hrs from now as it is 10:00 p.m.), we will be parents.
We met this afternoon before dinner to go over the paperwork needed for the adoption tomorrow. Steve had to "impress" the group and stated that that our marital status was "Steve, married and Tammy, single"; which had the group all laughing. It wasn't so funny when that was what he started writing on our form to turn in tomorrow--kinda hard to turn an "s" into an "m". There are 10 families in our group and we have all met up again here in Changsha. We are all meeting tomorrow at 8:30 to go the civil affairs office to meet our babies! The babies are coming by train during the night and will arrive in Changsha at 6:00 a.m. We are all willing to meet them at the train station, but I guess that is not going to happen. One of the families in the group has found out that their baby is sick and on antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection. We know that all of the babies are going to be having a very long night.
Changsha is the capital of the Hunan Province and has a population of about 5 million people! It is considered moderately sized city. Any city with a population of 10 million or more is considered a large city. There are people everywhere. We went outside the hotel this evening for a walk. At 8:30 at night, there are still many people, young and old, out walking around. We have noticed a lot more babies here in Changsha than in the other cities we have been in so far. The traffic is still horrible and the air is still stagnant. There is more humidity in the air and it feels alot like Florida weather outside. We will hopefully have much more to write about tomorrow!
June 21, 2005
We had an extremely awesome day. Abigail is officially ours. Of course, she is the most beautiful of all. Actually, all of the babies are cute. When we got her this morning, she was tired and drained from the train ride last night. She was on the train from 10pm-6am this morning. She didn't cry at all and was content with us. She has taken to both of us, no favorite like we were expecting. All of the other babies have cried at one point or the other and they seem to have a favorite that they cling to.
Abigail is the smallest of the bunch, but I bet she is the most pleasant, interactive and engaging of all. The 9-month-old clothes we brought for her leave plenty of room for her to grow into, as they are a bit big on her. She is very petite. She is rolling back and forth, she can sit up by herself if you sit her up first, she is laughing and smiling, and she loves the toys that we brought. She can't seem to get enough of them. The red plastic Maryland crab and the set of plastic keys are her favorite so far. When she gets up from her nap she gives off a short and quick bit of attitude, then she starts smiling again. She already likes jewelry; she has grabbed at Tammy's necklace and rings from the very start.
Can you believe we have done and observed this all in one day?
When we brought her back to the hotel, we changed her diaper, gave her a bath, which see loved. She kicked her feet and splashed more than Shamu would have. We put her in clean clothes, gave her a manicure and pedicure (clipped her nails), fed her, then fed ourselves. After all this, we went back to the Civil Affairs Office, where we got her this morning, to finalize the adoption. She is ours.
Abigail is already teaching us how to be parents. Earlier in the day we were feeding here a bottle of formula; she started banging on the bottle and we thought she was playing with her food. She was actually telling us that she was not getting any formula; nothing was coming out of the bottle.
She sucks her thumb and likes to put her other hand in our mouths so we can suck in her other hand. With five teeth and working on her sixth, she is sucking on everything, napkins, toys, fingers and our shirt collars.
Tonight she is a little fussy we guess she was hungry. It seems the bottle helped. We think we have a miniature Matthew (nephew). Abigail, like Matthew, likes to be held and walked around. She is also not real big on sitting still or high chairs.
We found that she really likes looking into the mirror. She must think, as we do, that she is the most beautiful of all. As we’ve written all these things this evening, everything will probably change. We’d hate to think we’ve figured her out in one day. We are sure there will be many more surprises.
Well that’s about all for Abigail this evening, we are trying to wear her down so she’ll go to sleep. She’s up past our bedtime.
The other kids are great also. One baby is sick and she and her new parents went to the hospital for shots and x-rays. Another baby cried forever when she was handed to her new parents. It was hard to watch. The baby still cries whenever her new mother holds her. You can see the pain in the new mother’s eyes. The other babies are a little cranky this evening trying to adjust to their new families and surroundings, but all seem to be healthy.
June 22, 2005
Today we are all up at 5:30am. Last night Abigail had a restless night. She tossed and turned but slept mostly from 10:30pm to 5:30am. This morning is full of fire. She has so much energy, it's hard to keep up. They say girls from Hunan Province are spicey girls. They'll tell you want they want, right now, and expect their toy or food right now. We are getting ready for the rest of the day. Bye. Pictures hopefully to follow, the download time is making it very hard.
It is 10:20 p.m. and we have finally gotten Abigail to sleep. We think she is afraid of missing something if she falls asleep. We had a great day today, bonding with her and getting to know her. Of course, you read that we had an early start to the day, but she already dictated our breakfast downstairs by falling asleep before we went down there, so we ended up doing it in shifts. She has such a delightful personality. She is smiling, laughing, babbling and rolling over. We lie her on our bed and use ourselves as barriers. She rolls all over the bed, grabbing at toys, putting everything in her mouth.
We had our 1st family shopping outing today as we (the entire group of 10 families) all took a trip to the local Walmart here in Changsha. We were given almost 2 hrs to shop in the 3 story store (Super Walmart) and at first, I didn't know why we needed so much time, but it is MUCH more difficult to shop in a store when you cannot read the language of what is in the aisles. It took us almost the entire time to shop! I am very happy to report that Abigail is a born shopper! Isn't that great, Mom? We have a snugglie that we bought that we strap on and carry her in front of us and she loves it. She loves to cuddle and is an absolute angel. We did get quite a bit of looks from the locals in the store when they saw Americans carrying "their" babies. We were also very excited as well, as we found Skippy peanut butter and Ritz crackers.
After our Walmart trip, we went to lunch here in the hotel. The food here in the Hunan Province is spicey and very good. We again attempted the high chair with a bit more success this time. Of course, Abigail was not interested in eating lunch, but wanted to play with her snacks we put on the tray for her. We spent the afternoon here in the room as Abigail slept a great deal of the afternoon. As we stated above, she slept all last night, but she was extremely restless and thrashed around in her crib all night. I don't think either one of us slept.
We could go on and on about our little girl and how we feel so lucky to have her. Her personality fits us so well. She has a stubborn streak and if she can't have something she wants, she definitely lets you know. She smiles and giggles with us, but yet among the group of us who are here together, she is quiet. She has (and is) bonding with us so easily and she fits us. We have seen her blossom so much just in the 2 days she has been ours. It doesn't even seem like the same little girl. She is funny too. We were feeding her some pears this evening and she grabs onto the spoon with her teeth and will not let go. Of course, we had to take a picture. She is such a ham! She loves to look at herself in the mirror and sits and smiles and giggles at herself. We were in the elevator this evening with a couple of Chinese ladies and they oohed and awed over her in Chinese. We don't know what they said, but we know that they were thinking that she is the cutest little girl in the whole wide world!
We weighed Abigail this evening in our room as we have a scale. She is 14.3 lbs. She is such a tiny little girl, but very stong. She is the smallest baby in the group, and of course, the cutest.
Today the teething continues. We think that she is working on her 6th tooth as well. Everything goes in her mouth and you have to watch her like a hawk, as I found out. While in Walmart today, we had a shopping list that she insisted upon holding for me. Well, while in the checkout line, she ate part of it. So I had to go on a fishing expedition for the missing part of the paper. Between her and Rascal, we are going to have our work cut out for us, as he has a paper product obsession as well. Anything that comes near her is fair game to her, whether it be our fingers, our arms, our shirts, paper, tags to her clothing or blankets. It all goes in her mouth.
We didn't take a whole lot of pictures today, but we are taking a group trip to a park tomorrow. I am sure we will take plenty then. We will close for today, as we could go on and on about her and never get tired of talking about her.
June 23, 2005
We started our day at 3:30am by choice, Abigail’s choice. We played for a while and then went back to sleep to really start the day at 5:15am. It took us until 9:30 to get ready for breakfast and meet the gang for our trip to the park. Taking off by the seat of our pants is definitely a thing of the past. Spontaneity just takes longer. The trip to the park seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was too hot. We cut the trip short.
We feel we have definitely had it easy compared to the other families. So far, we have not had any problems with bonding, feeding, getting her into a crib, highchair or stroller, or giving her medicine. She has a cold, as most babies do now, and only gets fussy when you wipe the excess baggage she caries in her nose or when she’s hungry. Oh yeah, she also gets cranky when we use external motivation to go #2. She’s blocked up. This external motivation becomes internal, then an external deposit very quickly. Get her drift. No pun intended.
All three of us spent the rest of the afternoon taking a nap and feeding. This evening we spent time with the group at dinner. As usual she was well behaved. She is full of “piss and vinegar” (a quote we got from an "old timer" in Minto, ND) with us, but when she gets around other people, she is shy and clings to us. We have learned quickly that as soon as we feed her, she becomes a high-octane engine with full after burners on. We are finding out also what they mean by spicy girls from Hunan Province.
We bought an umbrella stroller today. We thought we would use just a snugglie while we are here but it gets hot for Abigail and us. A girl at dinner this evening pointed out that the shirt Steve was wearing was the exact pattern of the material that the stroller seat is made of. We all got a chuckle from this. Even Steve laughed, seriously.
As we are getting Abigail ready for bed together, Steve asks, why is her foot in a booty on your side and not on mine, Tammy replies, you dumb ass, your putting her leg in her sleeve.
Until tomorrow, goodnight (we hope)!
June 24, 2005
Last night was a pretty good night of sleep for all of us. Abigail went to sleep at 9:30pm and got up this morning at 6:45. However, she likes to get up at 3:30 each morning to say hello and hop in our bed to sleep for a few more hours. We can’t find it in our exhausted bodies to wait for her to fall asleep in our arms or her crib, so we set up a play pen on our bed and she plays herself to sleep.
We have gotten the hang of getting ready in the morning. We have reduced the time from 4 hours to 2 hours and 45 minutes. We had a 9:30 tour at a local farm and embroidery factory this morning so we ready in plenty of time. We were ready at 9:28, two minutes to spare. This parenting thing is a piece of cake.
The farm tour was neat, in that we visited a family that farms and we were welcomed into their home. The farmland is not what we would expect in America. The land is not vast acreage, but a small lot; smaller than the size of what our house is located on. They also have an area where they raise animals for their own food. The embroidery factory was ok if you’re a girl.
We then went off to lunch where our guides told us not to raise our hands. There was a Chinese auction during lunch and they didn’t want us to accidentally buy something. There was also a live dance performance during, but it was a bit loud for Abigail and the rest of us. She showed her displeasure in many ways.
Back at the hotel, we decided to go swimming in the pool, Abigail’s first time. She had a blast. She started kicking her legs right away and splashing with her hands. We are very happy she likes the water. It would be difficult for her to go kayaking or waterskiing if she doesn’t like the water.
After dinner, we went for a walk. I can’t tell you how many locals stare at us all the time. It like we are foreigners in a strange land. Oh yeah, we are. I forgot we aren’t residents yet. It feels like we are locals now. Somewhere along the line, we must have had computer chips inserted into us, because the locals can see us coming from miles away. Obviously, it is strange for them to see Caucasian Americans coming to their country carrying a Chinese girl in a snugglie. We pretend we’re Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman with their adopted child. Why would anyone want to look at us if we aren’t famous? So, we pretend we are famous.
Tomorrow, we are going to visit a museum with a real mummy and a Chinese university. We think this mummy is about 2000 years old.
June 25, 2005
Today can be summed up in one word, exhausting. All of the bragging we have done about how easy she has been is all BS. Abigail was on a rampage. Napping was not in her vocabulary, but eating and diaper changing were. She used to feed about every 4 hours, but since she is semi-regular, she eats more often, only Mommy and Daddy didn’t know this yet. She tried to get the point across with loud, high-pitched squeals that our neighbors could hear in case we couldn’t.
We didn’t attend the museum like we wanted. Steve would rather stay near the hotel and finish off the bottle of Pepto. Maybe we’ll have better luck in the next province, Hunan was a real butt kicker.
Nighttime came and Abigail was still going strong. Mommy walked her around until she fell asleep (Mommy fell asleep, Abigail was walking her). This was our day.
June 26, 2005
Today was a better day for Steve. Abigail is still cranky; she hasn’t awakened from her nighttime sleep in her usual good mood. She has been sleeping longer though. She is working on teeth six and seven, taking antibiotics to ward off a potential ear infection and drooling profusely, so we can understand her crankiness.
Abigail has been increasingly getting stronger with each day. She is getting up on her knees a little more each day and creeping forward more to grab her toys. She’s babbling more and more like her mommy and latching on to everything with her mouth. Of course she sticks her own fingers in her mouth, but now her toes and socks, toys, her stroller, the straps to the camera case, the straps to the back pack, our knees and fingers, and her dirty diaper, if we let her.
Today we walked to the train station where Abigail arrived in Changsha from Huai Hua (the city of her orphanage). We also strolled around town to view the local scenery. On this stroll, we saw an elderly local woman who had a traditional look to her. We took a picture of her without her knowing it, but she spotted us anyway. She bee-lined right for us, and wanted money. She’s was so aggressive that we actually had to yell at her to get away.
Well, two days of ho-hum, everyday stuff. We’re packing tonight for our plane trip tomorrow to Guangzhou, where the US consulate is located. Our last city. Good night.
June 27, 2005
Today we got up and finished our packing for our trip to Guangzhou. We actually got up, showered, dressed, packed and ate breakfast—all before 11:00 a.m.! We felt we accomplished something. On to Guangzhou, our final stop in our “5 City China Tour”. We feel like we are a rock band on a tour! We had to stay in Changsha for 5 business days once we adopted our babies to get their passports so we could travel. Abigail now has a Chinese passport, as she is not yet considered a U.S. citizen until she sets foot (so to speak) on U.S. soil with us in Chicago on Friday evening.
Our flight to Guangzhou quick and a trial run as to how Friday’s trip home will be. Getting through the checkpoint with “extra carry-on” is a bit more challenging. I wish I had had a free hand to take a picture of “Steve, the packhorse” as we gathered our belongings. It was funny to see him pulling a suitcase, carrying a stroller, computer bag and a backpack, all while Abigail and I sauntered through without a care in the world.
Abigail’s first airplane ride went ok. It was an interesting flight for those people going to Guangzhou with babies, as there were at least 12 babies on this flight! She was a bit rambunctious at first, but settled down once she got in Daddy’s arms. Then she was all smiles and fell asleep with about 10 minutes left of the flight.
We arrived at the hotel in Guangzhou, The White Swan. Our facilitator from our adoption agency, Shigu, has been with us since Changsha and has been making sure our paperwork is correct. He flew with us to Guangzhou and has been handling all the arrangements with the U.S. Consulate and the Chinese government. Guangzhou is at the same latitude as Key West, FL, so it is hot and humid, as Tammy’s “hair-o-meter” is saying! The weather has been rainy and there has been flooding around the area, as noted by the sandbags in front of some storefronts. The hotel is located on Shamian Island, and it is about one mile walk around the entire island. There are many stores that cater to babies here, as well as some restaurants with Western food. We had our first meal at Lucy’s. Abigail had her first taste of mashed potatoes. She ate the entire serving! After spending the last three weeks eating with chopsticks, it was weird to eat with a fork and knife. We did take a small walk around “town” after dinner. It is amazing to see all of the people walking around with Chinese babies, and we all stay at this hotel. I can’t even begin to tell you how many families are here finishing up their adoptions.
One weird thing about this hotel is that they have TWIN beds in the rooms! We feel like Lucy and Desi! It is weird. The rooms are nice, but for some reason, twin beds must have been on sale when the decorated the hotel. It is right along the Pearl River, which it turns out is a major shipping channel. Our room faces the water, and we see cargo ships going by constantly.
We had a “minor” catastrophe when I opened up one of the suitcases when we arrived here in Guangzhou. Steve and I had neglected to communicate about the can of powdered formula that was already opened we put in the suitcase without a plastic bag. Well, when I opened the suitcase to be greeted with powdered formula all over the inside of the suitcase and all over Abigail’s clothes and some of mine. It was a mess! We were able to flag down the maids when they were cleaning to vacuum out the inside of the suitcase. Live and learn!
Abigail is still teething and still drooling. She has learned to blow “raspberries”. I had never heard that term before, but it is when you purse your lips together and make noises. Of course, hers end up being quite moist (as I said above she is drooling). She thinks it is very funny and of course, when she first started doing it, we laughed and laughed, which egged her on. We even had to take pictures. We then heard from one of the other mothers that this is a developmental “milestone” and our pediatrician will ask us if she is doing this. She loves to entertain; we think that she is going to be an acrobat, gymnast or an actress when she grows up. But then she also has a preoccupation with our mouths and our teeth, so maybe she will be a dentist.
It has been a long day, so we are signing off for today.
June 28, 2005
Before we get started on our day, we would like to wish Tammy’s mom a very Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma from Abigail. We are thinking of you!
We all had a pretty good night, even though we were all three in separate beds. Abigail awoke with a smile on her face, greeting me. She has been getting much better at sleeping through the night and her usual 3:00 a.m. playtime hasn’t happened in a few days. She awoke today at 6:00 a.m. She has been going to bed around 10:00 p.m.
The White Swan Hotel gave us a special edition Barbie doll with a Caucasian Barbie holding an Asian baby in her arms. It was in our room for us after breakfast this morning.
Today was the medical examinations for the babies to get their U.S. Visa’s for travel. So all 10 families formed a “parade” and first went to a store across the street for a passport photo. Abigail didn’t smile for hers, but she looked so adorable in it. We then all continued our walk to the medical examination office. We were all taken into a big waiting room and eventually told we would have to go to 3 different rooms to complete her physical. She was weighted and measured. She weighs 6.8 kg (14.9 lbs) and she is 68 cm long. (I am not sure of this conversion to inches—anyone?). Her hearing, eyesight and mouth were checked. The physician who checked her said that she might have a sore throat. That may also help explain some of her irritability. She recommended giving her Tylenol, which we had been giving off and on for her teething. It has been a rather traumatic week for her—getting taken from what she was familiar with and being handed to complete strangers, and not feeling the best on top of it. She has really been a trooper!
After our medical exam, we spent the afternoon walking around the island, just the 3 of us. The weather was overcast and rainy at times, but not a total wash.
We went into some of the local shops looking for bargains and we came out with a few. We found some cute outfits for Abigail that we hope will fit her now. They were $5 US! And they are name brands (Gap, Oshkosh). We even found her a traditional Chinese outfit. The people who work in these stores are so used to seeing Americans and other foreigners with Chinese babies and they all seem very nice. On more than one occasion, a store clerk would tell us how beautiful Abigail is. One store clerk asked Steve how many children we have and when he said that Abigail was our only child, she stated how lucky she was. Steve replied that we were the lucky ones! We both feel so blessed to have her in our lives and we cannot stop staring at her. As I write this, it is 11:30 p.m. and she is fast asleep in her crib. Both of us cannot help but stop and stare at her sleeping and smile looking at her. We feel so lucky to have her.
This evening the group of us took at riverboat cruise on the Pearl River. We had dinner on the boat, which was not very appealing for any of the babies. There were 10 little girls not happy with the dinner selection this evening, actually 20 girls, as us mom’s were not happy with it either!
All 10 babies in our group seem to be adjusting quite well. They all seemed to have transformed in this week we have been parents. Yes, it has been 1 week today! One baby had pneumonia on the day we got the girls and her parents had to take her to the hospital for antibiotics for a few days. She seems to be better now. There are 2 babies in the group that are latched on to 1 parent more than the other. It is heartbreaking to watch them, as you can see how it hurts them. It is getting better. Many of the babies are teething and have small colds, now being passed on to their parents. We also have some people in the group dealing with upset stomachs. We are all getting anxious to go home and counting the days.
Tomorrow is the start of our consulate paperwork. The day is a free day for us and we hope it is a nice day, as we would like to take Abigail to the outdoor pool to go swimming. I am signing off for the evening. We “rearranged” our room this evening and pushed the two beds together. This will give Abigail a place to lie down and play too.
June 29, 2005
We had a somewhat restless night, as Abigail didn’t sleep through the night. I think she knew that we had a big bed again and that there was room for her between mommy and daddy to sleep! And sure enough, her “ploy” worked! We were up early at 6:00 a.m. If we were not morning people before Abigail, we will be!
This morning we had to be available by telephone for the U.S. Consulate to contact us should they have any questions regarding Abigail’s physical examination or her visa application. Thank goodness there were no questions and we are one step closer to getting home.
The three of us took our daily (or twice daily) stroll around the island after 11:00. Abigail usually uses this time to catch a quick catnap and has perfected this as she sits in her stroller. It is quite the life of Riley that she leads as we chauffeur her around the island. We ran into locals in the store who all comment on what a beautiful baby she is. They always ask what province she is from. When we respond, Hunan Province, there next statement is ALWAYS, “oh, spicy girl!” Hunan Province has quite the reputation for producing “spicy” girls.
We met our travel group at one of the two outdoor pools this afternoon to take the girls swimming. Only Steve and Abigail were late to arrive as she opted to take a nap before our 4:00 p.m. meeting time. I went to the pool to give them “quality” time (or was it to give ME quality time?). They eventually made it to the pool and we were quite surprised to see that one of the other babies in our group had the exact bathing suit as Abigail. Of course, this became yet another photo opportunity. Abigail loved the pool again. She splashed her feet and arms around and squealed in delight. We are so happy she likes water. Bath time is an exciting time for her!
We ordered pizza (Pizza Hut) with another couple this evening and spent the evening in their room visiting. We had an enjoyable time. Interestingly, Cyndie (the wife we spent the evening with), had a photo album of her children she showed us. She also had her new daughter’s referral photos in this album. She said that one of Lian’s photos didn’t look like her and that her and her husband had been commenting on it since we got them the end of April She showed us this photo and I looked at it and said that it was Abigail’s photo! What are the odds that they would get her photo and that we would end up traveling together to adopt our daughters. They live in Belgium and used a different adoption agency. It just goes to show you what a small world we live in.
It is getting better to get Abigail down for the night, either that or she is just exhausted. Figuring out what works to get her to sleep has been a challenge for us this past week. She fights going to sleep. We think it is because she is afraid she will miss something. She is very inquisitive and likes to know (and see) all that goes on around her. It went much better tonight and I hope that I am getting the hang of her temperment and she of mine. Either way, it worked and she settled down. The rocking chair at home is going to come in very handy with her!
We are closing for this evening. Tomorrow we have our swearing in ceremony where everything is official as far as the U.S. Consulate is concerned. We are counting the days until we can come home! Looking back at this past week, it is so hard to believe that Abigail is the same baby. She is blossoming right before our very eyes. She is so much stronger and her personality is shining through. She looks and acts so much healthier than she did when we first got her. This experience has been so much more rewarding to us than we ever thought it would be.
June 30, 2005
Today we had the swearing in at the US Consulate. A short I-DO, then we were out of there. Later today we received Abigail's visa to enter the United States and once we land in Chicago tomorrow, she will be a US citizen.
We lined up all 10 babies on this famous "red couch", which is located in the hotel, and took their picture all together. It was a neat site. Every baby that is adopted in China that is going to the US, comes through this US Consulate office, so all the familes stay in this hotel, The White Swan. So all over America, this red couch shows up in a lot of Chinese adoption pictures.
We have packed and are ready to come home. This will be the last posting to this journal. We hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as we have enjoyed writing it. See you soon.
