4th of July trip to Seattle

Sue,  Ali, and I took off early Friday afternoon for Seattle to visit Kyler and Becca.  It was a long but uneventful trip.  We arrived around 9:30 Seattle time and Kyler, Becca, and his friend, Tim, were just coming back from a bike ride.  We got all our stuff unloaded and stayed up talking until around midnight and then Sue, Ali, and I all slept soundly on our air mattresses in the living room.

Saturday we had a late breakfast at Louissa's and all had a big breakfast.







 We took off on our bikes to Ballard and the Saturday market but apparantly it was canceled for the Holiday weekend.  We ended up shopping at some stores and then took the long steep ride up to the Woodland Park Zoo.  I got a flat tire on way up and I had left my pump back at Kyler's house.  Fortunately we walked by some guys that were starting their 4th celebration early on their front porch and gladly loaned us a pump.  (I did have a spare tire and tire iron).  When we got to the zoo there was a long line to get in and it was very crowded.  We decided to brave the crowds and go on it.  It was an enjoyable afternoon at the zoo and we saw almost the whole thing.  We stopped at the supermarket on the way home and got stuff to make tacos.  After we got back Ali, Kyler and I went back to the bike store and got some parts to work on Ali's bike a little.  Becca fixed wonderful tacos and we sat outside in  the courtyard and ate.  It is a really nice evening.  We are just going to hang out around here tonight and relax.

Epilogue

It is Friday morning and we are all still adjusting to our time change.  We have been up at 3:30 in the morning every morning since returning.  Hopefully over the weekend we will be able to recover fully.

We have been reflecting on our travels a lot. The time spent in China will never be forgotten in our lifetime and, I believe has changed all three of us. Several times throughout the week Sue and I said to each other that it was hard to get our thoughts around all that was happening.  How do we understand the Chinese culture, what they are thinking, why all the abandon children, how did we get so fortunate to get our daughter, what do all the people there think of us and how we are raising our daughter.  In the end I think we cannot answer any of those questions completely.  We cannot understand the Chinese culture with one visit in one location no more than we can understand American culture.  It is vastly different depending upon regions, and, individual families.  What we can and did do was to explore a few of the customs and get to know a few individuals from that culture.  Jean, Vivian, Alysson,  our guides were easier to get to know because they could speak English.  The nannies, children, and workers at the orphanage were more difficult because we could not speak their language but, there were moments of understanding, especially when it came to expressing the love for the children.  I think that is what was the best for us and a goal for the future.  To try and get to know better the people we have met to give us a better understanding of China.  Several times throughout the trip the words from one of my favorite songs from the Innocence Mission came to my mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr25sF18DZY  I hope you enjoy it too.


And, finally, here are a few of my favorite pics that did no make it into the previous blogs:

Jasmine and Lilli-Mae

One of the Orphanage workers who traveled a lot with us and her son.

The girls played in the Bamboo field in the scenic gardens.

Ali Pointing to her referral picture at the orphanage

Ali and Andie stopped at every toy shop along the street.

The entrance to the Yangzhou Old City

Friends

Entrance to Narrow Lake Park in Yangzhou

In Amusement park at shopping Center

Jean and Maggie

The Mothers

Jean and Ali.  Jean was tremendous!

Vivian and the Girls from Boise.  Vivian was tremendous as well!

Returned Home To Boise

Just a quick update to let everyone know we arrived back home to Boise.  We left Chengdu at 5:45 AM on Tuesday morning and arrived home in Boise at 3:00 the same day.  Counting the time change we were traveling around 22 hours so we are quite tired.  In and out of buses, security, airplanes then waiting on benches reminds us of why we cannot do this trip so often.  Ali was a trooper though and actually got some sleep on  a couple of the flights.  Mofus, our dog, was very glad to see us and our house was well taken care of and a very welcome site.  We had Subway sandwiches for lunch/dinner and I had a bowl of frosted mini wheats.   Seems a bit hard to believe that we were just in China less than a day ago.


Sue and I have said many times that we have a lot to reflect upon about this trip and it will take several days and maybe weeks to wind down.  We hope to hear from our new friends in the travel group and look forward to sharing all the details verbally with anyone who will listen.  I plan on putting a wrap-up entry in a few days with, hopefully some favorite pictures that did not get published yet so you might want to check back in a few days in you are interested.  Until then we have lots of catching up and resting up to do.

Panda Breeding Center

We got a good nights sleep and and good breakfast at the hotel and headed for the Panda Breeding Center about 9:30 this morning.  A beautiful day in Chengdu and we quickly shed our coats as we began the walk around the trails at the Park.  The setup is much like a zoo with several areas of Pandas at various ages.  The Pandas were very active today and we were able to spend lots of time watching them close up eating their bamboo.  Much better than I expected.   Sue and Ali paid the donation amount to allow them special membership  to hold a panda on their lap.

We strolled around looking at all the different Pandas and enjoyed the sunny morning.  It was amazing to see, and hear, them crunching on their bamboo shoots.

We watched a video and then headed back via the pond to feed the fish.    They were swimming on top of each other to get the food. 

We headed out for lunch about 1:30 and another Chinese lunch.  We are anxious to share with our other travel companions that our food here has been the best on the trip so far, but the traffic and driving does seem to be worse.  After lunch we went to a large park and had a very relaxing stroll in which we saw many activities.  Some nice ladies in the park were kind enough to let us try their toys that were a mixture of a top and a yo-yo (I forgot the name) and we had lots of fun getting them to spin.  Ali was the best at it.

We headed back to the hotel around 4:30 in hopes of a short swim before dinner but were disappointed to find the pool is an outdoor pool and is not ope for the season yet.

This will be my last blog entry before taking the last trek home.  We have to leave for the airport at 5:30 in the morning and fly from Chengdu to Beijing to San Francisco to Boise.  It will be very long and tiresome.  I will talk to you all back in the states!
Signing off from China.

Arrival In Chengdu

We all got up early yesterday to catch the bus up to Nanjing for our next flights.

Yangtze River on the Way to Nanjing

The Clements family and us were headed to Chengdu while the rest of the families were going back to Beijing to flights back home.  It was sad good-byes with promises to keep in touch and exchange pictures, etc.
Our flight to Chengdu was delayed due to fog so we ended up sitting in the airport waiting for about 3 more hours before finally taking off.  It is about a 2.5 hour flight  so we were all pretty tired when we arrived.  Our guide, Sylvia, was there to greet us.  We did not have enough time to go to the Hotel before our dinner reservations so we headed directly to the restaurant.  We had our own private room and were a bit disappointed that Sylvia did not join us.  The food was much more like the Chinese food we were used to at home so that plus the relatively quiet and smoke free meal was an enjoyable change for all of us.  After the meal we rushed off to the Chinese Opera House.  We are near the center of the city and we were all impressed with how modern and interesting the streets and alley ways were.  Dave commented that it would have been much more fun roaming around these streets rather than sitting in the airport but, at least we made it.

We arrived at the Opera house and were a bit concerned that it was an open air theater and the weather was windy and cool.  That combined with the fact that we were all very tired and did not have all our heavy coats made me think it was going to be too cold.  I was able to grab the last guest robe though for Ali to wrap up in and I had my down vest in my backpack so we stayed relatively comfortable during the show.  It was a great show with Chinese Dancing instruments, acts, and face changing.  We all enjoyed it and were impressed.

We arrived to our Hotel around 10:00 all very tired.  Our rooms are in central Chengdu (a city of over 11 million people) on the 16th floor.  We have a beautiful view of the city.  We all went to sleep very quickly but we are looking forward to visiting the Pandas today.

Farewell To Yangzhou

A beautiful day in Yangzhou with lots of sunshine.  We loaded the bus at 9:30 and headed for the shopping mall in the new section of town.  We started off at the little amusement park next to the mall with a few simple rides and lots of people watching.

After an hour outside we headed inside to take a walk around the mall.  Even though this is a brand new mall it still has a Chinese flavor to it in that there are lots of little shops with a bit of a maze to go through.  The area around this shopping mall has several new high rise apartments.  It is amazing how many of these there are.

We headed closer to town to another Chinese style restaurant for lunch.  We are all starting to recognize most of the dishes now and are all getting better at using chopsticks.




After lunch we went back to the Hotel and had the afternoon for free time.  We, the Clements, and the Deans decided to head to the Town Center for a walk.  We ended up seeing some sort of festival going on with dancers and music and lots of people gathered about.  Almost like a fair.  It might have been a typical Saturday afternoon there but we had no one to ask.  We dropped the kids off back at the Hotel to play in our room while Sue, Dave, Monica, Alyse, and I walked to Walmart to try and find one more suitcase to stuff all the gifts and stuff we have bought.  Walmart is a lot different and a lot the same as in the states.  Made it back to the hotel in time for a little rest and then preparation for the Farewell dinner.  This ended up being not quite as big of a celebration as the Welcoming banquet but much more emotional.  It was attended only by the guides, the adoptive families, and the orphanage workers.  A few speeches were given and Sue was asked to give a speech representing the two families from Yangzhou.  It was a tearful speech  followed by hugs from the Nannies and other mothers.  I think we all understood what these girls have meant to their families.

We had to say good bye to several of the orphanage workers.  We all said that we hope we see each other soon but realistically we know that it is a long and expensive journey so it maybe the last time they see each other.
We leave for Nanjing airport early in the morning so that is all for tonight.

Yangzhou Shopping and Sites

Yesterday started off a little more relaxing.  We did not have to meet until 10:00 AM again so a leisurely morning and Ali and the twins had some more playing time with their bears and forts.  Our first stop was at the equivalent of the Yangzhou Old Town.  A 2 kilometer block of small shops, restaurants and alley ways.  Of course the first store was a small shoe store and Sue and Ali bought a pair of shoes.  We strolled along this narrow street for 2 hours just taking in the local sites and people watching and stopping in stores.  We sampled some local dessert treats including a candy dragon made of caramel.  We watched the guy make it and it was impressive.  I heard a guy playing a harmonica and stopped at his stand and bought a small key chain harmonica   for $1.50.  I started playing a few tunes with him in his store and drew a little crowd.  Of course Sue and Ali were embarrassed but the owner was very impressed and happy that I brought more attention to his stand. :-)  Dave Clements and I even went back in a few of the alley ways.  It is very interesting how far back they go and the little houses and courtyards that are back there.  I also experienced my first Chinese squattie potty.  Hmmm.

 

We reached the end of the strip at the original City gates and took several pictures before going to another traditional Chinese lunch.  The oddity at this lunch was goose feet complete with the claws.  I was not brave enough to try them this time.

After lunch we headed to a West Lake or Slender Lake as they call it and a reunion with our other group from Gaoyou.  There was so much to catch up on and the girls greeted each other like they were long lost friends.  The experience the group had over in Gaoyou was incredible.  They had a large celebration in the City Park with dances and lots of people from the town coming out.  They also played with the school children there and had lots of other festivities.  The guides let us have plenty of time to talk but then hustled us into the park for a guided tour.  The Park is very beautiful with a lake running through it and lots of flowers and trees.  Part of our tour was on a large boat along the lake.

I did not catch all of the guides comments but I believe that this park was visited by one of the emperors many times.  It also had many Gingko trees which my brother Tim I know would have been interested in seeing.

We spent two or three hours strolling through this park and talking and taking pictures and just generally enjoying the nice sunny day. 

We went back to the hotel for some rest then we met at the Hotel restaurant for the Italian Buffet.  Everyone in our group was happy for some pizza and pasta.  The Deans (from Britain), the Clements, and us stayed in the restaurant until 9:30 or 10 just talking some more while the girls played.  It was a nice evening.

More Yangzhou Sites

This morning we separated from most of our group.  Four families took a bus over to Gaiyou to visit their daughter's orphanage while the Clements, The family from Shanghai (The Waldmeir's) and we took a smaller bus to see some more sites around Yangzhou.  The first item on the list was to visit the "pick-up" points for the girls.  This is what the guides were calling the location where the girls were found when they were abandon so many years ago.  I say abandon but as we discussed with so many parents they were not abandon but placed in very strategic locations so that they would be found very soon and taken care of.  But, that is another story.  Anyway, the first spot was near a Police station where Grace Waldmeir was found.  Next, we went to a hospital where the twins were found.  They all went inside and were able to talk to a nurse that actually remembered them.  Because they are twins they are remembered by lots of people and also delight a lot of people with how much they have grown and how happy they are.  The Clements were also treated with seeing other newborn babies in the hospital (with their parents) and were pretty upbeat about the whole thing.  When we got to Ali's location it was a bit different.  Ali decided at the last minute that she really did not want to go to her location and chose instead to stay with the Clements family at a nearby shopping center, a new Walmart believe it or not.  Sue and I proceeded a few blocks to the location and Sue quickly realized that so much had changed since she was here 10 years ago to pick up Ali that it was almost unrecognizable.  The site is near a police station and several new tall buildings had been erected.  I think we were both not quite sure how to feel other than that site is gone and things are much different now, in so many ways.
Next, we dropped off the Waldmeir's to head back to Shanghai and the other two families headed out to lunch at a very nice restaurant that served "Hot Pot".  This is a meal were we all get little kettles of boiling water and a whole plethora of  meats, vegetables, tofu, etc. are place on the center of the table.  We all choose what we want to put in our pot and cook and then later cool and eat.  A really neat, and fun experience.  The girls especially like it but ended up gorging on watermelon.

 The meal was topped off by a waiter coming to our table and doing a very elaborate dance as he stretched a noodle and placed it in our pots.  A very good noodle also.

After lunch we headed back to the orphanage to look over all the girls records.  Of course it was a much calmer arrival this time as the place was back to the normal activity and no posters or media to greet us.  We were a bit disappointed to see that our files did not contain much more information than we already had copies of at home.

While we realize that not much is known about these children, as with most of the adoptive parents we were hoping and thinking that there might still be some information that we did not receive when we adopted.  The girls all got a big kick out of viewing their baby pictures one more time.  We took one more trip around the orphanage and then headed back to the van.

Our next stop was at a local strawberry farm to pick strawberries.  We started out thinking we would just pick a few for ourselves but our guide from the orphanage asked if we wanted to pick more for the kids in the orphanage and we all quickly agreed.  

We ended up picking several pounds for them but also saved some for the other families coming back from Gaiyou today.  The old man in the picture was all smiles and was very happy to show me the good strawberries to pick and picked several for me.  He insisted that I try one that he had picked and was very please when I signaled that it was delicious.  It really was!


We went back to the hotel for some much needed rest before heading out to dinner with local Yangzhou families.  They split our two families up and we went to a family of one of the female doctors who worked at the orphanage.  It was a bit nervous at first as we only had one interpreter, whom we had just met and several people there including a cameraman from the local TV station.  Ali and Sue learned how to fold dumplings and they interviewed me about our visit so far.  They had a little dog name chow-chow that helped break the ice as he was very playful.

The apartment was very nice and modern.  It was on the 5th floor in a medium sized compound.  Another extremely good meal with way too much food.  When we compared stories at the end of the evening with the Clements we both commented that there was plenty of leftovers for the upcoming weekend.  There were actually parts of two families at our dinner.  Two school age girls that were cousins ages 16 and 12.  I tried talking  a lot to both of them and one of them was very nervous speaking English but the older one was very eager to speak and spoke well enough to carry a conversation.  She showed me her school books and I was happy to examine her math book where I could actually understand. :-)  The logarithms and equations are all the same.  After some group pictures our family was fading fast and it was time to go.

When we got back to the Hotel we stayed up talking to the Clements for another hour and a half while the girls played up in the twins room and built forts for their new bears.  It was a much need time of reflection for both our families.

Yangzhou Orphanage

Wow!  What a day.   We ate breakfast at the Hotel and loaded the bus around 9:00 to head off to the orphanage.  Nice trip through the city of Yangzhou to see the interesting life in the city then pulled around the corner to the orphanage and were taken back.  Newspaper reporters, TV cameras, Orphanage officials and all the kids in the orphanage were there to greet us as we got off the bus.  It was overwhelming.  The orphanage kids were enough to bring tears to everyone’s eyes.  

After some introduction speeches and some TV interviews we headed inside for a tour of the orphanage.  This is a new building since Ali was there but arranged much the same.  Very nice facilities but sad just the same.  We then gathered in the lunch room for a fried rice cooking demonstration and Ali and her friend, Andie, got to cook a pan themselves and give it to the kids in the orphanage table.

We all ate lunch and strolled around for a while before saying our good-byes and getting on the bus again.  Camera men were following us all around and got me dropping a chunk of rice off my chopsticks. I am sure it will be a laugh for all the people on the evening news.

Next we headed into Yangzhou to visit the a rock garden.  Very nice but we have difficulty understanding the translation.  After that, we headed to a park to try and fly kites but the wind was not cooperating.  I was a bit disappointed that I could not get Ali's kite up but some Chinese guys in the park were having difficulty also.

After that, we headed back to the Hotel for a much needed rest before the Welcoming banquet.  This banquet was at the nicest hotel in town and the Vice Mayor, and several other dignitaries were on hand.  The program was MC'ed by the local newscast lady and was quite a presentation with lots of toasts and speeches and performances.  They wanted Ali to try and play the Chinese flute but she was too embarrassed.  I wish we would have known and I would have brought her flute along.  I think the officials would have been very impressed with her playing. 

At the end of the program, all the girls were given large Teddy bears to take home.  These Teddy bears were made in a factory in Yangzhou.

Today we have more sightseeing in Yangzhou while 4 of the families are going to their child's orphanage in a nearby town.  Not sure why we were not invited but might be a size thing.

Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

What a busy day!  We all slept until about 4:45 AM and then got up and packed for our 1:00 PM departure to Nanjing.  After Breakfast we loaded the bus and took the 45 minute drive through Beijing to Tienanmen Square.  It was a bright sunny but very cold and windy day in Beijing.  I had all my layers on and hat and gloves.  The Square was very crowded, even by Chinese standards.  Our guide told us this was because it has been closed for several weeks for repairs so there was lots of pent up demand.  She pointed out the long lines there that were waiting to see the preserved body of Chairman Mao, who has been been dead for over 35 years now.  Thankfully, we did not have to wait in that line.

There were lots of people in the square, but it is a very large area so we did not feel too crowded.  We went under the street to get to the Forbidden City and things got a little tighter.  The City is a very large area with many different courtyards and such and just kept going on and on.  Every time we would go through another large gate another large courtyard would appear.  This might have been more interesting if the crowds were thinner or the weather a little warmer but we were all getting a little cold, tired, and hungry by the time we made it to the garden at the end of the city.  We were very glad to see the bus.  We had one close call where we were in the entry way and gate from one part of the city to the next and there was a rather small door way open between the two.  The crowd started pushing and I (and several others in our group) were concerned about a stampede.  It did not turn out that bad but we definitely could not control how hard we were getting pushed and shoved.

After the long morning tour we headed back to the hotel to gather our luggage and then ate a quick sandwich lunch on the bus while heading to the airport and our flight to Nanjing.  Our guide Vivian, had us all checked in and ready to board in a very efficient manner and we actually had some time to relax before the flight.  There was a children's play area at the airport and we had a great time playing Foosball with the girls.  Mike, the British guy, turned it into an international match and there was a lot of laughing and jeering until we had quite an audience watching.  Our group tends to bring a lot of attention to itself just because of all the Foreigners and Chinese girls who speak English.

The flight to Nanjing was a good one and we quickly boarded a bus for the two hour bus ride to Yangzhou.  It was dark for most of the ride over so I did not get to see much of the country side but the entrance into Yangzhou was very interesting.  We stopped at a noodle bar for dinner.  One of the better dinners we have had but way too much food even for as hungry as we were. None of us in the back of the bus were sure why but there was no heat in the bus so we were all freezing cold by the time we reached the restaurant.

Back to the bus one more time to go to the Hotel.  After checking in a couple of us walked about a mile to a little grocery store and stocked up on some water and snacks.  Food is really cheap here so only spent $6 for several snacks an bottled water.

We met two one of the workers from the Yangzhou Orphanage at the airport who will help be our tour guide for the next few days.  Should be interesting.

Emporer's Temple of Heaven

We all slept better last night, especially Ali.  After another large Chinese dinner close to the hotel we all walked back.  Ali made a half-hearten plea to go swimming with the twins before bed but Sue and I quickly shot the idea down as she was extremely tired.  She went to sleep instantly upon her head hitting the pillow and slept through the night.  I woke up at 4:00 AM and cannot get back to sleep so I thought I would write a little more about the tour group.

There are a total of 6 families in our Beijing group, all with adopted daughters of various ages.  Of course there is us and the Clements (whom I mentioned earlier) from Boise, ID.  Then there is Jennifer and her daughter Allyson from Massachusetts.  She is traveling without her husband and two other children.  Allyson is about 7 years old and very enthralled with Ali and the twins.  However, she did meet another 8 year old girl yesterday and they seem to be hanging out.  Bill and Kim from Philadelphia, PA are the parents of 8 year old, Lily and another Chinese daughter, Lyndsay, who is 4 years old.  She is very outgoing but has really had trouble with the jet-lag and we have seen her asleep about half the time.

Mike and Julie are from England and they have two daughters, Lily 8 and Jasmine age 10.  They are a very fun couple with a British sense of humor.  The girls are very shy and we have not gotten to know them very well yet.  The other couple are Tim and Connie from Raleigh, NC and they have one daughter, Briana.  She is a pistol and loves to hang with the older girls Ali and Andrea.  They are accompanied by his parents and her mother and niece.  So ~ 22 people in all which is not a bad size group.  We have been able to stick to schedule pretty well and not have to push anyone.


We woke up to a partly clear sky and much, much colder and windier.  Everyone who has been here before said it was the clearest day they have seen in Beijing ever.  We started out going to the Emperors Temple of Heaven and Park.  Lots of beautiful buildings and structures but were hawked by the vendors at both entrances.  We spent about an hour outside in the cold wind so we were glad to get back to the bus.  Next we went to a Tea House and sampled several kinds of tea.  We were also instructed in many cultural things about tea and, of course, were given the opportunity to buy some different kinds of tea on the way out.  It was a nice tea break though an we have a fun group so it was a good time.  We went to a Thai Restaurant for lunch that was good but a little strange when they brought out the large carp with its head and eyes still attached.  I did try some and it was good but boney.

The afternoon started out very interesting with a trip to the Chinese Center for Adoption where the decisions about all adoptions go through.  We saw the offices where our  paperwork came in, was approved, and our daughters were matched to us.  Next we went into a classroom where the girls had a short lesson in Calligraphy, learned a Chinese folk song and were treated to a short speech by the head of CCAA.  It was very emotional an brought most of the mothers to tears as he described the gratitude to us parents for taking such good care of the Chinese daughters.  Finally all the girls were given stuffed Panda bears and sent off with best wishes.  I think, by far, the best part of the trip for all of us.

The last event before dinner was a trip to the local (indoor) market for a chance to buy souvenirs, clothes, and other cheap stuff.  It was fun for about 10 minutes but we all were tired of the hounding after a while and were glad that we only spent 1 hour there.  Ali did buy some trinkets for her class and a Chinese shirt.

Dinner was at the same place as last night.  I think most of us were wishing for a pizza tonight.  Some strange dishes but some were good.  We are all meeting down at the pool for a swim and a little relaxation before bed.