Wednesday, March 7, 2012
3/7/2012 Wednesday - shopping day
A "down" day today. We started the day w/ a trip to Carfour (French version of Wal-Mart). Got Jack and Judah some small history books and some "essentials" like Oreos, Chips Ahoy, and a case of water. We also picked up some treats for our orphanage visit.
Our second stop was to Shamain Island to get Visa photos done. We had a group lunch and a very small amount of shopping. The babies in the group were getting tired. Very sad to see the White Swan - it looked in such bad condition because it's boarded up and getting a complete overhaul. Island life looks like it's still good - a couple of schools I don't remember seeing before. Not quite as many shops as before, but there are still several there. We will be making a trip back for shopping and to eat at Lucy's. Our biggest issue is finding transportation back to the hotel, but we'll get it figured out. :)
We were adventurous for dinner and went downstairs to Food Street. :) At least it has an English menu!! I'm not brave enough to order off of pictures. We ended up with chicken and mushrooms in a clay pot and a shrimp, scallops, and crab roe (egg) fried rice. All very good. We could have ordered fish intestines if we had wanted to. I don't think that will be ordered - EVER.
Hung out in the room in the evening to "relax". I don't think Jack has a "relax" bone in his body! We fired up Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I relaxed, Jack enjoyed the explosions. I got covered up w/ lots of pillows - twice. Good to know I'm good for something. :)
Our second stop was to Shamain Island to get Visa photos done. We had a group lunch and a very small amount of shopping. The babies in the group were getting tired. Very sad to see the White Swan - it looked in such bad condition because it's boarded up and getting a complete overhaul. Island life looks like it's still good - a couple of schools I don't remember seeing before. Not quite as many shops as before, but there are still several there. We will be making a trip back for shopping and to eat at Lucy's. Our biggest issue is finding transportation back to the hotel, but we'll get it figured out. :)
We were adventurous for dinner and went downstairs to Food Street. :) At least it has an English menu!! I'm not brave enough to order off of pictures. We ended up with chicken and mushrooms in a clay pot and a shrimp, scallops, and crab roe (egg) fried rice. All very good. We could have ordered fish intestines if we had wanted to. I don't think that will be ordered - EVER.
Hung out in the room in the evening to "relax". I don't think Jack has a "relax" bone in his body! We fired up Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I relaxed, Jack enjoyed the explosions. I got covered up w/ lots of pillows - twice. Good to know I'm good for something. :)
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
3/6/2012 - Adoption Day
March 6, 2012 is our official adoption day! We spent the morning teaching Jack how to play Uno and then went to the Civil Affairs office for paperwork and interviews. He was great at all the waiting in the am. Played Uno, tossed the hacky sacks w/ mom and dad and other kids, and liked wrestling w/ dad. As always, dad is the human jungle gym! He's really taken a liking to Benjamin, Yi He Xi, who is almost 18mn. He'll play with him, offer him toys, etc...
For lunch, we went to McDonalds. We gave Jack the choice of traditional Chinese food or McDonalds. He likes Chicken McNuggets and fries and lots and lots of ketchup! We hung out in the hotel playing a few games after lunch while waiting to go to the police station for passport photos and final adoption papers. We toured the hotel and found a lovely courtyard on the 4th floor with a tennis court/basketball court, small playground, water feature, and lots of room to run around in!! We will be going back!
The police station was BORING per Jack. He asked if we could leave within 5 minutes of getting there. Typicall kid. Can't blame him - it was pretty boring. He and Andrew played catch for awhile so that helped!
Veronica helped us load a program on the computer so Jack can type in Mandarin, and she informed a very disappointed Jack that it appears his QQ account has been hacked (like our US Facebook). She said it showed someone else logged in to it already. Going to see if I can move him over to Facebook. Arwen is going to be trying the same thing with Judah so maybe if we work in conjuction together we can make it work and help the boys not feel too disconnected from their Chinese world yet give me so peace of mind on who's on their accounts.
We went out for a traditional Chinese dinner with Veronica, Patrick, John, and Benjamin. It turns out that one of the restaurants we ate at on our last trip is very close to the hotel. Veronica ordered us some wonderful dumplings, fried rice, fried bananas, sweet and sour pork, and some peanut, cumcumber, carrot, chicken dish that was heavenly! I asked her to please write it down so we can go back! Found out that Jack likes coconut milk. Will have to see if we can find that at home at one of the asian markets.
Skyped home for the 2nd time right before bed. It seems like the only time we can catch everyone because we're typically heading out before everyone is home and settled in for the night! Everyone seems to be in pretty good spirits and still alive! Trying to gather them all up in front of the computer at the same time is a bit challenging!! Brothers are constantly picking on their siblings!! And in last night's case, Tash poked Victoria from behind to which Victoria turned around and hit Carter...well, he may not have deserved it this time, but he's earned it plenty of other times! Plus, he was doing plenty of poking on Addie!
For lunch, we went to McDonalds. We gave Jack the choice of traditional Chinese food or McDonalds. He likes Chicken McNuggets and fries and lots and lots of ketchup! We hung out in the hotel playing a few games after lunch while waiting to go to the police station for passport photos and final adoption papers. We toured the hotel and found a lovely courtyard on the 4th floor with a tennis court/basketball court, small playground, water feature, and lots of room to run around in!! We will be going back!
The police station was BORING per Jack. He asked if we could leave within 5 minutes of getting there. Typicall kid. Can't blame him - it was pretty boring. He and Andrew played catch for awhile so that helped!
Veronica helped us load a program on the computer so Jack can type in Mandarin, and she informed a very disappointed Jack that it appears his QQ account has been hacked (like our US Facebook). She said it showed someone else logged in to it already. Going to see if I can move him over to Facebook. Arwen is going to be trying the same thing with Judah so maybe if we work in conjuction together we can make it work and help the boys not feel too disconnected from their Chinese world yet give me so peace of mind on who's on their accounts.
We went out for a traditional Chinese dinner with Veronica, Patrick, John, and Benjamin. It turns out that one of the restaurants we ate at on our last trip is very close to the hotel. Veronica ordered us some wonderful dumplings, fried rice, fried bananas, sweet and sour pork, and some peanut, cumcumber, carrot, chicken dish that was heavenly! I asked her to please write it down so we can go back! Found out that Jack likes coconut milk. Will have to see if we can find that at home at one of the asian markets.
Skyped home for the 2nd time right before bed. It seems like the only time we can catch everyone because we're typically heading out before everyone is home and settled in for the night! Everyone seems to be in pretty good spirits and still alive! Trying to gather them all up in front of the computer at the same time is a bit challenging!! Brothers are constantly picking on their siblings!! And in last night's case, Tash poked Victoria from behind to which Victoria turned around and hit Carter...well, he may not have deserved it this time, but he's earned it plenty of other times! Plus, he was doing plenty of poking on Addie!
Monday, March 5, 2012
3/6/12 Gotcha Day
What a wonderful Gotcha Day! When we arrived at the Civil Affairs office, it was around 2:30pm, and the place was a mad house! Families everywhere. There were at least 2 other adoption agencies there at the same time, and they each had several families. There was a room in the back of the main greeting area where the children were all waiting. Jack recognized us right away and was waving and blowing kisses at us. They had to keep directing him away from the door and then finally they brought him out to meet us.
He came out carrying several bags. One was the backpack we sent him in a care package that contained all of the care package items,and it had his flute attached to it. It also has 3 cameras that I need to get developed, the photo album we sent with additional pictures from his foster family, and a USB flash drive w/ pictures from a dress up day at school. Another bag had a pair of shoes and a new outfit from the orphanage. Unfortunately, upon inspection in the hotel, the outfit is way too small so I gave it to Jennifer who adopted a 3 yr old from the same orphanage. The shoes fit though which was great! The 3rd bag is a gift for NanRae from her foster family. She is one of Jack's friends who lives in Chicago. I will need to call her mom when I get home to mail it to her.
We keep asking if we can see Jack's foster family when we visit Shenzhen on Friday. Thus far, the response had been pretty bleak as it doesn't sound like the government encourages reunions because it may be too hard on the children. BUT, the social worker at the orphanage told me that the foster family is looking forward to meeting us and that they have gifts for us. She said she would contact them and help make arrangements. YIPPEE!!! Now, we just wait until Friday and make it all happen!
We bought Jack an IPod Touch before we left. Great debate over that or a DS, but the IPod won out due to more versatility. GREAT purchase. John downloaded a translation app and loaded it on both of our phones and his IPod. He can write in Chinese, and we can write in English. It hasn't been perfect, but it sure has been helpful!
Two medical "concerns" we will need to watch for while here - car sickness and eating cold foods. Car sickness makes some sense as we had read about it previously since they don't spend a lot of time in cars. I found a ginger root in his back pack and asked him what it was for. Our guide helped w/ the translation on this one. I was able to get as far as it is to help his stomach, but couldn't get the why. Apparently, his foster mom gave it to him to chew on (but not eat) to help calm his stomach. Eating and drinking cold foods apparently causes him indigestion. Going along w/ it while we're here, but that one's getting addressed by Dr. T when we get home. Our guide told us the same thing w/ Addie - that she probably won't like cold foods and drinks, but she quickly adapted. Jack seems to be more adamant about not even trying a sip of cold water and given that he was in the hospital a few years ago w/ stomach issues, we'll go along w/ it until we can confirm why and work on getting it properly addressed.
We received a small package of information from the orphanage w/ a few more pictures and medical updates. They also gave us a flash drive with pictures of group activities from the orphanage and him hanging out with some friends. They apparently put eye shadow on the boys who are dancing or participating in the programs. I will have to keep those pictures away from Carter because oh what fun he would have teasing him about that. Will have to have a chat about stage makeup and cultural differences because even I had a pretty good chuckle when I saw the pictures!
We also received a few notes about school. He is in grade 3 here. Not sure what that translates to in US schools. He does well in school, but a note from his teachers say they wish he'd be more focused. Seems like I may have a "class clown" on my hands. He has a very fun personality but what wonderful conversations those will be. I need him to be my focused child. :)
He came out carrying several bags. One was the backpack we sent him in a care package that contained all of the care package items,and it had his flute attached to it. It also has 3 cameras that I need to get developed, the photo album we sent with additional pictures from his foster family, and a USB flash drive w/ pictures from a dress up day at school. Another bag had a pair of shoes and a new outfit from the orphanage. Unfortunately, upon inspection in the hotel, the outfit is way too small so I gave it to Jennifer who adopted a 3 yr old from the same orphanage. The shoes fit though which was great! The 3rd bag is a gift for NanRae from her foster family. She is one of Jack's friends who lives in Chicago. I will need to call her mom when I get home to mail it to her.
We keep asking if we can see Jack's foster family when we visit Shenzhen on Friday. Thus far, the response had been pretty bleak as it doesn't sound like the government encourages reunions because it may be too hard on the children. BUT, the social worker at the orphanage told me that the foster family is looking forward to meeting us and that they have gifts for us. She said she would contact them and help make arrangements. YIPPEE!!! Now, we just wait until Friday and make it all happen!
We bought Jack an IPod Touch before we left. Great debate over that or a DS, but the IPod won out due to more versatility. GREAT purchase. John downloaded a translation app and loaded it on both of our phones and his IPod. He can write in Chinese, and we can write in English. It hasn't been perfect, but it sure has been helpful!
Two medical "concerns" we will need to watch for while here - car sickness and eating cold foods. Car sickness makes some sense as we had read about it previously since they don't spend a lot of time in cars. I found a ginger root in his back pack and asked him what it was for. Our guide helped w/ the translation on this one. I was able to get as far as it is to help his stomach, but couldn't get the why. Apparently, his foster mom gave it to him to chew on (but not eat) to help calm his stomach. Eating and drinking cold foods apparently causes him indigestion. Going along w/ it while we're here, but that one's getting addressed by Dr. T when we get home. Our guide told us the same thing w/ Addie - that she probably won't like cold foods and drinks, but she quickly adapted. Jack seems to be more adamant about not even trying a sip of cold water and given that he was in the hospital a few years ago w/ stomach issues, we'll go along w/ it until we can confirm why and work on getting it properly addressed.
We received a small package of information from the orphanage w/ a few more pictures and medical updates. They also gave us a flash drive with pictures of group activities from the orphanage and him hanging out with some friends. They apparently put eye shadow on the boys who are dancing or participating in the programs. I will have to keep those pictures away from Carter because oh what fun he would have teasing him about that. Will have to have a chat about stage makeup and cultural differences because even I had a pretty good chuckle when I saw the pictures!
We also received a few notes about school. He is in grade 3 here. Not sure what that translates to in US schools. He does well in school, but a note from his teachers say they wish he'd be more focused. Seems like I may have a "class clown" on my hands. He has a very fun personality but what wonderful conversations those will be. I need him to be my focused child. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)