We are in Guangzhou

We have arrived in Guangzhou!  Jian was so incredibly excited to be on an airplane, he could hardly wait!

We almost didn't make it to our flight though.

Here's the scenario.

Our guide brought us to the airport, showed us our gate number on the tickets, and brought us to security.  Here is where I got nervous.  We're in China, I don't speak the language, not many foreigners there, flying in-country, trying to go through security.....well, no reason to be nervous, security apparently has a different meaning in China, I'm not sure they even looked at our bags as they went through the x-ray machine.  Phew, ok, step one down.  Now, we follow the signs to gate 28.  We walk down a long hallway, down 2 escalators and to a very big waiting area with very few seats and many, many people.  It looks like we'll need to take a bus to our plane.  OK, no problem.  We were early, we'll sit close to the gate and hope for some English.  It looked as if they were serving food if you had a ticket.  We don't know if there will be lunch on our flight, so, Jon attempted to get food.  The lady just waved him away.  So, when it was close to boarding time, Jon went to check with a gate attendant if we were at the right gate, she replied - 15.  "What??" Who knows what that meant.  OK, we'll just wait a little longer.  Then, we realized a man sitting close to Tanner had the same city on his ticket, excellent! We are going to stick close to him.  I had eagle eyes on him, and freaked out a little when he got up to go to the bathroom, he was probably a little bothered by the foreigner stalkers, but, we felt like he was our ticket to Guangzhou!  A few minutes later they took a chain and locked the doors to go to the buses.  Hmmmm, well, they'll be back.  Our guy stuck around looking out the window, and didn't seem concerned (there's a picture attached of the unwitting assistant - it's the last picture).  When it was past boarding time, Jon went to another gate attendant close by and asked her for help, she pointed at the gate we were at, OK, good, we're still in the right place.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:50pm, and it's now about 12:35, we're starting to get a little nervous, but, our friend that we were stalking was still there.  Suddenly, our guy starts moving, we get up and start following and then we hear our flight announced in English, flight ZH9618, is in final boarding at gate 15.  WHAT???!!!! OK, our guy starts running, so we start running.  Up 2 escalators and down the hall - WHEW!!!  We were almost the last people on the plane.  Apparently they did not feel a need to make the flight announcement in English until the last minute, what a great idea!  Oh well, we were SO thankful that we made it.  We enjoyed a noodle or rice lunch with some sort of meat and coconut cake for dessert.  We got drinks in dixie cups, and were delighted to be on our flight!

Jian was thrilled.  We've attached some pictures of his first flight.  Tanner was disappointed that he didn't get the window seat.  Jian took tons of pictures from the plane and then, couldn't believe we had to wait another 2 hours until we arrived.  He could hardly believe it when we told him that next week our flight will be 25 hours.  

So, now we're here in Guangzhou. Our guide met us at the airport and brought us to our hotel, The White Swan.   It seems strange here.  Now that we're not in Jian's hometown, we'd kind of like everything to be done and head back home. Jian agrees too, he's counting down the days to fly to America.   But, it's a nice hotel (the common areas are beautiful, the room is a bit smaller than our room in Nanjing.  In fact, Jon and I get to share a twin bed!  The room is also a bit smelly, but, not a lot different than the rest of China.  I'm thrilled to not have a window from the bathroom to the bedroom too!)  The pools are beautiful and we get to sit outside and watch the kids swim, this was a nice activity after finding dinner at Starbucks.  It's a lot less crowded here in this area, much more touristy, but a lot less traffic.  We're on a small island, so, it's easy to get around right here by walking.  While walking around in the hotel tonight, we met another family who adopted a 2 year old boy with a heart condition from a different province.  They live in Dallas!  Jian was excited to see another adopted boy and both Jian and Tanner had fun playing with the little boy. 

One of the pictures attached are a couple of the amenities we're provided at hotels in China.  We have both of these things at all our hotels so far :)  You can't drink the water here, so you get 2 bottles a day (we have a hot pot to boil more water), AND, the amenities are not complete without your breathing mask in case of.....!

Tomorrow we go for Jian's medical appointment and TB test.  I'm hoping to get his vaccination records translated as well.  Then, I think we're free for the rest of the afternoon.  

So, one week from now we'll be halfway home!  Yeah!  Our trip though, has truly been amazing and fantastic.  We couldn't have asked for it to be any better, and all the glory goes to God.  Thank you so much for all of your prayers.  Our communication and bonding is going great and we're looking forward to one more week all together.  We loved having 2 weeks in Jian's hometown and meeting many new friends there.  

OH, that reminds me of one more thing - if you're still reading..... :) This morning, before leaving Nanjing, we were leaving a gift for Jian's "Chinese mom and dad."  Our guide, Michael, called them and they said they were close and so stopped in to say goodbye.  We gave them the gift and she asked when we were returning to China.  We tried to explain we were unsure and it's so expensive.  Our guide said maybe we could come back for Jian's 20th birthday in 6 years and we laughed.  Well, in the van on our way to the airport, she called Michael and told him to let us know that she'll take care of all the arrangements and we don't need to do anything to help with Jian's 20th birthday party!  YIKES!  We didn't really necessarily plan to come back then - we'll have to see what happens there. :)

OK now, goodnight from Guangzhou. 

Off to Guangzhou

After a fun and restful day yesterday, we are mostly packed and ready to head out to Guangzhou very soon.  We should be there by late afternoon.  

We are a bit sad to be leaving here (actually, Jian is not at all sad - he's so excited to get on an airplane - I wonder when/if he will show sadness).  Our server at breakfast told us she was sad we were leaving - so sweet!

OK - off to finish packing, will update more from Guangzhou.  

Goodbye for now Nanjing.

The City Wall and Nanjing Museum

Today we enjoyed a long walk on some more of the city wall and enjoyed a view of the mountain and a beautiful lake and park.  It was too much for Tanner, and we were again thankful for the backpack we purchased prior to the trip.  Tanner is not feeling 100%, but, much better than he was yesterday. We were concerned about whether the azithromycin antibiotic we had would even work for an ear infection since that wasn't really what the doctor was thinking when he prescribed it. But we saw God's care for us again when I (Shelly) got on the internet and found an article date September 22, 2010 that found a single dose of azithromycin was more effective for treating ear infections than a ten day treatment with the more commonly used amoxicillin.  God is good.

 We're also so amazed that despite how weak he is (in general, not from the ear infection), that he is such a trooper.  He keeps on going without complaining.  We go up and down a lot of steps to get to subways and buses, lots of walking to find places as well as the touring that we do.  What an amazing kid he is.  

We ate a fabulous Indian lunch before checking out the Nanjing Museum.  Just outside of the museum there was a lot of activity due to the holidays.  There was a man making cotton candy on the back of his bike (pedaling his bike made the motor work to make the cotton candy!!)  The kids loved it, it tasted a little odd to us though.  Several people asked to have their pictures taken with Jon and or Tanner here :).  We were also heart broken as we saw several men with different physical disabilities that did not appear to have any other options than begging on the streets.  Tanner always wants to help by giving money or food and as well as touching them and looking in their faces with compassion far beyond his years. 

The museum itself was all about the city and showed a short movie and other information about Jian's home!  We really enjoyed this and the kids had fun there as well.  Jian enjoyed pointing out where the orphanage was, the deaf school and other places he knew.  After looking at a map today we were shocked with how far he had to ride his bike every day to go to school. 

I can't believe that our time here in Nanjing is almost finished.  I never thought I would say this, but, I will be truly sad to leave!  What a truly memorable and special time we have had here.  We will be a little sad to leave, but, Jian is ready to go!  Tonight he looked at the calendar and wrote at the top (in Chinese), "I can't wait to go to America!"  I hope he still feels that way once we're home.

A Chinese picnic and dumplings

Today was a great day.  We loved being able to share our story with many new friends and talk about our adoption and our lives.  It is clear to us that we are here for so much more than this adoption.  What a memorable time we're having here.  We met new friends today who invited us back to Nanjing anytime and told us we're welcome to stay with them in the city of our son.  

So, we attended a picnic today. To get there, we took our first subway and bus rides.  All of the boys (Jon included, enjoyed the many different forms of transportation).  This was a picnic unlike any we have ever been to before!  We sat on concrete stools around small firepits.  About 6-8 people sat at each place.  There was charcoal underneath a grate and on top was foil in places.  There were many different kinds of food and they would brush on sauces and spices on top of the food being cooked.  There was tofu, beef, pork, bananas, squid, chicken, beans, mushrooms, and more.  They were cooked on wooden skewers.  The cooked meat would often be on the same plate as the raw meat, so, I was again praying for protection for our bodies.  The food was delicious (most of it - I tried squid this time!) and the company memorable.  And, as in true Chinese fashion, there was way more food than I could eat.  I sat with several new friends, Jon and Jian sat together with others (Jian enjoyed being the cook) and Tanner sat by himself with many Chinese, and was very proud to be on his own.  It was a beautiful day for a picnic and we stayed for several hours.  The kids had some fun things to play on and then played a little frisbee and badminton while we enjoyed sitting and chatting for a while.

We then went on to a home where we were taught how to make dumplings.  Jon and I both learned. I'm not sure we'll try it at home, maybe we'll just buy the already made ones.  We enjoyed the company as well as the fun time making dinner and eating with new friends.  We were again able to share our adoption story and how it all transpired and worked out.  Many people are surprised and curious as to why Americans would want to adopt a 14 year old Chinese boy who is deaf.  I'm not sure we'll ever tire of telling the story.  We also enjoyed listening to a young Chinese girl play the Guzheng (an ancient Chinese instrument).  It was beautiful and amazing!  We were enthralled with her abilities and her mother gave us a DVD of her playing.

Tanner has been having a runny nose for a few days and responded well to allergy medicine, so, we assumed it was the smoke and pollution here.  Well, tonight when Jon was washing his face, he responded in pain when his ear was touched.  This almost always means an ear infection.  We're thankful that we have antibiotics along with us and will pray that they will work to clear up the infection.  He's continuing to love having a big brother.  Yesterday morning he started clapping and jumping up and down and signed to Jian "I'm so happy you're my brother!!!"  

Jian still is doing so much better than we ever imagined.  It feels like we've been a family forever (I guess in one sense, that's true).  It's hard to believe it's been just over a week since we've met him and he became our son.   There are definitely some frustrations and irritations, but, nothing we didn't expect or out of the ordinary - especially for a deaf child, and one who has grown up in an orphanage.  He loves to touch everything, grab things and be a little aggressive at times.  This is not unusual for someone wanting/needing attention as well as a way to communicate with those he can't sign or speak with.  He actually is learning well and responding well to redirection.  He still always has a smile on his face and loves to check his calendar every day to see when we're flying to America.  

Tomorrow we are looking forward to some more sight-seeing around the city.  Hopefully a museum about Nanjing as well as a trip to the mountain.  It's supposed to be another beautiful day, so, I'd better sign off and get some sleep to be ready for another enjoyable day.

Sunday and Monday

I couldn't come up with a title better than that, so, Sunday and Monday it is. We don't have a lot to report from here, just a couple of nice quiet days enjoying our family and time together in Nanjing.

Yesterday, we did some homework, then enjoyed walking around Confucious Temple (we tried to find the silk lantern factory to visit, but, couldn't find it and couldn't find anyone who spoke enough English to help us.)  It was a busy day there since it was a weekend and the holiday.   We made a few purchases, and then the boys were a little bored and tired.  I was getting a little tired of the crowds and the smells, so we went back to the room for lunch and a swim.  It was a nice, quiet Sunday afternoon/evening.  We enjoyed a dinner at one of the restaurants in the mall attached to our hotel.  We appreciate having Jian as our own interpreter :)  He likes it as well.  We wanted to order sprite with our meal, but, it wasn't on the menu, Jian wrote it down in Chinese and sure enough, we were delivered 4 sprites! We've done this a few times at different restaurants, it works well for us and helps Jian feel important.

Today was another quiet day. We worked on homework again with both boys.  Jian seems to be doing quite well with math, and with ASL. We were working on some sight words today and he said "I prefer Chinese!"  though he did well in continuing to practice and learn.  We again did some swimming, and then enjoyed a tex-mex dinner with our american friends!  When we left, we were quickly reminded that we were still in China!  It was nice to have an evening and feel back at home.

Tomorrow we're going to have a picnic lunch with some friends and some of their friends, we're looking forward to that and the boys are excited to be going on a picnic!