Day 9 ... Travel to Guangzhou

We finally made it Guangzhou.  We had a flight delay of almost 5 hours.  We were very happy to see our guide and driver waiting for us when we arrived.

Prayer requests for tomorrow: Micah's medical exam (doctors, blood work, and an overtired boy), we hope to meet other American families tomorrow and find Micah a playmate during our last week in China.

Day 8 ... A Day of Firsts for Our Family

Highlights from today:

Today was a day of firsts for our new family.  Although Micah may have done these before, it is definitely the first time he has done them with us.  We celebrated each one.

- First time mom and dad slept past 4:30 AM.  Are we finally getting over our jet lag one week later?

- First time swimming.  We were mandated to wear swimming caps.  Not sure how that is going to help the hair on Matt's chest.  Micah was hesitant at first, but then really loved it.

- First nap time today.  We could tell that he was tired because he was being whiny and very ornery all morning.  We also got to see our first tears!  Generally, parents don't like to see their children cry, but we were elated that he felt safe enough to show us some real emotion.

- First time playing at the "park" by our hotel.  It is back from the main street a little bit and does not get much traffic.  This allowed us to play ball and play bubbles without worrying about people gawking at us.  Micah had a good time and so did we.

- First subway ride to People's Park.  He was a big boy and went down all of the stairs holding onto my hand.

- First amusement park rides.  For $10, we rode on the carousel, bumper cars, mini roller coaster, and mini tilt-o-whirl.

- First time to Nanjing Road.  Lots of high priced stores with American mannequins in the windows.  Kind of boring actually.  We're always worried what people might say to Micah and how he might respond.  He did a good job for us though shooing off the beggars and the peddlers.  "Boo yah"!

- First dinner at KFC.  That is a very popular restaurant in this area.  It seems to be almost as popular as McDonald's.  Guess what Micah had ... chicken!  This is not an odd order at KFC,  but it is basically all he has had for dinner since being with us.  It seems like he is going to fit in just fine with our picky eating.

- First "emergency" potty break (without a plastic baggie or a translator this time) and first squatty-potty experience on Nanjing Road.  Imagine trying to find a bathroom walking down times square or some other large shopping district.  None of the fast food restaurants (e.g. McDonald's, KFC, etc.) had restrooms.  Thankfully, the word "toilet" is known by most people even if they don't speak English.  Either that, or they understood what Micah was yelling. 

We were directed into a "shopping mall" and told to go to the 6th floor. To get there we had to stuff into a small elevator in a hot hallway with a nasty smell.  That brought us to a small restaurant.  The bathroom was down a horrible smelling corner and past the kitchen.  Since Matt took him to the bathroom at People's Park (equally disgusting), Deanna got to take him here.

- 100+ time people were staring at us, but first time waving back to them.  Matt decided today to just start waving and saying hello to people that stare.  We counted one lady looking back more than 10 times.  One lady just about tripped walking down the road.  Another older gentleman stared and smiled 3 or 4 times.  "Ni hao!"

- Pictures at the Bund.  This is a scenic spot in Shanghai looking over the river and the Shanghai skyline.  At night, the buildings light up.  We think it was fitting place to visit on our last full day in Shanghai.

 

 

 

Prayer requests for tomorrow:  Please pray that Deanna wakes up without a stuffy nose and sore throat, pray that our paperwork is ready tomorrow morning when Traci our escort goes to pick it up, pray that Micah has a good experience for his first plane ride to Guangzhou, pray that Traci makes it back to her hometown safely, pray that we are able to connect with some other adoptive families in Guangzhou, and pray that our other two children back in States will not get too homesick while we are away.  Today marks the end of a whole week since we've been in China.  We are very much looking forward to the last leg of our journey.  Thank you prayer partners!

Day 7 ... Fun in Shanghai

Highlights from today:

- Micah slept through the night and mom and dad slept in until 5:30 AM.

- We discovered American food at the breakfast buffet!  We were so happy we almost cried.

- We visited Yu Yuan gardens which is a popular tourist spot for international and Chinese tourists alike.  Micah got to feed to the koi fish bread.  He loved it!

- Afterwards, we did some tourist shopping ... We bought Micah a new toy car and a traditional Chinese outfit.  Apparently a good way to bargain over here is to look at a product, give a disgusted face when they tell you the price, and then walk away.  The outfit we wanted to buy dropped from 180 RMB ($30) to 50 RMB ($8.34) after about 10 steps.

- Micah and Matt ate "Steamed buns" for lunch  which looked and tasted like dumplings.  I think something got lost in translation.  We refused to eat in the restaurant though due to the "stinky tofu" smell.  Nothing is lost in translation for that smell.

- We attempted to do laundry in our room.  The bathtub was the washing machine, Matt rang our clothes in the sink, and our room has converted into a large drying rack.  We're glad Deanna brought the clothesline.  Micah was a big helper with all of this.

- In the afternoon, we did more shopping at Carre Four, a (French?) chain store.  We bought more toys for Micah, plates and spoons for Nathan and Claire, but still no underwear or clothes in size 2!

- We ate dinner at the "Italian" restaurant across the street.  Deanna and I had pizza.  Micah had popcorn chicken.  Yum!

Prayer requests for tomorrow: Safety as we travel to the science museum ... we are on our own tomorow, that our paperwork will be completed, and that our laundry dries.  We love you and miss you all.  Thank you for your continued support through prayer.

Day 6 ... Adoption Day!

Deanna and I both woke up at 4:30 AM again.  Micah slept through the night and woke up around 5:30AM.  What a blessing!  We also were able to Skype with big brother Nathan (pronounced guh guh), little sister Claire (pronounced may may), and Grandma Tammy.  We also Skyped with Carly, Dan, and Lainey.  Micah enjoyed meeting the family, but he also seemed excited to start his day playing.

 

 

Today was adoption day.  We are officially parents … again … but this time with a boy from Shanghai!  Our morning started with a 45 minute drive to some government building that reminded me of a DMV/Secretary of State back in the States.  There, we waited in line for an elevator for a while.  When it was our turn, we piled into an elevator along with 10-15 other people.  I was worried we would exceed the weight limit, but somehow we managed to make it up to the third floor.

 

That floor was apparently dedicated to international marriages and adoptions.  We started our time by getting a family picture taken, and then we got to be interviewed again.  The interviewer asked us the same questions we responded to yesterday.  She must not have understood much of what we said, though, because she had to copy our answers from page 1 to page XX after we answered each question.  The one difference was that we apparently did not talk enough about our “plan” for raising Micah.  Telling them that we would put him in school in the fall and take him to see a doctor when we got back was not enough.  Our Holt escort stepped in for us and assured the official that we would support him in the university, that we have no financial issues, that we would not abandon or abuse him, etc.

 

Apparently that did the trick because the next thing we knew were getting Micah’s fingerprint on a piece of paper and then going next door for the “ceremony”.  This consisted of standing behind a podium and having our picture taken … no more, no less.

 

 

 

The next place we went was the “Notary” office.  On the way, Micah had to pee.  The driver informed us that there was absolutely no place to pull over and then promptly whipped out a small plastic sack that resembled a grocery store vegetable bag.  Our escort informed us that Micah could relieve himself in that.  So, Matt climbed in the back seat him, held the bag in the proper position, and tried to brace him the best he could as the van bounced down the street.  Can anyone say urine sample?  Matt was very thankful that the bag was leakproof and that Micah’s bladder is still relatively small.  Deanna and I were both amused and a bit disgusted.  Our escort later told us that the driver was very confused why we were laughing during this whole ordeal.  We tried to explain to her that we would never have done that in the States.

We finally arrived at the “Notary” office after another 15 minutes or so.  For some reason, I think the “Notary” term is a bit different over here than back home.  This office building was much nicer than the first.  In fact it looked more like a bank with marble floors and conference rooms accessed only with a badge.  Our conference room consisted of an oval table with 6 chairs, a security camera in the corner, and a glass wall that was probably 2-way glass.  Here we were met by the “Notary” would was dressed like an FBI agent or a police detective.  She had a nice suit on and a lanyard around her neck to hold her identification.

We’re not even quite sure what we were doing there.  She asked us if we knew Micah’s Chinese name, Micah’s English name, if we would never abandon or abuse him, and if we would treat him the same as our biological children.  Apparently, this meeting had to happen to order to get his passport and his birth certificate.  We were assured that those documents would be ready on Friday before we leave.

On the way to the first stop, we were told that the orphanage director said we could not come to visit the orphanage.  This was a bit defeating.  On the bright side, though, we were able to go visit the place where he was found.  Traci asked if we wanted to take a group shot in front of the building.  We didn’t know if we should smile or have sad faces.  This was probably the hardest place to visit emotionally so far on this trip.  Especially hard to see was the very poor living conditions of the nearby neighborhood surrounded by lush private estates and high rise apartment buildings.

In the afternoon, we decided to go shopping and then off to a park.  Apparently they don’t sell underwear in Micah’s size in China.  Who knew?  At the park we played with a light-up ball that Deanna had picked out ahead of time.  We also played with bubbles.  He absolutely loved that!  We even got to play with a few of the other children passing by.  On the downside, we felt that just about everyone walking by was staring at us.  Once the crowd grew to 6 or 10 people circled around us we decided it was time to leave.  We didn’t like having that much attention.  More to come in this area, both here and back home, we’re sure.

Our last stop of the night was dinner at McDonald’s.  Micah got to have his very first Happy Meal: chicken nuggets, dipping sauce, fries, milk, and a toy.  He absolutely loved it.  Afterwards we stopped and got him an ice cream cone as well.  Why not?  Feeding our new son McDonald’s junk food for his first official meal as a family member was definitely not one of our proudest parenting moments, but we were happy Micah enjoyed himself.  We were also happy to be eating food that tasted something like back home.

 

 

Tomorrow we plan to visit a historical Chinese garden with our escort and maybe do a little more shopping.  Please pray that we all get a good night’s sleep and that we can stay safe tomorrow being around a busy tourist place.  Pray that our passport and birth certificate paperwork all get processed in a timely fashion so that our travel to Guangzhou is not delayed.  Pray that Deanna and I can continue to learn a bit more Chinese and communicate with him a bit more each day.  Also, please pray for our escort Traci.  She has been such a blessing to us and is missing her husband and 12-year old son back home.

Day 5 ... Gotcha Day!

Today was an amazing day!  We got to meet Ji Chun today and take him back to our hotel!  We truly felt the hand of God at work today.  Matt’s stomach problems settled down after breakfast and Deanna’s cold symptoms subsided for the morning.  Micah came right to us calling us Baba “Daddy” and Mama “Mommy”.  Our time at the Civil Affairs office went smoothly and we were back in our hotel before we knew it.

 

After our paperwork, we were taken to a local grocery store.  This was probably Micah’s first shopping trip.  He had a big smile on his face and wanted to stand in the cart so he could take it all in.  We treated him to “almost” everything he wanted.  His favorite buys included a new sippy cup with a straw, juice boxes, oranges, and milk.

 

Once we made it back to the hotel, our escort left and we were on our own.  We had learned only a few words in Mandarin Chinese.  One sounds like "sha she" and it apparently means “potty”.  We heard that a lot today because Micah drank something like 5 or 6 cups full of water throughout the day.  His first foods included a whole bowl of instant noodles, an orange, a banana, dumplings, a few Poky (cookie) sticks, and a few handfuls of goldfish crackers.  He also took a bath and brushed his teeth on his own accord.  We were shocked and thankful for such a trusting and loving boy!

One other thing that we learned today is that Micah really likes French fries.  Those came with our room service hamburger today.  Micah enjoyed dipping them in ketchup like “baba”.  He also enjoyed mixing them with his noodles and eating it that way.  What a great symbol of our new relationship: noodles and French fries.

 

Our night ended with a meal out with our escort.  Matt and Micah were thrilled to leave the hotel room for a little bit.  Matt was also thrilled to eat something besides hamburgers, pizza, or rice.  Later, our escort showed us a shopping mall as well as a park to take Micah tomorrow after we get back. 

We look forward to our day tomorrow and are prayerful that it goes as well as today.  Thank you for everyone’s prayers.  As mentioned earlier, we truly feel the hand of God at work here in Shanghai.

Day 4 ... Travel to Shanghai

Yesterday we left Beijing and took an airplane to Shanghai.  Once in Shanghai, we were met by our escort from Holt.  She told us she had just taken a 7 hour train ride from her home province in the South to be with us.  She goes by Traci, and our understanding is that she will be taking us to the adoption offices this week.

Forty-five minutes of driving through the busy Shanghai streets and we arrived at our Marriott hotel.  Our room is a suite and is very nice.  We hope Micah will find it comfortable here.

Since we had a little energy, we decided to try to go exploring.  We took the subway two stops down to a place known as “People’s Park”.  It is kind of like Central Park in New York: lots of people but also lots of trees and green spaces in the middle of a bustling downtown area.  Later that night, we ended up eating dinner at KFC and McDonald’s before returning back to our hotel.  Lights out at 10 PM.

Today we will be going to the Civil Affairs office to meet Micah for the first time!  After that meeting, we will bring Micah back to our hotel with us and start our life together.  We have a mix of emotions and nerves right now.  Please be in prayer for us.  Although most of you are sleeping right now, we are still in desperate need of your prayers.  Pray for Micah and his safety, pray that Micah would be able to grieve and understand what is happening, pray for our hearts to be soft to one another, pray that we would all adapt well to one another, and pray that we can get through this week and off to our last city without any issues. 

Also, please pray for our health and well-being.  We need to be strong for our son.  Matt woke up with stomach issues this morning.  Deanna is experiencing cold symptoms.  On top of that, we haven’t been able to sleep past 4:30 AM yet on this trip.  Thank you and God bless!

Day 3 ... Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Silk Factory

This morning was a carbon copy of yesterday morning:  Up at 3:30 AM, breakfast at 6:30 AM, Skyped the kids around 8:00 AM, prayer and devotions (we decided to read through Psalm 119 while we are here in China), and then downstairs to the lobby at 8:15 AM.  We were on the bus around 8:30 AM and off we went for another day of sightseeing in Beijing.

Today was another tour day with our group of adoptive families and our tour guide Lily.  We were also joined by one new family that just arrived yesterday.  The day started with a short drive down the street to Tiananmen Square.  For those of you unfamiliar with Beijing, I am going to compare Tiananmen Square to the closest thing I can think of - the National Mall in Washington, D.C.  Simply, think of lots of grand, national monuments, security guards marching around, and throngs of tourists.

We really appreciated having our tour guide Lily with us again today.  She was very knowledgeable about the area and was able to recite key dates and dimensions of many of the landmarks.  She also somehow got us into the fast-pass lane at the security checkpoints.  Lily explained to us that Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in world.  It houses the Monument to the People’s Heroes, “Chinese white house” and Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum.  There was a lot of other information as well but to be quite honest it was a lot to take in.

Next, we travelled north into the Imperial Palace and then into the Forbidden City.  This is where the emperor of China used to live with his 1000’s of concubines.  We were told over and over again about how many rooms there were, where the concubines could and could not stay, and what the punishment was for bad behavior.  The architecture itself was breathtaking and iconic China.

Our next stop was lunch.  We ate around a circular table again.  This time we were crammed into a room with peeling wallpaper and holes in the drywall.  I’m not sure if this was a courtesy extended to us for privacy or if the restaurant wanted to keep the American tourists out of site from their local patrons.  Either way, we enjoyed being in an air conditioned building.  Matt ate his fill while Deanna was less adventurous today.

 

For lunch, we were joined by our Beijing case worker Bella.  Bella didn’t speak much, but she did deliver to us a “Red Book”.  It basically had a bunch of pages with information in it regarding Chinese culture, what to expect when we pick Micah up, and our schedule of events for Guangzhou.  Although other families also received some updated pictures in their books, we did not have a single picture of Micah.  We tried hard to be happy for the other families who were rejoicing in their updated photos while dealing with some sadness inside.  We know that within two short days we will be taking all of the photos we want.

 

Our last stop of the day was a silk factory.  We were shown how workers harvest the silk from the silk worm cocoon.   Workers also demonstrated how they stretch the silk to make silk comforters.  Next, we were taken to area and shown the finished product.  Then, we were briefed on all of the benefits of silk and how “little” it cost to bring one of these fine pieces home with us.  This place also had a large showroom of bedding and clothing to browse.  Like the jade factory yesterday, all of the merchandise seemed expensive, and we didn’t really care to pack any more in our luggage.

 We made it back to the hotel by 2 PM, took a “nap” around 3 PM, and didn’t wake up until 9 PM.  We were still tired so we got ready for bed and then continued to sleep until 3 AM the next morning.  I guess we were tired!  Our plans for Sunday include a flight to Micah’s city of Shanghai.  We are praying today for our safe travels and the details to be worked out for the upcoming week.