Saturday, June 30, 2007

Shopping madness - our 2nd day in Guangzhou

Our second day in Guangzhou is coming to an end. We are trying to enjoy this time - just the two of us (I don't remember last time we had a twosome getaway!), and do things that we might not feel up to with a three year old in tow. We heard about the wholesale markets here in town, so we asked the receptionist to write down some addresses for us to go to. We took a taxi to get there, and we're so glad we did. If you are looking for a bit of a thrill, go for a taxi ride. It's cheap (2 - 3 Dollars at the most), and it's fun! The traffic is totally crazy, with cars and buses and bicycles weaving in and out of traffic with no rhyme or reason, except for getting to their destination FAST! I felt safe though, and the cars really don't look banged up, which I would have expected with that type of traffic. The funny thing was, when it was time to pay the Taxi driver, it cost 8 RMB ($1), and Mike tried to find the right bills. The guy watched intently, and must have gotten a little impatient, so he took the bills out of Mike's hands, pulled out a 10 RMB bill and said, waving it in the air, "Okay? okay?" We were told that you don't tip a Taxi driver, so we laughed about him getting himself a little tip...
The first place we went was just a huge shopping area with hundreds of little stores and tiny little malls. Not sure that I would consider it a whole sale market, but there were definitely a lot of shopping opportunities. It was very crowded and hot, but some stores had air conditioning which was a nice little break. Lots of clothing, luggage, tons of shoes and many street vendors and food booths. I wanted to take a picture of one, but they would not let me - they had selections of Octopus on a stick, chickenfeet on a stick and other equally yummy things. I'm sure you get the mental picture *ggg*.
There are also several McDonalds and KFC's and a Papa John's that we saw. We went to a grocery store that had a large variety of foods, lots of dried fruit and nuts and dried "whatevers". If I would know that my stomach could handle it, I would have gotten some (well, maybe not the "whatevers...). There are lots of western brands available, so if you are travelling to China, don't worry if you forget something. Chances are, you'll find it here too. What we did not see was any fresh produce or frozen items (except some ice cream, so I don't know where people buy that.
We took another taxi to the second area that had been written down for us, and it was pretty similar, but had more individual stores and some nice clothing stores. I bought a cute skirt, and I'm feeling very chinese right now (yep, I'm wearing it!). There were people on the street that are trying to sell you something (usually fake watches, purses or Computers). They will follow you and talk and talk and talk and try to get you to come to the store they are advertising for. Wow, and they are super persistent! I just didn't know if I felt more annoyed or guilty for being rude and ignoring them.
The sheer number of people on the streets is mind boggling: Many teenagers and young adults, some CUTE little babies, but hardly any kids or older people. It is just packed wherever you turn. At the same time there is a smoothness to the flow, and smiles wherever you look. People appear to be at ease in the midst of the crazyness.
The bargaining is another thing that is pretty foreign to us. The way it works, is that if you want to know the price of an item, you ask, and they will type in on a calculator. You can then type what you want to pay, and so you go back and forth until you reach an agreement (or not). We bought a suitcase because I'm sure we'll have more things to bring home than we packed to come here, and after the deal was made, we shook hands, and off we went. Definitely an interesting experience.

Right now we're back at the hotel, Mike is reading and I'm bloggin', and soon we will head out to eat dinner. We just got a call from Grace, our guide, that we will have to leave the hotel shortly after seven in the morning to catch our flight to Changsha. We're getting closer, Nina! We have definitely enjoyed ourselves here, but now we're ready to go. At the same time, getting her is such a blur in my mind: I don't know what to expect, I don't know how our first meeting is going to be. I'm trying to picture it, and I can't. This is a very strange feeling. Mike compares it to the time before Nico (our oldest) was born, and we wanted to be parents, but didn't know what it was going to be like. I feel very much the same way now.
In less than two days, this little girl will slip into our lives, our family and our hearts, and we will all be changed forever. I pray for a lot of grace - for all of us. We need it to embrace her and love her unconditionally, and she needs it so she can grieve and begin to heal at the same time. She is so special to us, and we don't even know her yet. But God does, and that is enough - for now.

Here are some pictures of our day:

the Chinese money /Chinesisches Geld

One of the shopping areas we went to / Einkaufsviertel

This guy was in a bird costume, playing some sort of instrument. ? Ein farbenfroher Vogel....

In front of a Mc Donald's pillar - on top it said "I'm lovin' it" - sorry, the picture is a bit blurry/ Vor dem McDonald's

Chinese traffic - a still picture just does not do it justice, though!/ Chinesischer Verkehr, als Foto leider nicht so eindruecklich


****Deutsche Version: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com Titel: 2. Tag****

Spurting Mosquitos


We walk by this sign several times a day, as it is posted right by the elevators. We think it is hiliarious. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to make fun of the chinese people trying very hard to accomodate their english speaking guests. As most of you know, there are still some english words that I either don't understand or that are incredibly hard to pronounce, even after having been in the US for 13 years. These "chinglish" signs are just so funny, but in a very endearing way. Maybe because I can relate...

View from our hotel





I thought I'd share some pictures that we took from the roof of the Victory hotel this morning. The hotel is right at the edge of Shamian Island, so what you see is actually off the island. The swimming pool is on top of the roof too.
As you can see, the air is very hazy, which I think is a mixture of high humidity and air pollution. It's just busy busy busy, wherever you look. Where is my Wyoming tranquility?

*****Deutsche Version: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com Titel: Hotel ******

Friday, June 29, 2007

This is for Dad and Brent!



We thought you might like to see some Chinese-style construction. This is bamboo scaffolding that is tied together with plastic coated wire. We see in a lot of construction projects, so it must be sturdier than it appears.
Would you let us know if these pictures are rotated the right way, or if they are sideways? We rotated them, but when I select them for the blog, they are sideways. So I'm just wondering.

PS: Next day update: I'm starting to figure out this IMac thing, so I think I have the pictures rotated now. Would someone let me know (It is very strange not being able to see all of this for myself!!)

Shopping, Dining and a massage...

While Mike is napping, I might as well recount the events of this morning and early afternoon. First we wandered around Shamian Island, just to check things out. It was POURING rain! A nice, warm rain, too, and the temperature was very comfortable. There are so many little shops all over that obviously cater to tourists, and even more so to adoptive parents. We got a little desperate to get away from the rain, so we entered one of these little shops. What a different world! This store was acutally like a Mini-Mall with several little stores in one, but we didn't realize that until the first Sales person literally jumped in front of me when I tried to move out of her area. She showed me everything I could possibly want or need (or not), and she was so sweet about it. These people take customer Service to a whole new level, that's for sure. They asked what we were doing here, and where our baby was from, and we showed them pictures of our kids at home. Can you imagine showing your family pictures to the cashier at Wal Mart? Yeah, right.... they almost did a backflip when they saw a picture of our house. They said that in Guangzhou one square meter (a little over 9 square feet) costs 8000 RMB, that is over $1000! So we visited with all these ladies and men at all the little stores, had a good excuse for not buying anything since we have to travel some more, and had a good time. There was definitely no anonymous browsing through their selection. But again, we were treated like royalty, and they made us feel like we were their new best friends. And they did have some cute things. They had all kinds of little girls dresses, and believe it or not, they had Gymboree, Oshkosh and Gap labels in them! I asked them if they were real, and they said that they were.... except that I have an incredibly hard time believing that. Anyhow, I will have to do some girly shopping when we get back here.
After our little shopping spree and after saying goodbye to our new friends Shawn and Betty, May and Lucy, we tried to find a place to eat. We did not want to eat anything that had been alive 5 minutes earlier, so some places were out of the question right away. We found a very nice little restaurant where the menu was in english as well, even though no one spoke it. Lots of pointing, smiling and nodding. Guess it worked, and lunch was DELICIOUS. We had some kind of vegetable dumplings with lots of mushrooms, some hot and spicy pork and veggie dish with little tortilla looking flat thingies (yumm) and the best fried rice I have ever had! We managed to get through the meal with our chopsticks, and Mike even tried some Chinese beer.
I had heard that massages were out of this world here, so that was the next thing I wanted to do. We saw a place advertised at the hotel, so we headed downstairs. Mike skipped the massage and went back to the room, while I felt like I was trapped in a damp dungeon. It was a little freaky. Instead of the 2 hour massage I asked for one hour only, and wheewww, I'm glad I did. The price had obviously just jumped up the minute we walked in (gotta learn yet when to barter!), and a very nice young gal did my massage. What an experience! Man, she kneaded muscles I didn't remember I had, and it was painful at times. I guess that's what you would consider deep tissue massage *ouch*. The thing that really got my attention though was when she climbed on the massage table, and hanging from metal bars at the ceiling, started to massage my back and legs with her feet. I felt like I was getting CPR through my spine, and I was silently wondering which rib would crack first. Well, nothing bad happened, but I think I will wait to get another massage until I'm back home.
I really need to wake Mike up, otherwise he won't sleep tonight, and then we'll probably head back outside, where it has quit raining now.
Wow, this is such an interesting place to experience. We love it. Shamian Island is a good place to get acclimated to the Chinese Culture, and I'm looking forward to head to Hunan, where I'm expecting things to be more authentic yet.
So, signing off for today!

This is a picture of a bronze statue in front of the post office.

******Deutsche Uebersetzung: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com "Erster Nachmittag" ******

Tiiiiiinaaaaaaa!

Tina, I hope you read this - my first purchase in China was a pair of squeaky shoes for Miss Laney! The girl in the shop with her telepathic mind and honed sales skills new EXACTLY what size a 2 1/2 year old needs. And she gave me such a great deal, because I was such a nice friend, and if I would have bought more the deal would have been even better! Sound familiar? Anyway, I got her a pair of purple Squeakies, with the traditional silk type fabric. Very cute. Is that really all you need, or did you also want the leather mary-jane kind? Please comment or send my an email, so I can get you whatever your little princess might need! And let me know what your preference for color is, because my new best friend assured me that I could come and exchange them if you didn't like purple :-)))

The comments DO work now!

Just wanted to let you know. Please keep them coming!

An alle deutschsprachigen "Besucher"


Hallo Ihr Lieben,
da ich den Blog selber nicht sehen kann, kann ich leider die deutsche Uebersetzung nicht direkt verlinken. Ich werde aber unter jedem Beitrag, der uebersetzt ist, einen entsprechenden Hinweis hinterlassen. Dann koennt ihr den Beitrag unter folgender Adresse lesen: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com.
Und hier ist noch ein Foto fuer euch.... :-)))))

Thursday, June 28, 2007

This is for ALEX


Hi Alex, here is a picture of the plane we slept in. I promised I would take one for you. It was really dark, though, so the picture is not very good, but I wanted to send it to you anyway! Mama and Daddy love you, have fun with Andi and Hoovie!

We are in China!




I feel like I have an "out-of-body" eperience here, or like I'm actually in a "magic Tree house" book. I fell asleep shortly after take-off in LA, and when I woke up, I was magically transferred to the other side of the world. What a strange feeling!
But let me back up just a little....
Our flight was very uneventful and quiet, and we met two other adoptive families-to-be on the plane, both of them adopting beautiful baby girls. One of the couples will acutally be in the same province as us! I slept for close to 10 hours, Mike managed to sleep only about three. Wow, the service on China Southern was amazing, at least during my few awake hours *ha* - our flight attendant was super attentive, kind and quick, it made me feel like royalty! We opted for the Chinese breakfast this morning, and it was very good - I'll post a picture of it.
We arrived early in rainy Guangzhou (about 5:30 am), and now we are here at the Victory hotel, trying to get settled and letting it sink in that we are IN CHINA!
It feels very tropical here, hot and humid, with many beautifully landscaped and manicured areas around the airport (which by the way is very new), and countless crowded and delapidated high rises along the highway into town. We are totally fascinated by what little we have seen so far, and can't wait to get out and take it all in. We just watched a little bit of Chinese TV with some sort of Home shopping network airing, and it was very funny. I wish I could speak this beautiful language - maybe I'll add this taks to my "do after retirement" list (along with quilting), or at least to the "once the kids are out of the house" list (along with learning how to use a pottery wheel). Honestly though, at the rate we're going, those two might not be all that far apart.

Another Aha moment I want to share though... going back to our experience of flying over The Grand Canyon and Monument Valley en route to LA. I really feel like this was a heavenly "Bonus" for me, something the Lord just kind of threw in there along the way. Mike and I had talked about how we don't want the kids to feel like we are depriving them of fun things to do because of this adoption. Same goes for me - there are a lot of things that had to take a backseat because of this journey to our little girl. So getting a chance to see two beautiful areas of our country (even from 36000 feet in the air) that I had never seen before, was just really special!

I have been reflecting a lot on our WHY for the adoption of Nina, and to me it boils down to that: I see it as the path the Lord has simply laid in front of us, and all we do is walk on it. Yes, I'm scared, yes, I'm grieving for the family that will never be the same again, yes, it's crazy and we don't "need" any MORE kids (we get this question a lot!), but it's a thing that the Lord himself started planting in my heart about 20 years ago. This beautiful bud called adoption is just about to break into a flower that I have never seen before, but that I know is created by the master himself. I feel blessed that Mike has embraced this as well, and I can't wait to see him with his new daughter!

As far as the blogging goes, it seems to be working from here, although I cannot see the blog myself. I'm also unable to see the last few comments that were left, but I changed that so hopefully we will be able to get them from now on.

The pictures added are from our breakfast, our hotel room and the view from our hotel. Again, I do not know in which order they post, but please bear with me!

We love you all, and kiddos, we miss you bunches and bunches!

***Deutsche Version*** auf www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com Titel: Erster Tag

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Checking in from LA



We have made it to LA, and are waiting for our China Southern flight. And - we miss our kiddos already, although it sounds like Elia and Alex had fun at Chuck-e-cheese's and playing Put-put golf with Andi and Ashley (thanks, guys!)
The flight from Denver to LA was more like a tour - the pilot kept commenting on what we were flying over, and now I can say that I have seen the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley!
We also just watched the Swiss Airline plane take off to Zuerich - we thought about changing our destination for a minute (soelled me cho?)
It is definitely sinking in that we are going to China! We're ready to get some sleep, too!
Signing off for tonight, our next post will be from Guangzhou!

Ready to go

Allright dear friends, this is it - we will be leaving for the airport shortly. Well, as soon as we can get the little boys out of bed, that is ;-))
See you in China!

Monday, June 25, 2007

"She looks great...."

I received a special little glimpse into my daughters life today. A
wonderful lady just received some pictures of Nina - they were taken last week, and according to her, she looks great!
Can't wait to go see for myself!
36 hours to take-off!

Another creative project


Nico has been busy again constructing...
this time with Gumdrops and Toothpicks. He started this in school, and he just kept going after he brought it home.
About 5 bags of Gumdrops and 6 boxes of toothpicks later, this was the result.

Good night, sleep tight...


The girl's bedroom is almost done - there is a beautiful place to sleep for both of them, and the rest has to wait :-))
I wanted to share these pictures, as it's very special for us to think that in three weeks we will have Nina home. I'm not really expecting her to sleep in her room right away, but it is ready for whenever she is!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Itinerary!

Hotels are booked, plane tickets purchased (OUCH!!! This is a spendy time of the year to travel!!), and here is our itinerary:
June 27th - leaving on a jetplane!
June 29th - arrival in Guangzhou, China
July 1st - leaving for Changsha
July 2nd - NINA DAY!
July 7th - fly to Guangzhou (we're staying at the Victory)
July 11th - Consulate Appt
July 12th - we get Nina's Visa to enter the US
July 13th - leaving Gungzhou
July 14th - WE'RE HOME! (We have an overnight stay in LA)

Friday, June 15, 2007

What we have to look forward to :-)

Beautiful...

I just came across this poem on another family's blog. It's beautiful, and I hope it will touch you too...

Every call has a beginning...

A quiet moment when God whispers a promise to a mother's heart

A holy place where a father bows and faithfully accepts the journey set before him.

A miraculous morning that unexpectedly dawns...

Casting its first light on a chosen threshold.

A gentle knock...a closed door opens.

A sacred invitation sent by the Father...

Leads to the other side of the world.

Where lonely hearts stare out of orphanage windows

Praying for someone to care.

And then one morning...

On an ordinary day

An orphan's life changes...

God sends them a second chance...

Through you.

(Unknown)

Thursday, June 14, 2007

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!

WE HAVE IT!
But let me back up just a little...
I have been on pins and needles all week long, since the first TA's had been reported on Monday. Then rumors said that more TA's were on the way. Last night I dreamt about getting the call from our agency at 6am to tell us TA was here.
Needless to say, my cell phone did not leave my side today. I dropped the little boys off at Gymnastics, took Nico and Anya to Vacation Bible school, went back to Gymnastics and then my friend Sonja and I went to the park with the kids until it was time to pick up the older ones from VBS again. We had a water fight at the park, and Elia learned how to "pump" on the swing. Both him and Alex learned that now within days from each other.
But, the phone was silent.
I was wondering....
I knew that there was no guarantee we would get our TA this week, but I was hoping with everything I had!!! And I prayed.
No phone call.
It was about 12:30 when we left the church, 6 wound up kids in the back....
And I felt sorry for myself.
The pity party was about to start, invitations were sent out.
I thought to myself: This is the first time I'm REALLY disappointed during this adoption journey...
And I asked God: "Obviously, there is a reason for this delay - what do I need to learn yet, before we can get Nina?"
Immediately I felt this impression on my heart: "Are you willing to love her unconditionally?"
I had been thinking about that a lot lately, and I have asked God repeatedly to show me what unconditional love really was. And everytime he seemed to say the same thing: " I have already showed you - I gave my LIFE for YOU".
And today, I was given the opportunity to make that commitment again, to be willing to love her unconditionally.

About 1/2 hour later, we were home. And guess what.... there was a message from CCAI that they had good news for us, and that they wanted us to call them as soon as possible. Well, you guessed right - our travel approval was here.

Obviously, the Lord wanted to have this little chat with me before the good news came.
I'm thankful for that. We don't know what's in store for us, we don't know how Nina will change our lives.
But I know that we are in his will, and that he is faithful, because he has loved us first.
This is the best reason to celebrate!!

And yes, we are so excited about this last step. We should hear from the agency again on monday, to get our Consulate appointment confirmed, but it looks like we will be leaving in about 2 weeks.

Uebersetzung: http://chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com/2007/06/ta.html

My first girlfriend....

This afternoon, my friend Sonja came over with her kids. Her little girl Raianna, who is exactly one month older than Nina, brought her a special present.
We can't wait to get the girls together!

Thank you SO MUCH, Sonja and Raianna. Your kindness brought tears to my eyes.

I'm sure Nina will love Barley the pony!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

China's one child policy and its consequences...


Here is an interesting article I just came across:

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,281722,00.html

I'm so thankful that Nina did not become a part of these statistics. We can't wait to have her in our family!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

This and That...

I know - it's been a while since my last post. Lots of little things are happening - end of school, kids starting summer activities, packing, shopping, and I sent Nina her last care package (the little blanket) yesterday. I also sent a letter that our agency translated for us... that was pretty special to see my words in chinese. I want her to know that we can't wait to see her, and I wanted her to know what her name will be. I hope it will get there before we do! Which brings me to the next thing.... Travel approvals (TA's) are starting to come in for families with our LOA date. I'm on the edge of my seat most of the day, cell phone within reach. I hope that ours is in the next batch our agency receives!!!!!
I will keep you posted!

Friday, June 1, 2007

We have our Visas!

China, here we come! I'm so ready to go... I feel like I have waited long enough now.
I did some serious retail therapy yesterday, which was WAY too much fun, and it was really hard not to go totally crazy at Gymboree and Gap - their sales were unbelievable!
All we're missing now is our Travel approval, which will most likely not come for another 2 - 3 weeks *sigh*
Nina BoBo - hang in there!