Provincial Arts and Crafts shop

This was our second stop on our City Tour, and my favorite by far. We watched them paint Porcelain, and again I'm so impressed with the Craftsmanship I witessed. We bought Nina a full sized tea set for later (wedding, graduation... something along those lines) and a smaller set for play or decoration. They are so pretty, and I hope I will be invited to some of those tea parties!

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

The Chen house

"Chen" is an old family name in Guangzhou, so the influential Chen family built their own school for their children (and I can't remember now what else they used this house for...). Later on it was turned into a museum. It has interesting exhibits of things pertinent to this area of China.
They have their own style of embroidery here. Where Hunan's embroidery is double sided, the Guangdong embroidery is almost 3-D. I really liked the blue little windows and the puppets, and Mike likes the Bonsai trees you see everywhere!




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

Ramen Noodle Lunches

Ramen Noodles have become quite a lunch tradition around here. We eat a big breakfast at the buffet, and then it's so hot that we never feel like eating a lot at lunch time Nina seems to be okay with that, and enjoys her Ramen noodle picnic in our room.


****Deutsche Version: Die letzten paar Tage hatten wir jeweils ein Zmittags - Picknick im Hotelzimmer. Wir essen ausgiebig Zmorge, und dann ist es soo heiss, dass man am Mittag gar nicht richtig Hunger hat. An diese Nudeln giesst man kochendes Wasser, laesst sie ein paar Minuten ziehen, und voila, fertig gekocht. Nina mag sie offensichtlich :-)) *****

I feel goooooood!

I had my nightly bath with my Mama, I lotioned up with Daddy, I'm in my PJ's, I have my favorite blanket AND MY GUM!!
(Grandpa watch out, another gum-sucker in on her way!) Love, Nina

PS: And yes, we confirmed tonight that Nina is my daughter: She likes Tomato soup!! Yeahhh!




***Deutsche Version: Mir geht es sooooo gut - ich habe mit Mama gebadet, Daddy hat mich von Kopf bis Fuss eingesalbt, ich habe mein Lieblingspijama angezogen, ich habe meine Lieblingsdecke und MEINEN KAUGUMMI (Grandpa, aufgepasst, wir bringen dir noch einen Kaugummi "Fresser"!). Liebe Gruesse von Nina
P.S. Und wir haben heute Abend bestaetigt, dass Nina meine Tochter ist - sie mag Tomaten Suppe!!! Yeah! *******

We're going to the Animal Fair....

Hey, Elia, do you remember that song from the Library? I think when the big kiddos go back to school, you and I should start taking Nina BoBo to story time! I think the two of you would like it. Nina BoBo loves to sing and dance around, and you could teach her all about the library, and how to check out books, and how to climb down the ladder backwards at the play place.... do you think you could do that?
Well, we did go to the Animal Fair, aka 'Zoo' this morning. It surpassed my expectations by far, as it is huge, and although the animal habitats are quite outdated, the park itself is beautifully maintained. Many large and mature trees are shading the visitors, little ponds and waterfalls add a to the jungle feel, and the habitats sprinkled into that setting make it a pleasant outing. The only downside was that it was incredibly H.O.T. And drenchingly humid. And the little Miss chose to be chauffeured by her Mama-Taxi. Otherwise she refused moving. Yep, gotta suffer a little bit for the beauty of attachment (I'm just getting my reward: Nina is waking up, and I hear a sweet little voice in the darkness: "Mama, Mama, Mama".... okay, the suffering this morning was worth it :-)) )
Our guide was a bit of a slave driver this morning and hurried us along, and really, a Zoo is a Zoo. What made it magical though was to experience Nina's FIRST Zoo visit with US. And again, I'm so thankful to her foster parents, who gave her a pretty normal childhood. I don't think there was a Zoo where she grew up, but there are so many experiences that she is obviously familiar with, that she wouldn't had she only lived in a orphanage. She knows McDonalds, how to chew gum (had a huge fit before naptime over it!), is used to being out and about and LOVES escalators and shopping. We're just so blessed!

This is not a special effect in this first picture. It is a bit blurry because of the humidity and the condensation on our lens!









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

Starbucks and McDonalds...

I think, Nina will be okay in the US. She had her first Starbucks Hot Chocolate yesterday, and last night we took her to McDonalds. Even though she only likes French Fries, I think she will be okay as an American Citizen....
Enjoy the pictures!





*****Deutsche Version: Nina hatte gestern ihre erste "heisse Schoggi" von Starbucks, und gestern Abend gingen wir mit ihr ins McDonalds. Sie isst zwar nur die Pommes Frites, die aber mit Heisshunger! Ich glaube, sie wird sich gut machen als Amerikanerin *lach*.... *****

It took her FOREVER...

...to go to sleep last night, so by the time she was finally asleep, I was too. It's really interesting to see the difference in her sleeping habits. I feel that last week sleep was a welcomed escape from her pain, so she laid down and fell asleep. Now it seems more like an inconvenience, and she farts around, kicks and pinches us for the fun of it (hers, not ours I might add), rolls around, snuggles some, rolls around some more, looks around, and after about an hour she finally konks out. We studied our home pictures quite intently last night, and I think she is catching on to the faces and names of her siblings. We discussed her sleeping arrangments and her bedroom, and she pointed and nodded. It will be interesting to see if she recognizes the kids and her room when we get home.
With that being said, I will try to catch up later today on all the things we have done. Thanks for your patience.

****Detusche Version: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com Titel: Einschlafen.... ****

Mad-clicker girl....

For all of you who know Alex, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't know our 6 year old, then let me tell you why we call him the Mad-clicker. Alex LOVES anything electronic. He loves to play on the computer, he loves to take pictures, he loves to play video games.... you name it. We call him E-Boy too ;-))) And he just clicks his way around, and if it doesn't work, he clicks some more, and some more, and pretty soon you have 20 windows open on the Computer, and it's locked up and the settings are changed on the camera. There you have it - the mad-clicker.
Watch out, Alex, you have just met your match. Miss Nina ist just exactly like that too! We came across this chinese TV show (apparently made after a book classic) that we have no clue what it is all about, but she squealed with delight the first time she saw it. Obviously this was familiar to her. And now, every time we come back to our room, she wants to watch TV. She HAS to have the remote, and she'll click until she finds that show again (that seems to be on all the time!). She loves the camera as well, the calculator, the computer, Mike's Blackberry... watch out everyone!




*****Deutsche Version: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com Titel: Elektronik Fieber ******

Sweet little hands....

And then the sun came up...

...and the beautiful little flower STARTED TO BLOSSOM.

Friends - a MIRACLE happened! It is Sunday night now, and the Emperor and his daughter are sleeping. Nina is like a new girl. It's mind boggling, amazing, and I just want to jump up and down with joy! Ever since yesterday morning things started to change, even the transition to Guangzhou didn't seem to bother her much (she probably thinks we LIVE in a hotel!). She is happy, funny, giggling and very comfortable with either Mike or I. Since coming here we have met several other families from our agency, and they have been commenting on how well adjusted Nina seems. Yeah, right, you should have seen her 2 days ago! Not sure if they believe me. She is starting to venture out on her own just a little bit more, but this time it doesn't seem like an attempt to escape. On our way home tonight she started SINGING! Well, it was more humming, but it was so precious. I could not hum along with her though, that earned me a smack in the face *sigh*, so does my attempt so say something in chinese to her! Oh well, baby steps...
Another thing that we have noticed, probably because we're super careful now to nurture her trust, that she now allows us to play games that involve some mild degree of a surpise factor or a bit of a thrill. We could not do that at first, it would scare her. Now we can start playing hide and seek, and Mike was even able to throw her in the air! Little things like that are so huge right now.
If you have been praying for us, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I see the beginning of his healing grace in her heart, and I believe the heavenly Father is smiling down on us. He will bring his plan to completion in her life.
I have to remind myself that this is not the end yet. There will be more difficult days ahead, and I know now that I'm not ready for those. But we will walk in them, holding on to the one who sees the whole picture.
He loves us so.
*****
The following picture is from tonight. Look at that happy grin!


*****Deutsche Version: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com Titel: Und dann ging die Sonne auf *****

Hi Kiddos!

Hey, Daddy and I were just wondering if you guys made it home yet!! I have to tell you, I miss you all terribly tonight. I'm thinking about playing kickball in the yard with all of you, giving you little boys underdogs on the swing, going shopping with my super-shopper-girl, ironing little bead-pictures for Mr. perfecionist and having breakfast prepared by my kitchen helper. But most of all I miss the super-douper Hugga-Bugs at night, the sweet kisses (even the licks!), all the good talks with my big kiddos before you go to sleep. You are the best kids I could ever have wished for, and I love you so so so so much!
Only SIX more sleeps until we're home! Yeahh!
I want to hear all about your week with Grandma and Grandpa, too!
Nico and Anya - I hope you will have fun this week at the Enrichment program!
XOXOXOXOX
Mama

She travelled like a champ....

Hello from Guangzhou! Like I said earlier, I have not been looking forward to coming back here, but now it's acutally very nice! We can hang out with all the friends we made, and there are adoptive families EVERYWHERE! We didn't see as many when we were here a week ago, and I thought that this hype had just been a huge exaggeration. It wasn't. I stand corrected. Maybe it was because we were here on a weekend when most people had already left, plus the week of the 4th was coming up, I have no idea. Now there are MANY here. So we get to experience the bond of the adoption world, which is kind of fun.
But anyway, our travels were very smooth. Nina slept on the way to the airport, and most of the way to Guangzhou (only a 1 hour flight anyway). She continued to be pretty happy, EXCEPT when it was time to put on her seatbelt. NOT. IMPRESSED! During Miss Nina's in-flight beauty rest, Mike and I watched a program on his IPOD about the history of China. WOW! I had read some about it, but this explained a lot of things in fascinating details. So so interesting. And heartbraking. Unbelievable the sacrifice that has gone into the building of the Great Wall for example. Driven by the desire of fame and greatness, the people suffered horribly.
We arrived at the Victory hotel and had dinner later on with our friends A and S and family. We just love hanging out with them! Nina got pretty tired, so I took her back to the hotel while the crew partied a while longer at Lucy's ( A Western style restaurant her on Shamian Island). Oh, I almost forgot - Nina LOVES french fries. And LOTS of Ketchup. Elia, watch out, your sister is a dipper just like you!!
It is very hot and humid here, so we both took a bath and she crashed shortly thereafter.
I'm just amazed how well she travelled. It was just no big deal to her. She was not scared of going on the airplane or anything! What a resilient and brave little girl.
Enjoy the pictures!

A field of Lotus on the way to the airport / Lotusblumen auf dem Weg zum Flughafen

Goodbye Daphne / Abschied von Daphne

Waiting for our flight / Nina in der Abflughalle

Here is the Madface, when it was time to buckle up / Nina wollte nicht angeschnallt sein!

Goodbye, Hunan! Auf Wiedersehen!

Arrived! / Angekommen!

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

View from our Hotel in Changsha

Die Aussicht von unserem Hotel in Changsha

To all Bloggers waiting to travel...

Here is an all-important link for you. You will need to change the language, if you don't want to use the chinese screen and you have memorized the placement of all the commands (uuhhhhm, yep, I had considered that before I came across this link!)
When you get to China, you need to change the language, and this is how you do it. Go to
www.blogger.com/language.g
That's where you change it to english, and you're set!
Hope this helps!

A morning at the River

Early this morning we went down to the Riverfront. Somehow I needed to see more of Changsha than just city streets and traffic. Our little outing was worth it. There was a very nice pavillion, and then you could walk along this terrace for quite a distance. The area of the pavillion was very interesting. Old and young people were just hanging out - some just sat around talking, the older men were playing board games, there were two groups of musicians, a couple was dancing spontaniously, some other guys drew chinese words on the concrete with water, and homeless men slept on pieces of newspaper or park benches. People here always appear to have a lot of time, and the quiet sense of people floating is so interesting to experience.
Nina has been quite content this morning. It is obvious that she is feeling better, and she has not had any meltdowns so far. Wohoo! Whenever we are out and about the gets pretty withdrawn, just as she was wondering if we were leaving here somewhere else. I was taking some pictures at the river, so I had to put her down for a minute, and as I was stooping down she walked over to me and put her soft and chubby little arms around my neck. That felt VERY, VERY good! So good! Even Daddy is accepted a little bit more this morning, so we might be in the 2 steps forward part of the attachment cycle (before it may go one step backwards again). We're taking these sweet little moments with a grateful heart.
We'll finish packing here in a little bit, and we will be off to the airport in just a couple of hours.






*****Deutsche Version: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com Titel: Am Fluss *****

More pictures from the river front