The long flight is over. I've gotten sleep (even though I'm still sorta on China time, because it's 130 AM here and I should be going to bed now).
What an awesome and unforgettable trip it was. I'm so grateful that I was able to experience something at that magnitude at such a young age (for the second time, no less). The flights were absolutely terrible, but walking out to a dozen people at the airport was so encouraging. And then having several homecooked dishes made for us, all of our grocery shopping done, our lawn mowed, and having all of the stressing out over my dad's work burning down done for us (they made calls and made sure my dad still had a job, that way when they told us we didn't have anything to worry about at all) was such a tremendous blessing.
It's back to the daily grind for me Monday. I certainly have a different perspective though about "having" to go to school and work.
I just started my new blog that will just be my thoughts on things from daily life. I had such a good time doing this one and everyone had such nice things to say about it that I couldn't resist starting another. The url is http://www.nicksmagicalutopia.blogspot.com. I hope you guys check it out.
Alright, this is the end. I had such a great time reading everybody's comments, and now that I'm back I found out about more people who read every post but just didn't comment. It's so awesome knowing people cared enough to follow this, and I really want to thank everyone for doing so. And I'll be sure to do another blog once I adopt from China too (which would be a thrice in a lifetime opPROtunity, heh).
Bye everyone!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Got back safely
I'm super tired, so I'll do my last real update sometime this weekend. The flights were long but we're home. The store that my dad works at burned down while we were gone, but there's another store owned by the same guy that he will get to work at with full pay while the rebuilding occurs. Kind of weird, but at least nothing serious (as far as my dad being out of a job)
Time for sleep
Time for sleep
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Final Farewell From China
In eight hours we will be leaving our hotel to begin our long journey home. I'll do one more update once I'm back, and I might start another general blog (which I'll post the link to if I end up doing) but other than that, this is the end. Thanks to everyone who read it and commented it. Even though I didn't respond to specific comments, I read every one and really enjoyed doing so. This whole thing would have been pointless without people reading it, and it was great to have that connection back home, knowing people cared enough to see how we were doing over here.
I'll quickly summarize the past two days. Yesterday we went to this park, which was beautiful but it was super hot out. I also got sick again last night (feeling much better now though). Today we had our consolate appointment (which was pointless... everyone stood up and had to say that they swore the information on the paperwork was true... that's seriously all you do there. And this is the reason we had to stay two extra days, because we couldn't get our appointment earlier) and we've basically been packing since then. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel for the first time, which was really good. Now I'm going to be heading up to bed because tomorrow will be a very tiring day. Can't wait to see everyone at the airport and then go home and crash for the weekend before I go back to normal life.
Once again, thanks to everyone who read this! See you in America.
I'll quickly summarize the past two days. Yesterday we went to this park, which was beautiful but it was super hot out. I also got sick again last night (feeling much better now though). Today we had our consolate appointment (which was pointless... everyone stood up and had to say that they swore the information on the paperwork was true... that's seriously all you do there. And this is the reason we had to stay two extra days, because we couldn't get our appointment earlier) and we've basically been packing since then. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel for the first time, which was really good. Now I'm going to be heading up to bed because tomorrow will be a very tiring day. Can't wait to see everyone at the airport and then go home and crash for the weekend before I go back to normal life.
Once again, thanks to everyone who read this! See you in America.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
So many girls, so little time
This trip has gone by incredibly fast. Before I left, I thought these two weeks would drag on and on. I was dead wrong. Most families leave tomorrow, but we leave Friday. Still, it feels like the "vacation" is over. We've done everything except our consulate appointment (the last part required of the adopting process before we can leave), but we've done all the main stuff.
And it especially feels like it's done because, as I said, all but two other families (out of 16 I think) are leaving tomorrow. In fact, it already feels like they're gone. It's 8 pm here, and the other families have to leave at 6 am tomorrow, so I'm sure I won't see any of them again. What a strange feeling. The last time I came to China, the families we were with were great too, but this time seems different. We've connected with them more, and it's just a special group. It hasn't just been normal life lived with other groups of people for two weeks (though I'm sure that would bring people close together too), but this is an actual life changing experience that we all went through at the same time. Not only did we enjoy two awesome days in Beijing with everyone, but then we were with five other families on the actual adoption day. It's like 6 mothers giving birth at the exact same time. That sort of thing doesn't happen every day, and it's sad realizing that all of these people who we went through this with are now out of our lives already. Weird. There are a couple families in particular that we may get together with in a few years to visit, so hopefully that happens. But if not (which is probable, as we made plans with some families from our last group to visit and that never happened), we'll have to wait until heaven for the big reunion. Which is fine I guess, as that's a better place to have it than Disneyland (which is one of the places we discussed going to).
Anyway, enough about the people we were with. I'm sitting in SpaceBucks (don't ask me why I sometimes call it that... even I don't know) and I have some time to kill. My iPod's battery is dead and I must charge it. But I have to actually be on the computer for it to charge. This laptop goes into sleep mode after 10 minutes of non-use, and once that happens my iPod stops charging. Since it's 15 bucks a day to use internet in the room, but free at the starbucks that's about a minute walk from the room, I'll probably be here for a while. I need my iPod for the crazy plane day on Friday. I'm so sick of flying. Takeoff and landing is kind of cool, but it smells horrible on airplanes, and the past two times I've gotten kind of sick after landing (which is weird, since I don't have motion sickness or anything). Plus it's boring. Especially the 12 hour flight. Ugh. Half a day in the sky. That sounds like it could be the name of a sleazy romance novel.
Even though we leave Friday, we'll get home Friday at about 4 in the afternoon. Time changes are so confusing. It will be rough only having a weekend to recover from this absolutely exhausting journey (which was seriously tiring enough without adding 13 hours of jetlag into the mix) but Monday it's back to normal life. Everything will be over. This whole experience that we've been waiting for for almost two years will be through. It's surreal that this whole process is going to abruptly end once we get back to our house. These past two weeks have been so different from anything I've ever experienced before. Yeah, I did this whole shebang four years ago, but this time was wildly different. The places we went, the things we did, and the stuff we saw was largely the same as last time. But I'm different than I was four years ago, and these two experiences are almost not even remotely similar in my mind. I can say that I did enjoy myself immensely this time. I think last time I only noticed touristy/vacation type aspects, where as this time I was much more focused on the emotional experience and the relationships formed (especially with my awesome new sister). Only a few months ago I didn't want any kids when I was married; now I want as big of a family as possible. I almost wish I was done with the whole immature teenager part of life, and that I could just move on to family life right now. Of course I definately need to grow up a lot more before I'm ready, but hopefully I'll work on that more now once I'm back.
All my thoughts are sort of running together here, and I'm too lazy to reread what I just wrote, but I don't think I've gone through what we've done since my last post. Basically, it's been a shopping extravaganza. We went to Shamian Island yesterday for three hours with the whole group, and then my family and I went by ourselves (while the other families went to their consulate appointment... ours isn't until thursday, thus why we have to wait to leave until Friday). We took a taxi today and stayed on the island shopping for a good 3 1/2 hours. It was exhausting. And in fact, I'd like to go to bed now. But not only do I not feel like it (which doesn't make sense, since I just said I want to go to bed now) but I have to wait for my stupid iPod to charge so I'm not super bored on the plane. Anyway, the shopping wasn't as fun as last time. In fact, it was a hassle. Last time it was one of the big highlights. Like I said, last time I cared more about that sort of stuff; this time, not so much. We had tons of things to get (mainly for other people) but I haven't really gotten much this trip. I got those four pictures (which I think I already talked about) and today I got a deck of cards and a keychain, but not much else. They mainly just sell junky stuff at those shops. And after all, who needs more stuff? You can't take it with you so why bother (if only I could always have that mindset)
This morning all the families met in the lobby for pictures. That was kind of neat. Before that though was our continental breakfast we've been enjoying since we came to this hotel. It's awesome. Everything is super delicious. And today we broke our streak of eating McDonald's three days in a row... we ate at a very American type restaurant on the Island. In fact, it was weird, because they were playing American pop music that went out of style ten years ago. It's strange being on a Chinese Island and listening to Brittany Spears and Spice Girls.
Tomorrow is pretty much another free day for us. We have to stay in our room for a couple hours in the morning while our guide goes to some interview on behalf of us (we have to stay in the room in case he has to call to ask us something), but then we have nothing. We're probably going to go to a park that's nearby. And then Thursday we're going to our consolate appointment, and then back to Shamian Island again (ugh) to pick up some stuff that won't be done until then. For example, I ordered The Dark Knight DVD (don't judge me, I'm still going to buy the real version when it comes out in December) and that will be in Thursday. It's only $2.50. Amazing. I hate piracy, and I don't steal music or whatever else even though it's so incredibly easy to do, but I refuse to wait an extra 3 months for that movie when I can get it that cheap now. Sure the quality will be poor I'm sure, but it will be good enough to last until the official DVD release.
Friday, as I've already said, is our long plane day. I'm not going to be sleeping on any of our flights. I'll be essentially skipping all sleep (on what would be Thursday night back home) to sort of force my body to adapt back to our time. If I sleep on China time on the plane, I won't be tired at nighttime back home. This went on for like five days last time. I would stay up until about 5 or 6 am, sleep all day, be up all night. Last time I just had to stay up all night (like I'm doing this time) in order to readjust. But I don't have as many days off as I did last time, so I'll have to get back into the routine as quickly as possible. Monday I have all five of my classes, Tuesday I'll be cramming on makeup work, Wednesday and Thursday I work, so I won't really get a break again until after classes Friday (hopefully I can be all caught up on my make up work by next weekend... that would be totally amazing).
Speaking of college, I think I'm going to change my major. Criminal Justice, while necessary (and to me, very interesting) just isn't my thing. It's not the type of life I want. I would love to go into ministry, but I also want to make enough money so that I can live in a state that actually has activities to do, and so that my wife doesn't have to work (my kids will not be going to daycare, period). One of the guys in our group is a communications major, and he said it's great for a broad range of jobs. I don't know though, I'm sure it will take me a while to figure it all out. I would actually almost like to only do 1 year at ICC (but I'd have to really get my stuff together during that time... as of right now there's no way I'd survive away from home).
I think I'm going to start a general blog when I get back to the states. It's fun blogging. I know there's that stereotype of bloggers being overweight nerds who still live with in their parents attic or basement (a stereotype which, incidentally, I fit on all three accounts), but I don't necessarily care. I don't even care if anyone reads it. I hope people will, but even if they don't it might be a cool way to organize my thoughts (even though this current post is incredibly unorganized).
The traffic over here is absolute insanity. In Guangzhou it's not as bad as the other areas (our guide said Guangzhou has the best driving in all of China) but it's still terrible even here. Seriously, I feel like such a wuss for ever thinking I've been in tricky or "dangerous" driving situations back home. It's literally like there are no rules. I keep imagining ye olden days of driving, when cars first were put on the market. Back then, when you bought a car, the only lesson you got was from the salesman, who would only tell you which pedal was the brake and which was the gas. It's as if everybody has the right of way here at all times. Or as I like to say, everyone is constantly in "dodge" mode. Basically, if you don't dodge another vehicle (especially the pedestrians, who are heeded as much as a German Nazi heeds decency) you get hit. Astonishingly though, despite the countless hours in our various tourbusses this trip, I've yet to see any sort of wreck. Chinese drivers are hands down either the absolute best drivers, or the absolute worst. It's a tough call.
Hmm... I think I've adressed just about everything except the title. Chinese chicks are digging me. In total, I had seven chicks surrounding me today (pictures are below). For those keeping track, that beats my previous record by seven. And it wasn't just today either. There have been several other times here where a Chinese girl would say strange things to me. For example, one gal said she really liked my voice. Another said she remembered me from last time (yes, all the way back in '04), because I was "so handsome". And the chicks today had this to say. "You're realy big and strong", "You're really mature", "You'll be able to get a good job", etc. etc. They asked my dad if he was afraid of me, hah. They also seemed amazed when I told them adopting from China costs between 15-20 thousand dollars. Over here, that's probably more than fives years of an average persons income.
Warning: tangent incoming. America is awesome. Everyone in America sort of has this abstract concept of how awesome it is, but until you really see firsthand how incredibly hard the vast majority of people have it, you truly understand. Sure, I can't stand half of our government (that would be the democrats, for those who are wondering) and half the time I can't even stand the half that I do like (the republicans) but even the most pressing political issues in our country are but small squabbles compared to what life could be like. Living on two dollars a day, or only being allowed to have one child (I found out the penalty for each additional child is three years of the persons sallary, which of course isn't even an option for the vast majority of the population). Even if you do have a decent job, you work so much harder and have so much less than you would in America. In fact, the McDonald's workers here are phenomenal. They work super hard at taking your order (the language barrier makes some of my nitpicky things like making everything plain harder for them to understand) but they've only messed up like one thing out of the thirty or so we've ordered the past few days. Back in America the mess-up rate is MUCH higher, and that's with people speaking the same language. Pathetic.
Wow, I wrote a ton. Yeah, I doubt anyone read all of that. If you did, be sure to post a comment so I can give you a cookie. Time to wrap this thing up.
Pictures:
The death glance of the Snicker's made my face melt
This is some creepy dude who was taking pictures of my family from afar, then asked if he could get a picture with them. He said we were "very beautiful"... Don't ask me why we actually let him get the picture.
With my mighty blade I am prepared to do battle with even the toughest of foes. Huzzah!
Yes, this is the closest I've ever been to a real group of girls before.
I will be cropping my sister out of this one
Me being unhappy about having to sit at SpaceBucks. Although most of the times I've been here I've just hogged their WiFi without buying anything. This makes me feel better, as they donate money to Planned Parenthood. I won't be giving them any blood money!
This is an awesome guy named Jordon. He runs a small shop on the Island, and he's a Christian. He got very excited when we told him that everyone in our group was Christian. He's probably never seen a group of believers that big before. Just one more way that America is blessed.
Our main guide Lineker with his lovely wife Amy. I'm going to give one of my children the middle name of Lineker. Not only is the name awesome, but he's an awesome guy. There are a few people that I happen to not like for any reason (something I'm trying to stop) and there are a few people that I really like for no reason. Lineker was one of these people to start with, so once I actually got to know him more it was all the better.
A picture of us with the five other families that adopted from the same province. Totally awesome people. Why can't everyone I meet be as cool as these guys?
A photo of the six babies from Jiangxhi. Isabella is the second from the right.
And it especially feels like it's done because, as I said, all but two other families (out of 16 I think) are leaving tomorrow. In fact, it already feels like they're gone. It's 8 pm here, and the other families have to leave at 6 am tomorrow, so I'm sure I won't see any of them again. What a strange feeling. The last time I came to China, the families we were with were great too, but this time seems different. We've connected with them more, and it's just a special group. It hasn't just been normal life lived with other groups of people for two weeks (though I'm sure that would bring people close together too), but this is an actual life changing experience that we all went through at the same time. Not only did we enjoy two awesome days in Beijing with everyone, but then we were with five other families on the actual adoption day. It's like 6 mothers giving birth at the exact same time. That sort of thing doesn't happen every day, and it's sad realizing that all of these people who we went through this with are now out of our lives already. Weird. There are a couple families in particular that we may get together with in a few years to visit, so hopefully that happens. But if not (which is probable, as we made plans with some families from our last group to visit and that never happened), we'll have to wait until heaven for the big reunion. Which is fine I guess, as that's a better place to have it than Disneyland (which is one of the places we discussed going to).
Anyway, enough about the people we were with. I'm sitting in SpaceBucks (don't ask me why I sometimes call it that... even I don't know) and I have some time to kill. My iPod's battery is dead and I must charge it. But I have to actually be on the computer for it to charge. This laptop goes into sleep mode after 10 minutes of non-use, and once that happens my iPod stops charging. Since it's 15 bucks a day to use internet in the room, but free at the starbucks that's about a minute walk from the room, I'll probably be here for a while. I need my iPod for the crazy plane day on Friday. I'm so sick of flying. Takeoff and landing is kind of cool, but it smells horrible on airplanes, and the past two times I've gotten kind of sick after landing (which is weird, since I don't have motion sickness or anything). Plus it's boring. Especially the 12 hour flight. Ugh. Half a day in the sky. That sounds like it could be the name of a sleazy romance novel.
Even though we leave Friday, we'll get home Friday at about 4 in the afternoon. Time changes are so confusing. It will be rough only having a weekend to recover from this absolutely exhausting journey (which was seriously tiring enough without adding 13 hours of jetlag into the mix) but Monday it's back to normal life. Everything will be over. This whole experience that we've been waiting for for almost two years will be through. It's surreal that this whole process is going to abruptly end once we get back to our house. These past two weeks have been so different from anything I've ever experienced before. Yeah, I did this whole shebang four years ago, but this time was wildly different. The places we went, the things we did, and the stuff we saw was largely the same as last time. But I'm different than I was four years ago, and these two experiences are almost not even remotely similar in my mind. I can say that I did enjoy myself immensely this time. I think last time I only noticed touristy/vacation type aspects, where as this time I was much more focused on the emotional experience and the relationships formed (especially with my awesome new sister). Only a few months ago I didn't want any kids when I was married; now I want as big of a family as possible. I almost wish I was done with the whole immature teenager part of life, and that I could just move on to family life right now. Of course I definately need to grow up a lot more before I'm ready, but hopefully I'll work on that more now once I'm back.
All my thoughts are sort of running together here, and I'm too lazy to reread what I just wrote, but I don't think I've gone through what we've done since my last post. Basically, it's been a shopping extravaganza. We went to Shamian Island yesterday for three hours with the whole group, and then my family and I went by ourselves (while the other families went to their consulate appointment... ours isn't until thursday, thus why we have to wait to leave until Friday). We took a taxi today and stayed on the island shopping for a good 3 1/2 hours. It was exhausting. And in fact, I'd like to go to bed now. But not only do I not feel like it (which doesn't make sense, since I just said I want to go to bed now) but I have to wait for my stupid iPod to charge so I'm not super bored on the plane. Anyway, the shopping wasn't as fun as last time. In fact, it was a hassle. Last time it was one of the big highlights. Like I said, last time I cared more about that sort of stuff; this time, not so much. We had tons of things to get (mainly for other people) but I haven't really gotten much this trip. I got those four pictures (which I think I already talked about) and today I got a deck of cards and a keychain, but not much else. They mainly just sell junky stuff at those shops. And after all, who needs more stuff? You can't take it with you so why bother (if only I could always have that mindset)
This morning all the families met in the lobby for pictures. That was kind of neat. Before that though was our continental breakfast we've been enjoying since we came to this hotel. It's awesome. Everything is super delicious. And today we broke our streak of eating McDonald's three days in a row... we ate at a very American type restaurant on the Island. In fact, it was weird, because they were playing American pop music that went out of style ten years ago. It's strange being on a Chinese Island and listening to Brittany Spears and Spice Girls.
Tomorrow is pretty much another free day for us. We have to stay in our room for a couple hours in the morning while our guide goes to some interview on behalf of us (we have to stay in the room in case he has to call to ask us something), but then we have nothing. We're probably going to go to a park that's nearby. And then Thursday we're going to our consolate appointment, and then back to Shamian Island again (ugh) to pick up some stuff that won't be done until then. For example, I ordered The Dark Knight DVD (don't judge me, I'm still going to buy the real version when it comes out in December) and that will be in Thursday. It's only $2.50. Amazing. I hate piracy, and I don't steal music or whatever else even though it's so incredibly easy to do, but I refuse to wait an extra 3 months for that movie when I can get it that cheap now. Sure the quality will be poor I'm sure, but it will be good enough to last until the official DVD release.
Friday, as I've already said, is our long plane day. I'm not going to be sleeping on any of our flights. I'll be essentially skipping all sleep (on what would be Thursday night back home) to sort of force my body to adapt back to our time. If I sleep on China time on the plane, I won't be tired at nighttime back home. This went on for like five days last time. I would stay up until about 5 or 6 am, sleep all day, be up all night. Last time I just had to stay up all night (like I'm doing this time) in order to readjust. But I don't have as many days off as I did last time, so I'll have to get back into the routine as quickly as possible. Monday I have all five of my classes, Tuesday I'll be cramming on makeup work, Wednesday and Thursday I work, so I won't really get a break again until after classes Friday (hopefully I can be all caught up on my make up work by next weekend... that would be totally amazing).
Speaking of college, I think I'm going to change my major. Criminal Justice, while necessary (and to me, very interesting) just isn't my thing. It's not the type of life I want. I would love to go into ministry, but I also want to make enough money so that I can live in a state that actually has activities to do, and so that my wife doesn't have to work (my kids will not be going to daycare, period). One of the guys in our group is a communications major, and he said it's great for a broad range of jobs. I don't know though, I'm sure it will take me a while to figure it all out. I would actually almost like to only do 1 year at ICC (but I'd have to really get my stuff together during that time... as of right now there's no way I'd survive away from home).
I think I'm going to start a general blog when I get back to the states. It's fun blogging. I know there's that stereotype of bloggers being overweight nerds who still live with in their parents attic or basement (a stereotype which, incidentally, I fit on all three accounts), but I don't necessarily care. I don't even care if anyone reads it. I hope people will, but even if they don't it might be a cool way to organize my thoughts (even though this current post is incredibly unorganized).
The traffic over here is absolute insanity. In Guangzhou it's not as bad as the other areas (our guide said Guangzhou has the best driving in all of China) but it's still terrible even here. Seriously, I feel like such a wuss for ever thinking I've been in tricky or "dangerous" driving situations back home. It's literally like there are no rules. I keep imagining ye olden days of driving, when cars first were put on the market. Back then, when you bought a car, the only lesson you got was from the salesman, who would only tell you which pedal was the brake and which was the gas. It's as if everybody has the right of way here at all times. Or as I like to say, everyone is constantly in "dodge" mode. Basically, if you don't dodge another vehicle (especially the pedestrians, who are heeded as much as a German Nazi heeds decency) you get hit. Astonishingly though, despite the countless hours in our various tourbusses this trip, I've yet to see any sort of wreck. Chinese drivers are hands down either the absolute best drivers, or the absolute worst. It's a tough call.
Hmm... I think I've adressed just about everything except the title. Chinese chicks are digging me. In total, I had seven chicks surrounding me today (pictures are below). For those keeping track, that beats my previous record by seven. And it wasn't just today either. There have been several other times here where a Chinese girl would say strange things to me. For example, one gal said she really liked my voice. Another said she remembered me from last time (yes, all the way back in '04), because I was "so handsome". And the chicks today had this to say. "You're realy big and strong", "You're really mature", "You'll be able to get a good job", etc. etc. They asked my dad if he was afraid of me, hah. They also seemed amazed when I told them adopting from China costs between 15-20 thousand dollars. Over here, that's probably more than fives years of an average persons income.
Warning: tangent incoming. America is awesome. Everyone in America sort of has this abstract concept of how awesome it is, but until you really see firsthand how incredibly hard the vast majority of people have it, you truly understand. Sure, I can't stand half of our government (that would be the democrats, for those who are wondering) and half the time I can't even stand the half that I do like (the republicans) but even the most pressing political issues in our country are but small squabbles compared to what life could be like. Living on two dollars a day, or only being allowed to have one child (I found out the penalty for each additional child is three years of the persons sallary, which of course isn't even an option for the vast majority of the population). Even if you do have a decent job, you work so much harder and have so much less than you would in America. In fact, the McDonald's workers here are phenomenal. They work super hard at taking your order (the language barrier makes some of my nitpicky things like making everything plain harder for them to understand) but they've only messed up like one thing out of the thirty or so we've ordered the past few days. Back in America the mess-up rate is MUCH higher, and that's with people speaking the same language. Pathetic.
Wow, I wrote a ton. Yeah, I doubt anyone read all of that. If you did, be sure to post a comment so I can give you a cookie. Time to wrap this thing up.
Pictures:
The death glance of the Snicker's made my face melt
This is some creepy dude who was taking pictures of my family from afar, then asked if he could get a picture with them. He said we were "very beautiful"... Don't ask me why we actually let him get the picture.
With my mighty blade I am prepared to do battle with even the toughest of foes. Huzzah!
Yes, this is the closest I've ever been to a real group of girls before.
I will be cropping my sister out of this one
Me being unhappy about having to sit at SpaceBucks. Although most of the times I've been here I've just hogged their WiFi without buying anything. This makes me feel better, as they donate money to Planned Parenthood. I won't be giving them any blood money!
This is an awesome guy named Jordon. He runs a small shop on the Island, and he's a Christian. He got very excited when we told him that everyone in our group was Christian. He's probably never seen a group of believers that big before. Just one more way that America is blessed.
Our main guide Lineker with his lovely wife Amy. I'm going to give one of my children the middle name of Lineker. Not only is the name awesome, but he's an awesome guy. There are a few people that I happen to not like for any reason (something I'm trying to stop) and there are a few people that I really like for no reason. Lineker was one of these people to start with, so once I actually got to know him more it was all the better.
A picture of us with the five other families that adopted from the same province. Totally awesome people. Why can't everyone I meet be as cool as these guys?
A photo of the six babies from Jiangxhi. Isabella is the second from the right.
Hopefully my iPod is charged by now and I can go. I've been typing for a lot longer than I meant to. This will probably be the last BIG update, and thanks to anyone who actually read all of it. Like I said, it feels like the trip is already over. I so wish we were leaving with everyone else tomorrow. Oh well, I'll make the most of these last two days in China. After all, I probably won't get to return until I adopt!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
I hate having to think of a title for these things
Last night all the groups went to eat at a fancy Japanese restaurant (which is in the same building as the hotel). It was the first time I had done anything like that. The tables are very low to the ground, but there's a pit underneath it for your legs. And the food was actually much better than I expected. I also heard a story about someone who ate a whole ball of Wasabi (which is pure horseradish, which they apparently serve at all japanese restaurants) and he went into cardiac arrest and died (because of how hot it was). That made me excited to try it. It was farily spicy, but the amount I had wasn't anywhere near as hot as I've had from other sauces.
This morning we went to the Cheng Family Temple (or something like that) which used to be a place where some dude worshipped his ancestors, then it became an academy, and now it's a museum. I got four paintins of a town, each one is from a different season. I'm going to hang the corresponding picture in my room during that season.
From there we went to a Tea shop where we got to sample tea and learn how to tell the difference between good teapots and bad ones. It was actually pretty interesting.
Now we're back at the hotel for the day. Tomorrow is our big shopping day (getting to shop on this little island with tons of souvenirs for extremely cheap prices) so that should be fun.
I've been sick off and on the past couple days, and I haven't cared a whole lot about typing out extremely long updates. Oh well, there hasn't been a whole lot going on anyway.
Also I love the comments. Can't wait to come home and see everyone. The first week back is going to be murder I'm sure, but I'm very much looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. And Minow, I accept your chocolate pie offer.
Me being brave and trying raw tuna at the Japanese Restaurant
Part of the roof from the temple. The artistry in that place is incredible.
They had a whole room of carvings like this in the temple. The cool thing is that they are all carved out of bone.
Me testing the teapot to make sure it's of good quality. I'm sure this skill will come in handy later in life.
Me gingerly sipping Chinese Tea. What a manly day I had.
This morning we went to the Cheng Family Temple (or something like that) which used to be a place where some dude worshipped his ancestors, then it became an academy, and now it's a museum. I got four paintins of a town, each one is from a different season. I'm going to hang the corresponding picture in my room during that season.
From there we went to a Tea shop where we got to sample tea and learn how to tell the difference between good teapots and bad ones. It was actually pretty interesting.
Now we're back at the hotel for the day. Tomorrow is our big shopping day (getting to shop on this little island with tons of souvenirs for extremely cheap prices) so that should be fun.
I've been sick off and on the past couple days, and I haven't cared a whole lot about typing out extremely long updates. Oh well, there hasn't been a whole lot going on anyway.
Also I love the comments. Can't wait to come home and see everyone. The first week back is going to be murder I'm sure, but I'm very much looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. And Minow, I accept your chocolate pie offer.
Me being brave and trying raw tuna at the Japanese Restaurant
Part of the roof from the temple. The artistry in that place is incredible.
They had a whole room of carvings like this in the temple. The cool thing is that they are all carved out of bone.
Me testing the teapot to make sure it's of good quality. I'm sure this skill will come in handy later in life.
Me gingerly sipping Chinese Tea. What a manly day I had.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
update
Yesterday morning we got to see where Isabella was abandoned. It was in front of a small little shop, and it was actually only a five minute walk to the spot from our hotel. We got some pictures, but my mom is forbidding me to post them. Anyway, it was pretty cool to see.
In the afternoon we had a short one hour flight to Guangzhou. Our hotel is awesome. There's a 7-11, McDonald's, and Starbucks in the same building complex. So we had some McDonald's last night for dinner (which was amazing) and then went to sleep in our super comfy beds. This morning was Isabella's physical examination. The doctor's said that they didn't hear a murmur in her heart, and they also thought her hearing was just fine as well (for those who don't know, those were her two special needs). We went shopping afterwards, and it was super crowded and hectic just like the previous stores we visited. I'm not really in the mood for a long update, so that's all you're getting.
We straight up gangsta
For those of you who are slow, yes, those are matching shirts.
I look creepy
Us buying tons of drinks
This is where I'm at now. It's free wifi here, but it's 15 bucks in our room.
In the afternoon we had a short one hour flight to Guangzhou. Our hotel is awesome. There's a 7-11, McDonald's, and Starbucks in the same building complex. So we had some McDonald's last night for dinner (which was amazing) and then went to sleep in our super comfy beds. This morning was Isabella's physical examination. The doctor's said that they didn't hear a murmur in her heart, and they also thought her hearing was just fine as well (for those who don't know, those were her two special needs). We went shopping afterwards, and it was super crowded and hectic just like the previous stores we visited. I'm not really in the mood for a long update, so that's all you're getting.
We straight up gangsta
For those of you who are slow, yes, those are matching shirts.
I look creepy
Us buying tons of drinks
This is where I'm at now. It's free wifi here, but it's 15 bucks in our room.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Nick visits an ancient Chinese village
AThe highlight of today was a short (maybe about 20 minutes) walk around a rural Chinese village. It's really not ancient, as about 75% of all Chinese people live like this as opposed to the city life we've seen thus far. There's no running water, living conditions are (as you'll be able to see) less than comfortable, and this is how my two sisters would have lived had they not been adopted. Instead of Ana singing Hannah Montannah like she is right now, she'd probably be dirty, cold, and hopeless. Ugh.
It was really interesting though. Everyone was really nice and they all seemed excited to have visitors. Some of the allowed us to walk through their home as well. We didn't stay long because the tour guide said its very unsanitary, and she didn't want us to get sick.
After that we went to a Porcelin (I probably spelled that wrong) shop, which is what Jiangxi province is known for. The 'rents got some very fragile dishes that they're going to force me to hold on the 12 hour flight home. Joy.
Now we're just relaxing at the hotel again. I took another three hour nap (jetlag is persistent), and we're now waiting for our room service to be delivered to us. Tomorrow fly to Guangzhou, where we'll be staying for a week before heading home. Most families in our group get to leave Wednesday, but we have to stay until Friday because of some appointment we have to do that they couldn't schedule in with the rest of the families. I'm really enjoying myself over here, but I'm also so looking forward to getting home and getting back into my normal routine. And after seeing the terrible lives people are forced to live over here, work and school won't seem so bad.
Hopefully our hotel will have wifi in the next area (it should). I probably won't post an update tomorrow though, as I'm sure I'll be too lazy/apathetic to set up the laptop just to say "We woke up today and got on a plane, and now we're in our hotel. Bye."
Isabella has really taken to myself and my dad. Her clothes that we got her in smell heavily of cologne, so we think she must have been close to her foster father. This is a complete opposite of how it was with Eliana.
Picture time:
More than a billion people live in places like this in China.
The grey house on the left is a new house that was just finished.
Isabella wants YOU to adopt
Last night whenever I sat Isabella down she would instantly start crying, and when I picked her back up she would immediately start laughing and being silly. It was awesome.
Another village shot
Rows of houses
A day in the life
It was really interesting though. Everyone was really nice and they all seemed excited to have visitors. Some of the allowed us to walk through their home as well. We didn't stay long because the tour guide said its very unsanitary, and she didn't want us to get sick.
After that we went to a Porcelin (I probably spelled that wrong) shop, which is what Jiangxi province is known for. The 'rents got some very fragile dishes that they're going to force me to hold on the 12 hour flight home. Joy.
Now we're just relaxing at the hotel again. I took another three hour nap (jetlag is persistent), and we're now waiting for our room service to be delivered to us. Tomorrow fly to Guangzhou, where we'll be staying for a week before heading home. Most families in our group get to leave Wednesday, but we have to stay until Friday because of some appointment we have to do that they couldn't schedule in with the rest of the families. I'm really enjoying myself over here, but I'm also so looking forward to getting home and getting back into my normal routine. And after seeing the terrible lives people are forced to live over here, work and school won't seem so bad.
Hopefully our hotel will have wifi in the next area (it should). I probably won't post an update tomorrow though, as I'm sure I'll be too lazy/apathetic to set up the laptop just to say "We woke up today and got on a plane, and now we're in our hotel. Bye."
Isabella has really taken to myself and my dad. Her clothes that we got her in smell heavily of cologne, so we think she must have been close to her foster father. This is a complete opposite of how it was with Eliana.
Picture time:
More than a billion people live in places like this in China.
The grey house on the left is a new house that was just finished.
Isabella wants YOU to adopt
Last night whenever I sat Isabella down she would instantly start crying, and when I picked her back up she would immediately start laughing and being silly. It was awesome.
Another village shot
Rows of houses
A day in the life
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
The past two days
After a decent nights rest, I woke up at 4 a.m. yesterday and took a shower (did I mention how awesome the showers here are?) We went to three different places to do paperwork (it didn't take that long), and then they took us to Walmart so we could get some supplies for the babies. I'll never look at Walmarts back home the same way again. Our Walmarts back home are practically deserted, even on their busiest days, compared to what its like here. You can barely take two steps without bumping into someone. It was insane. In fact, I'm going to stop talking about it because I don't like thinking about it... *shudders*
We stopped at the KFC inside Walmart, and it was delicious (even though it took 30 minutes to get our food). I can't wait to eat real food back home.
After that, we were done for the day. It was nice. I took a three hour nap, woke up for a couple hours, and then went to sleep for the night and woke up at 6 this morning. Even with all that sleep I'm still pretty tired. It will be nice once I'm back home to get into a normal sleeping routine.
This morning we didn't have to leave the hotel until 10, so we enjoyed the hotel's continental breakfast. Then we went to the Tengweng Pavillion, which was awesome. Instead of describing it, you can just see the pictures.
We're in for the night again, which will be nice. We're ordeirng Pizza Hut tonight (which will hopefully be better than the Pizza Hut in Beijing), but other than that, it's just relaxing. Tomorrow we get to visit a rural farming village, I can't wait to see that.
Isabella is doing great, and so is everyone else. There really isn't a whole lot left to say as these past two days have been slow paced. My sister just handed me a piece of paper that said "Gugu doof", so I guess that's something. I'll update again tonight if anything exciting happens, otherwise it will be tomorrow.
I bet this is prettier than anything you've seen today
This is from a performance done inside the Pavillion. When these dancers came out, Eliana turned to mom and said "They're skimpy"
I have the best sisters in the world
Everyone loves me, what can I say?
Ana helping feed Isabella
We stopped at the KFC inside Walmart, and it was delicious (even though it took 30 minutes to get our food). I can't wait to eat real food back home.
After that, we were done for the day. It was nice. I took a three hour nap, woke up for a couple hours, and then went to sleep for the night and woke up at 6 this morning. Even with all that sleep I'm still pretty tired. It will be nice once I'm back home to get into a normal sleeping routine.
This morning we didn't have to leave the hotel until 10, so we enjoyed the hotel's continental breakfast. Then we went to the Tengweng Pavillion, which was awesome. Instead of describing it, you can just see the pictures.
We're in for the night again, which will be nice. We're ordeirng Pizza Hut tonight (which will hopefully be better than the Pizza Hut in Beijing), but other than that, it's just relaxing. Tomorrow we get to visit a rural farming village, I can't wait to see that.
Isabella is doing great, and so is everyone else. There really isn't a whole lot left to say as these past two days have been slow paced. My sister just handed me a piece of paper that said "Gugu doof", so I guess that's something. I'll update again tonight if anything exciting happens, otherwise it will be tomorrow.
I bet this is prettier than anything you've seen today
This is from a performance done inside the Pavillion. When these dancers came out, Eliana turned to mom and said "They're skimpy"
I have the best sisters in the world
Everyone loves me, what can I say?
Ana helping feed Isabella
Tengweng Pavillion. It was built by some ruler as a vacation spot.
Me taming a stone elephant. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. You must have the magic touch, or else you're in for a trampling.
Ana riding a wild steed of stone
Is that a picture of Bill Clinton? Well, it depends on what the word "is" is.
Pretty
Pretty
My two awesome sisters
Wally's World, Oriental Style
Shopping is serious business
My jokes are just really funny, I guess.
A soldier training ground as seen from the window in our hotel. Okay, so it's actually a middle school. But that's not as interesting.
A soldier training ground as seen from the window in our hotel. Okay, so it's actually a middle school. But that's not as interesting.
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Longest Two Days of My Life
This entry details what we did yesterday since I didn't get a chance to update it. I'm going to be typing in present tense because I'm just not too fond of past tense.
I awoke at 4 a.m. this morning to the sound of my mom throwing up. Lovely. After a couple more off and on hours of sleep, I got ready to go. Unfortunately my mom was still super sick and she had to miss out on the whole day's activities. My dad and sister and I went down to the lobby and headed towards the bus.
Our first stop was Beijing Internation Christian Fellowship. It was actually awesome. The worship was really neat. There were tons of different ethnicities there (although no Chinese citizens, as they had guards at the door checking passports). The actual sermon was pretty boring/shallow, but half of it was in Chinese and the other half in English, so that was neat.
After church we went to the Jade Factory. Cool, another feminine chick place. We were there for over an hour and a half (remember this for later). There were some pretty neat things there though (they had a pretty big jade battle axe, but it was like a thousand dollars).
Then it was lunch, where I barely ate anything again because I'm not a fan of Chinese food. At all.
Finally, time for the great wall. The stairs there are incredibly steep, and there are tons to climb. We made it up to the third tower (out of four) in the area we were at. We were there for a grand total of... one hour and ten minutes! In case you were wondering, yes, that is twenty minutes less than the stupid Jade Factory. What the heck.
Then we went to dinner (where I had a Sprite to drink and nothing to eat). But before entering the restaurant, I went on an adventure. The place we ate at was fairly close to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, so while my dad and sister were in eating, I walked about half a mile alone in the busy streets of Beijing, past tons of communist soldiers to the edge of the fence around the areas. Of course, I still wasn't that close because the security is intense. But it was totally worth it for the pictures I got.
We stopped back at the hotel for a few minutes before we headed to the Flying Acrobatics Show. Luckily my mom was dressed and feeling better so she came with too. The show was simply incredible. There was one where there was a huge teeter totter, and some guy climbed on a ladder, jumped to one end, launched the guy on the other end who flew threw the air and was caught but someone else, although he caught him standing on his hands (hope I explained that well enough). And they didn't use any cables for that either (some of them they did, but not that one which was amazing). For those reading this who are waiting to travel to China, definately definately go to the acrobat show. It's optional and the tickets are a little over 30 dollars a piece, but it's so worth it.
That was the end of that long day. It was weird that so much happened in just two days. With the lack of sleep I got plus the amount of things I did, it felt more like four or five days.
This morning we got up at 5 and headed to the airport for an uncomfortable 2.5 hour flight to Jiangxi province. I started feeling sick, but luckily that passed once I got some (semi) real food. The province we are in is much more rural than Beijing, and we are hopefully going to get to tour a poor Chinese farming town. It's weird seeing the poverty and extremely low living conditions all around. Especially considering that our hotel is in the middle of all the poverty, and it is far and away the nicest hotel I've seen in my entire life. It's astounding. Beautiful design, luxurious restaraunts, amazing rooms with incredible views, etc. etc.
We had about five hours down time between arriving at our hotel and picking up Isabella. That pretty much catches you up to everything before the actual adoption.
Now that we've had Isabella a bit longer, we've seen just how great she's doing. She can sit up by herself, and she can walk as long as someone is holding her hands. She's so sweet. And so is Ana. She's been helping change diapers, feeding her bottles, wiping her face when food drops out of her mouth, telling us to be quite so we don't wake her when she's asleep, it's just incredible.
Both sisters are asleep now, and I'm about to head off to bed as well. Tomorrow there is some more paperwork and then a trip to Walmart, but after that the day should be relaxed.
Now enjoy my awesome pictures.
The Acrobats. Wow.
Seriously, why aren't these people fighting crime?
Us on the way to Jiangxi.
The amazing bathroom in our hotel. The bathtub seems nice, but closing the glass door and having that much floor space to shower is amazing. I will be showering at least twice a day, just because I can and because truthfully it's fun. Also, you can turn on background music. So cool.
I'm blogging. How nice of me.
Our guides said this building was the official Bicycling center for the Olympics. I'm not sure what events used bikes other than the races that took place on the road by the great wall, but apparently the other ones happened here.
The Olympic Torch Building. This is where all official Olympic business took place. The architecture is amazing.
The Water Cube, where Phelps totally dominated everyone. Definately worth the trek to see.
The Bird's Nest.
If only I could have gone in...
Church in China
Here's all of the food I didn't eat
Great Wall
Everyone was impressed with how good Ana did
I awoke at 4 a.m. this morning to the sound of my mom throwing up. Lovely. After a couple more off and on hours of sleep, I got ready to go. Unfortunately my mom was still super sick and she had to miss out on the whole day's activities. My dad and sister and I went down to the lobby and headed towards the bus.
Our first stop was Beijing Internation Christian Fellowship. It was actually awesome. The worship was really neat. There were tons of different ethnicities there (although no Chinese citizens, as they had guards at the door checking passports). The actual sermon was pretty boring/shallow, but half of it was in Chinese and the other half in English, so that was neat.
After church we went to the Jade Factory. Cool, another feminine chick place. We were there for over an hour and a half (remember this for later). There were some pretty neat things there though (they had a pretty big jade battle axe, but it was like a thousand dollars).
Then it was lunch, where I barely ate anything again because I'm not a fan of Chinese food. At all.
Finally, time for the great wall. The stairs there are incredibly steep, and there are tons to climb. We made it up to the third tower (out of four) in the area we were at. We were there for a grand total of... one hour and ten minutes! In case you were wondering, yes, that is twenty minutes less than the stupid Jade Factory. What the heck.
Then we went to dinner (where I had a Sprite to drink and nothing to eat). But before entering the restaurant, I went on an adventure. The place we ate at was fairly close to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, so while my dad and sister were in eating, I walked about half a mile alone in the busy streets of Beijing, past tons of communist soldiers to the edge of the fence around the areas. Of course, I still wasn't that close because the security is intense. But it was totally worth it for the pictures I got.
We stopped back at the hotel for a few minutes before we headed to the Flying Acrobatics Show. Luckily my mom was dressed and feeling better so she came with too. The show was simply incredible. There was one where there was a huge teeter totter, and some guy climbed on a ladder, jumped to one end, launched the guy on the other end who flew threw the air and was caught but someone else, although he caught him standing on his hands (hope I explained that well enough). And they didn't use any cables for that either (some of them they did, but not that one which was amazing). For those reading this who are waiting to travel to China, definately definately go to the acrobat show. It's optional and the tickets are a little over 30 dollars a piece, but it's so worth it.
That was the end of that long day. It was weird that so much happened in just two days. With the lack of sleep I got plus the amount of things I did, it felt more like four or five days.
This morning we got up at 5 and headed to the airport for an uncomfortable 2.5 hour flight to Jiangxi province. I started feeling sick, but luckily that passed once I got some (semi) real food. The province we are in is much more rural than Beijing, and we are hopefully going to get to tour a poor Chinese farming town. It's weird seeing the poverty and extremely low living conditions all around. Especially considering that our hotel is in the middle of all the poverty, and it is far and away the nicest hotel I've seen in my entire life. It's astounding. Beautiful design, luxurious restaraunts, amazing rooms with incredible views, etc. etc.
We had about five hours down time between arriving at our hotel and picking up Isabella. That pretty much catches you up to everything before the actual adoption.
Now that we've had Isabella a bit longer, we've seen just how great she's doing. She can sit up by herself, and she can walk as long as someone is holding her hands. She's so sweet. And so is Ana. She's been helping change diapers, feeding her bottles, wiping her face when food drops out of her mouth, telling us to be quite so we don't wake her when she's asleep, it's just incredible.
Both sisters are asleep now, and I'm about to head off to bed as well. Tomorrow there is some more paperwork and then a trip to Walmart, but after that the day should be relaxed.
Now enjoy my awesome pictures.
The Acrobats. Wow.
Seriously, why aren't these people fighting crime?
Us on the way to Jiangxi.
The amazing bathroom in our hotel. The bathtub seems nice, but closing the glass door and having that much floor space to shower is amazing. I will be showering at least twice a day, just because I can and because truthfully it's fun. Also, you can turn on background music. So cool.
I'm blogging. How nice of me.
Our guides said this building was the official Bicycling center for the Olympics. I'm not sure what events used bikes other than the races that took place on the road by the great wall, but apparently the other ones happened here.
The Olympic Torch Building. This is where all official Olympic business took place. The architecture is amazing.
The Water Cube, where Phelps totally dominated everyone. Definately worth the trek to see.
The Bird's Nest.
If only I could have gone in...
Church in China
Here's all of the food I didn't eat
Great Wall
Everyone was impressed with how good Ana did
This is Lineker (pronounced Lyn Ick Er), our main guide. He's awesome
That's all for now. Hopefully I'll be able to update again tomorrow.
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