Nanning

So here we are! It's morning in Nanning, and we'll meet Qiu Li at 3 p.m.
Jiao Jiao, when asked if she remembered what was happening today, asked if
we were going to China. Hmmm...

Yesterday was devoted mostly to travel, but we did slip in a quick visit to
the Panjiayuan flea market in Beijing first thing in the morning. (One
advantage to Jiao Jiao's jetlag) I bargained unsuccessfully for a few items,
and just as the guidebooks suggested, other people did crowd around to
watch. Very interesting experience.

Nanning reminds me a lot of Puerto Rico - very warm and humid, and lots of
green. Last night was Lantern Festival, and we put a sleeping Jiao Jiao into
the stroller and went over to the public park where many people had gathered
to set off fireworks, eat, ballroom dance, etc. From time to time, a group
would put a candle into the middle of a red silk lantern and it would float
up into the sky. We could follow the little speck of light for a long time,
and when we looked across the sky sometimes we could see three or four
lanterns ascending off in the distance. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Well, time to go begin the day. Last night I dreamed that we were getting
ready to go but couldn't find cheerios or any of the other snacks and gifts.
Also, Tom came out wearing a coral-colored knit sweater and skirt outfit,
and we were too late for him to go back and change. Guess I'm getting a
little nervous.

 

Around Beijing

Posted by Kathie

 

 

 

Around Beijing

Posted by Tom

 

 

 

 

 

Around Beijing -- Food Market

Posted by Tom

 

 

 

 

 

Around Beijing – Food Market

Posted by Tom

 

 

 

 

Around Beijing -- Food Market

Posted by Tom

 

 

 

 

Orientation and Forbidden City

When we looked at our window from the 16th floor this morning, we saw snow
on the cars and in the streets. We were pretty thrilled -- especially since
we missed the Austin snow day earlier this week. It is cold in Beijing, but
tomorrow we'll head to Nanning, where the temperature is expected to reach
almost 90 degrees tomorrow.

The day started with an orientation meeting with Holt, our adoption agency.
A total of eight Holt families are traveling right now, and we'll be
traveling to Guangxi province with one other family tomorrow. We have been
so fortunate to see again a family we traveled with back in 2008. Their son
and Ella Jiao were in the same orphanage in Wuwei, and it has been so
interesting to see the two children in the same place again and to think
about how they've changed in the last two years. I've included a photo of
the two walking together this afternoon through one of the Forbidden City
courtyards.

But back to the orientation - at the end of the several-hour session, the
Holt facilitator flashed a photograph of each of the eight children up on
the screen. It was a pretty emotional moment as several families had only
seen much, much older photographs of their soon-to-be children, and in a few
cases, they didn't even recognize the images they saw at first. When the
group laughed and said "Oh, he's trouble," at the sight of a little boy with
a devilish little smile, our facilitator said, "Oh just wait. There's one
much worse." And then up flashed the photograph I've included here of a very
mischievous-looking Qiu Li.

More Great Wall photos

Great Wall

Today we visited the Great Wall. Perhaps inspired by her new hat, Jiao Jiao
scrambled on all fours up an amazing stretch of steep steps to make it to
the first stone structure. The photos don't capture the difficulty of the
climb, but plenty of adults don't make it that far, or up that fast. Coming
down was a little hairy (especially b/c she realized at the top that she
needed to use the restroom), but we all made it.

I'm posting some other assorted photos here and in the next post - of
particular note: the long stretch of locks placed by couples to symbolize
their commitment to each other, the big group of pandas, and Tom breaking
the rules and balancing outside the guardrail.

Building tour, Bird’s Nest -- 2008 Olympics Ceremonies building.

Posted by Tom

 

 

Building tour -- 2008 Olympics administration building (to left of pole)

Posted by Tom

 

 

 

Building tour, Television Station Building corner (far right) with screen

Posted by Tom

 

 

 

Building tour, Television Station Building

Posted by Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building tour, Bird’s Nest -- 2008 Olympics Ceremonies building.

Posted by Tom

 

 

More first day photos

Playing legos at the nearby toy store and Kentucky Fried Chicken decorated
for Spring Festival.

First day in Beijing

Fun, jet-lagged day that started at 3 a.m. China-time. Jiao Jiao and I spent
much of the day walking around the pedestrian street near our hotel. (Very
cool - wish we had one in downtown Austin.) Since Spring Festival doesn't
end until Sunday, lots of stores have hung lanterns and other decorations,
and many of the lampposts had tigers or New Year's figures. Jiao Jiao wanted
to have her picture taken in front of most of them, and the sight of her
dancing in front of the boy and girl figures drew spectators. We drew lots
of stares all day, actually. We had experienced that reaction when we were
in Lanzhou adopting Jiao Jiao, as so few westerners travel to that area and
the general public isn't familiar with international adoption. But somehow I
thought Beijingers would be more accustomed to seeing families like ours.
Anyway, Jiao Jiao either wasn't upset or didn't notice.

We spent a good bit of the morning playing Legos with two other little girls
in a nearby toy store. It was sweet to watch them interact - though of
course they couldn't understand each other, they shared Legos back and forth
and at one point helped each other clean up and start over again.

Tonight we went to the acrobat show but left before it started. Serious
miscalculation on my part about how a contorted, costumed person appears
[even in photos] to a sleep-deprived toddler.

Tom visited the Olympic stadium and some buildings. Perhaps he'll post about
his day.

We can't see our site, so I'd be obliged if someone could email and let me
know if these posts and photos are appearing.

The flight

The last few days of preparation were pretty nutty ­ last minute tetanus
shot for Kathie, who learned late that those shots don¹t really last for 10
years but closer to 5; last minute doctor¹s appointment for Jiao Jiao and
the unfortunate news that she has an ear infection; and some last minute mad
scrambling for certified documents that will help Tom prove he is Tom
because his name is spelled incorrectly on his Chinese visa. At this point,
we think the odds are pretty good that he¹ll be allowed in. [Update: he was]

But here we are on the plane, about 2 1Ž2 hours into our 12 hour flight. We
left our house this morning at 4:40 a.m. Jiao Jiao woke up zany and excited
and spent about an hour talking a mile a minute about China and
interspersing the narrative with spontaneous bursts of ³We¹re going to
CHI-NA!² [Footnote: song lyric from "Big Bird Goes to China"]. Then she
crashed ­ and unfortunately not into sleep. I think it¹s fair to say that
she¹s exhausted and not quite her chipper, mostly cooperative self. Our
flying day started with blue playdoh winging at a nearby seat, and several
requests from the poor soul sitting in front of us to please stop kicking
her seat. The seat kicker spent most of our (mercifully short) layover
engaging in the sort of screamy behavior that had passengers at the gate
whispering to each other, watching us intently, and no doubt hoping we ended
up rows and rows away.

Post-plane: We made it. Jiao Jiao finally fell asleep 7 hours into the
12-hour flight. Oft-repeated phrases: ³How more minutes till we get to
China?² ³You got somefing [sic] else for me to do?² and multiple requests
to open the plane door so that she could get out.

The experience had me wondering whether China News is still looking for a
Beijing-based editor -- that would be one way to avoid the return trip.
Alternatively, we¹ll look for an extra battery for her DVD player.

The photos, if they show up in chronological order, give a pretty good sense
of how the day(s?) unfolded.

Packing

Wow! Thought we¹d be able to pack in two suitcases this time, but between
gifts, donations, clothes for three different climates for four people and
every OTC medicine that Target sells, we¹re again right at the weight and
luggage limit. Here are before and after packing photos and two of Jiao Jiao
vacuum packing liquids: one from March 19, 2008, days after we met and
became her parents, and one almost two years later. Still a gadget-crazy
girl.

 

 

Qiu Li playing with a block.

Posted by Tom.

 

Our Plan B blog if we can't update this one

So blogger is blocked in China, and we'll have to update this blog by sending email. We won't be able to view the pages to see if the posts have indeed posted. I'm sure much else can go wrong. So we've set up another, more accessible blog just in case:

http://www.journeytome.com/journal_view.cfm?journalid=2716

You can also access that blog by going to http://www.journeytome.com, selecting "adoption stories," and then finding "Qiu Li" in the list.

So if ElectroFerry isn't getting updated, please check the journey to me site.

More photos