Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday and Sunday - March 6 & 7
We were really keen to get the kids outside - Isaac was so much better and the weather was clear, but there was still so much snow on the ground. We tookhe children to the local playground and they had a great time - we even saw a deer in the woods! 
All of Isaac's warm pajamas were waiting to be washed so we had to dig out some of Indigo's pajamas for him - he was very happy in her pink pjs.
It was sweet to see our two kids enjoying sitting on the chair together - it was actually sweeter before I was able to get the camera - missed the best moment as Indigo started to hug him a bit tightly for the picture :-) we're happy for all loving moments between the two of them! On Sunday we took a walk down to our beach - snow covered beach, but David was so excited for Isaac to see the lake. Once we negotiated the hill, which was a bit icy, down to the beach, we had a nice time. I loved the two kids each having a fun turn on Daddy's shoulders! It will be so fun to be playing on the beach and swimming in the lake in the summer.
It was sweet to see our two kids enjoying sitting on the chair together - it was actually sweeter before I was able to get the camera - missed the best moment as Indigo started to hug him a bit tightly for the picture :-) we're happy for all loving moments between the two of them! On Sunday we took a walk down to our beach - snow covered beach, but David was so excited for Isaac to see the lake. Once we negotiated the hill, which was a bit icy, down to the beach, we had a nice time. I loved the two kids each having a fun turn on Daddy's shoulders! It will be so fun to be playing on the beach and swimming in the lake in the summer.
Friday, May 14, 2010
We have a new blog!
We first started blogging with the journey to our precious daughter Indigo. We (mostly) maintained her blog the past few years as we experienced the joy of having her in our lives. On February 1, 2010 we became the proud parents of a second child, our son Isaac, adopted from Jiangsu province, China. We followed our journey to Isaac and our travels in China and our first week home with him on his blog. However, now that we have two children we're switching to a single family blog where we can celebrate all our family life events and follow our two children as they grow. Please join us on this journey as a family as we navigate the sometimes treacherous but very joyous path of parenthood. We appreciate comments and they do keep us motivated to keep going. Here is the link to the new blog:
http://brookesweissfamily.blogspot.com/
http://brookesweissfamily.blogspot.com/
Friday, May 7, 2010
Receiving Visitors & Rough Nights
On Friday night, bedtime with Isaac was really rough. He was starting to cry as soon as we even appeared to be getting him ready for bed. In China, most nights, he might have a little protest cry for a minute or two and then would conk out - we almost kind of thought it was just a little bit of stress relief, it was so quick. Now, he was crying for a long time when we laid him down, and staying with him did not seem to help all that much. We kept going back in over and over and he would fall asleep, only to wake an hour later and then again. David spent Friday night on the single bed in his room as Indigo was ready to reclaim her own room. We toyed with the idea of bringing him into our bed, but historically that has not worked for our family. The times Indigo did come into our bed she would never sleep, and as a result, we never slept, which seemed contrary to the objective. Also, if Isaac did sleep that way, we were fearful of the precedent and what it might involve to get him out of our bed. Additionally, we would now have Indigo telling us it was not fair if he slept in our bed. To top it off, I am a terrible sleeper, struggling with falling asleep and then when I do, poor David claims that I sleep diagonally, and so the last thing he needs, is another being in the bed competing for his space. We figured that Isaac was waking and upset in his new surroundings and as long as we went to him and comforted him, he would soon be comfortable in his own room, and for the beginning, we could take turns on the single bed in that room. So, that first Friday night home was rough. On Saturday we tried to get things a bit more sorted out and cleaned up at the house and just spend time together as a family - bear in mind that the snow from the blizzard was still on the ground, so outdoor activity was limited.
Late Saturday afternoon, early evening, we had a visit from our friends and neighbors, Eugene & Julie, with their daughter Katie - they were very excited to meet Isaac. They stayed with us for a while and the three kids had fun playing together and munching on an apple snack. Our friend Patricia had asked if she could bring dinner and come over to visit and meet Isaac and so we had a lovely evening with her. The kids had fun playing games with her and we did some dancing etc. Also, Indigo and Isaac played together very well and were each taking a hand of the stuffed bear and running laps around the house with her - it was very sweet.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Settling into Life at Home in America, midnight door drilling and more...
I can't say that we were bright eyed and bushy tailed on our first day home (I think that was the day of Tuesday, after getting home around 2 in the morning). However, it was wonderful to have my mom here and my sister and baby Sage. Indigo loved playing with Sage and treating her like her little baby.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Last Day in China and Journey Home
Look at our beautiful babies sleeping peacefully - took this the last night we were in Shanghai.
Unbelievably our last day in China arrived. We had our final delicious buffet breakfast and then I scooched David with the kids out of the room so that I could do the final packing. The only part we would not miss of our trip - the constant packing each time we moved on. David took the children to a nearby park where they had a wonderful time.
You can see how much Indigo was trying to help Isaac on the playground equipment - being a very sweet big sister. It's hard when kids try to help - sometimes, it seems to actually make things more dangerous but you don't want to stifle that desire to help. They also did a little shopping and Indigo got a fan and Isaac got a train. They arrived back when I was mostly done and was racing to use up the last of my paid internet time to get the blog caught up. We met Jimmy in the lobby with all of our luggage. We made an impressive sight. We took Grandma to her terminal and had to say farewell - that was tough after a wonderful and special and magical trip together. We are scheduled to see her again in July for her 80th birthday! We went to our terminal and had plenty of time - the kiosk for our flight was not even open yet. Granddad and I chose some books at the bookstore. We kept counting our cash and seeing how much we had left so that we could use it up. We got checked in and no problems with any luggage. We had some lunch and then browsed around the airport gift shops - much more expensive but we made a few last gift purchases and waited for our flight.
Right before boarding, someone from the airline came up to me and asked if we were our family. I was thinking "what's the problem". However, she said that as a family of four she could move us up to a row of five where the fifth seat was not taken - awesome! We were previously far back in the plane and we were being moved forward. When we boarded it turns out that we had been put in Economy Plus! We were so excited. Those five or seven inches make so much difference. We told Granddad that he could move forward and sit in the fifth seat with us but as it turns out he found an empty aisle seat one row back from us so that was fantastic too. The flight from Shanghai left very late - as we waited on the run way we could just see the fog rolling in and it was obviously delaying flights arriving and taking off. We did finally leave but we were going to land very late in Chicago. The flight to Chicago was a hundred times better than I expected. All along I had thought how are we possibly going to manage two toddlers on a flight back from China. I was dreading it. The kids were amazing. They slept most of the time.
Also, because of the direction, the tail winds take almost two hours off the flight making it closer to 12 hours vs. 14. The kids were so good. Indigo chose to sleep on the floor most of the time, probably not highly recommended for sanitary or safety reasons but great for peace and quiet. Despite the children being great, David and I were not really able to sleep but just not also having to cope with the kids went a long way. You can see we took a lot of photos of our location as we traveled and crossing the international date line.
So, we arrived late in Chicago! We had to go through Immigration and take the additional step of going to the officer with the all important "brown packet envelope" that we had carried all the way from the US consulate in Guangzhou and Isaac became a US Citizen. We were not sure if we could make our connecting flight but we have it the best shot anybody could. We had Isaac in the stroller and Indigo standing on the back and we were running. We had to check our luggage back through after clearing customs and then catch the train to the terminal we needed. We then had to clear domestic security again. Thanks to Granddad we were able to get into the express line but were delayed as the security folks ran most of our bags again and made Granddad unpackage a whole bunch of things - things that had cleared security a bunch of times already. We then ran for our gate, but our flight was not only closed, but had already left. We later heard it had actually left early. We then had to get to a United counter to find out about getting on another flight. There was into the airport closer to our house that we could have made but they told us since we had checked our luggage through (even though there was no way it had made the flight) that we had to go to the same airport where our luggage was going. The only good news was that they were able to get us on a flight that same night and we did not have to spend the night in the Chicago airport. Granny had driven up that day with my sister Clare and my niece Sage and had planned to meet our earlier flight. Our friend Pam was also coming with a second car to fit all of us and our luggage. We called to say that we could just catch a cab but nobody was having any of that. You can see that David was exhausted as he lay on waiting chairs with Isaac on top of him.
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Shanghai Saga Continues (FINALLY)
Okay - it's really time to bring home the China trip so that we can report on home life! On Sunday February 22nd, we started our day by going to the Jewish ghetto area of Shanghai and visiting the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. The site comprises the former site of the Ohel Moshe Synagogue and two exhibition halls. Isaac was mostly interested in the construction vehicles on the building site across the way - as you can see from the photo.
For those interested, the history of Jews in Shanghai is interesting, and was not something that we previously knew anything about. There were essentially three different waves of Jews coming to Shanghai.
The first wave was around 1843 to 1920 and comprised of Sephardic Jews from Baghdad and Bombay. The most successful and well known, were the Sassoons and the Hardoons. They are known for many of the city's landmark buildings including Sassoon House, the Metropole Hotel, Grosvenor House, the Embankment building, Hamilton House and Cathay mansions. The Bund (rhymes with "fund" for pronunciation) means embankment. In the case of Shanghai, this is the mile long stretch of embanked riverfront - the western bank of the Huangpu River. The term "Bund" was brought to Shanghai by the family of Victor Sassoon. We saw a lot of the Bund on our river cruise but because of construction, the area was not really suitable for walking at the time we were there.
The second wave was around the 1920s-1937. Thousands of Russian Jews, fleeing pogroms and revolutions in Russia, first settled in Northeast China and then came to Shanghai, where the population peaked at around 4,500 in the 1930s.
The third wave was from 1938 - 1952. Shanghai was a haven for Jews fleeing Nazi terror. Some 20,000 Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria escaped to Shanghai. It was the only place in the world where no visa was required to enter. During 1939-1940, about 1,000 Polish Jews also escaped to Shanghai. From December 1941-1945, the Japanese interned the Shanghai Jews from the Allied countries of Germany, Austria and Poland and relocated them to the Jewish Ghetto in Hong Kou (Hong Kew). By the end of the war, Shanghai was home to 24,000 Jews. After the war and the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, the community dwindled as Jews emigrated to other countries.
Unfortunately, the museum buildings were freezing cold and so we did not spend as much time as we may have liked. As you can see, Granddad enjoyed some time in a sunny spot with his grandchildren. The photos are not the best quality but too sweet a moment not to include.
From this area we went to the French Concessions area and saw some very elegant Lilongs - the Shanghai answer to the Hutongs of Beijing. When you're in Shanghai, you hear a lot of talk about different "concessions". After China lost the first Opium War, the British established the first concession in Shanghai in 1842, by a forced treaty with the Qing Dynasty. The French concession area, where we visited, was established in 1849. Concessions were also established by the Americans and the Japanese. During the 1920s, the French Concession area was the premier residential area of Shanghai. The concessions were governed by the occupying country and were untouchable by Chinese Law. The concessions ended in 1943 and by 1949, most foreigners had left Shanghai.
Back to the Lilongs - the ones we saw examples of were very posh - not necessarily reflective of a typical Lilong neighborhood. The Lilongs have been in existence in Shanghai for over 140 years, from 1840s-1949. Lilong means "small lanes". The houses are very narrow and about 3 stories high, attached side by side, having one side lane at the front and a service lane in the back. The Lilongs are the most distinctive facet of Shanghai's architectural heritage - a fusion of Chinese courtyards (like those in the Hutongs of Beijing) and western row houses. They are in a dense, grid-like pattern with East-West and North-South lanes. Sadly, the land that the buildings are on is under intense commercial pressure due to the fast development of Shanghai. The examples we saw were very fancy and in a lovely shopping area with coffee shops etc. However, most residents of Lilongs are not well off and rents are subsidized by the communist party. In these situations, each unit may be housing three families per floor (creating very intimate conditions). Had we seen these Lilong, we likely would have seen laundry everywhere, some games of Mahjong going on etc. Neighbors spend much time outside and everyone knows everyone's business. It's sad that this way of life will be lost. A recent National Geographic magazine had a great story and photos on Shanghai, its development and preparations for the Expo and the direction the Lilongs are taking. As happens so often, I digress...
Anyway, from there we went to the "white house". The actual place has some historic value I suppose, but basically it was another government run place displaying crafts, carvings, jade, paper cuts etc. A place to buy stuff. There was some beautiful wood carving as you can see of the dragon being held in the dragon dance, but really, we would much rather have stayed longer in the French concession area. Granddad spent most of the time outside in the sun on the lawn and we joined him there while Grandma made some purchases (she was excited to be there :-). The photo of the squatty potty is from there (from the public toilet). Seems appropriate that Shanghai showed us the fanciest toilet and then also a regular old squatty potty such as we have used all over China.
After that, we headed back to the hotel, but stopped at the store so that Jimmy could take Grandma in to buy... a new suitcase! We needed the kids to have a rest before having to go back into the city to meet with people at our firm offices. It's so horrible when you have to wake your kids up just as they have fallen into a nice sleep. We were meeting on a Sunday at 4 p.m. at the office - and I had been asked to do some training! We got the kids up and took a taxi ot the office. Granddad stayed at the hotel, as he was still feeling under the weather. We put the children in a conference room with snacks and Grandma and David and I met the few people at our Shanghai office. Then David and Grandma entertained the children while I spent more than an hour with the IP folks. It was very useful so I felt good about it. The folks from the office had ordered a driver and so we all went together in a very posh vehicle to dinner. Dinner was at a fantastic Thai restaurant, back on the side of the river as our hotel. Dinner was delicious although some items "sworn" to not be spicy, were definitely too spicy for some. Given that we were at dinner for a while, and the kids were exhausted, they did super well. Isaac really liked Yan and Indigo took the photo of Yan that you see. It was a lovely evening. The driver took us back to our hotel and we staggered in for some rest. Then, the bizarre phone calls begin...
So, I think the night before, Saturday night, we're fast asleep in our room, and the phone rings - it's about midnight. I answer but I am really out of it. Someone is asking for David - a woman, and she sounds Chinese. I give the phone to him, but he is so out of it that he hangs up. Fast forward to Sunday night. I am still up and am on the computer catching up the blog. The kids and David are asleep after our busy day and night out. I don't remember what time, but after 11 at night, the phone rings, and it's this same crazy lady. She kept asking for David and even knew our last name - it was freaking me out. We're staying at the Crowne Plaza in Shanghai, China, and someone is calling our room and has our name. This woman said she wanted to practice her English. I am very irate (not me) and saying that it's late and I have sleeping children and how did she get our name etc. I hang up and she calls again. I hang up and call the front desk and ask if they can find out who has been put through - language barriers, not much success but I did ask that they block all calls to our room and not put anybody through. David thinks that perhaps it was someone from the wait staff at the restaurant where we had our buffet breakfasts - they would have our name, but I find it hard to believe someone there would risk their job harassing the visitors - mystery unsolved. This was our last night. I'll have a much shorter (promise) post next about our last day in Shanghai and the trip home.
Link to all photos for this day here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623952087712/
For those interested, the history of Jews in Shanghai is interesting, and was not something that we previously knew anything about. There were essentially three different waves of Jews coming to Shanghai.
The first wave was around 1843 to 1920 and comprised of Sephardic Jews from Baghdad and Bombay. The most successful and well known, were the Sassoons and the Hardoons. They are known for many of the city's landmark buildings including Sassoon House, the Metropole Hotel, Grosvenor House, the Embankment building, Hamilton House and Cathay mansions. The Bund (rhymes with "fund" for pronunciation) means embankment. In the case of Shanghai, this is the mile long stretch of embanked riverfront - the western bank of the Huangpu River. The term "Bund" was brought to Shanghai by the family of Victor Sassoon. We saw a lot of the Bund on our river cruise but because of construction, the area was not really suitable for walking at the time we were there.
The second wave was around the 1920s-1937. Thousands of Russian Jews, fleeing pogroms and revolutions in Russia, first settled in Northeast China and then came to Shanghai, where the population peaked at around 4,500 in the 1930s.
The third wave was from 1938 - 1952. Shanghai was a haven for Jews fleeing Nazi terror. Some 20,000 Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria escaped to Shanghai. It was the only place in the world where no visa was required to enter. During 1939-1940, about 1,000 Polish Jews also escaped to Shanghai. From December 1941-1945, the Japanese interned the Shanghai Jews from the Allied countries of Germany, Austria and Poland and relocated them to the Jewish Ghetto in Hong Kou (Hong Kew). By the end of the war, Shanghai was home to 24,000 Jews. After the war and the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, the community dwindled as Jews emigrated to other countries.
Unfortunately, the museum buildings were freezing cold and so we did not spend as much time as we may have liked. As you can see, Granddad enjoyed some time in a sunny spot with his grandchildren. The photos are not the best quality but too sweet a moment not to include.
From this area we went to the French Concessions area and saw some very elegant Lilongs - the Shanghai answer to the Hutongs of Beijing. When you're in Shanghai, you hear a lot of talk about different "concessions". After China lost the first Opium War, the British established the first concession in Shanghai in 1842, by a forced treaty with the Qing Dynasty. The French concession area, where we visited, was established in 1849. Concessions were also established by the Americans and the Japanese. During the 1920s, the French Concession area was the premier residential area of Shanghai. The concessions were governed by the occupying country and were untouchable by Chinese Law. The concessions ended in 1943 and by 1949, most foreigners had left Shanghai.
Back to the Lilongs - the ones we saw examples of were very posh - not necessarily reflective of a typical Lilong neighborhood. The Lilongs have been in existence in Shanghai for over 140 years, from 1840s-1949. Lilong means "small lanes". The houses are very narrow and about 3 stories high, attached side by side, having one side lane at the front and a service lane in the back. The Lilongs are the most distinctive facet of Shanghai's architectural heritage - a fusion of Chinese courtyards (like those in the Hutongs of Beijing) and western row houses. They are in a dense, grid-like pattern with East-West and North-South lanes. Sadly, the land that the buildings are on is under intense commercial pressure due to the fast development of Shanghai. The examples we saw were very fancy and in a lovely shopping area with coffee shops etc. However, most residents of Lilongs are not well off and rents are subsidized by the communist party. In these situations, each unit may be housing three families per floor (creating very intimate conditions). Had we seen these Lilong, we likely would have seen laundry everywhere, some games of Mahjong going on etc. Neighbors spend much time outside and everyone knows everyone's business. It's sad that this way of life will be lost. A recent National Geographic magazine had a great story and photos on Shanghai, its development and preparations for the Expo and the direction the Lilongs are taking. As happens so often, I digress...
Anyway, from there we went to the "white house". The actual place has some historic value I suppose, but basically it was another government run place displaying crafts, carvings, jade, paper cuts etc. A place to buy stuff. There was some beautiful wood carving as you can see of the dragon being held in the dragon dance, but really, we would much rather have stayed longer in the French concession area. Granddad spent most of the time outside in the sun on the lawn and we joined him there while Grandma made some purchases (she was excited to be there :-). The photo of the squatty potty is from there (from the public toilet). Seems appropriate that Shanghai showed us the fanciest toilet and then also a regular old squatty potty such as we have used all over China.
After that, we headed back to the hotel, but stopped at the store so that Jimmy could take Grandma in to buy... a new suitcase! We needed the kids to have a rest before having to go back into the city to meet with people at our firm offices. It's so horrible when you have to wake your kids up just as they have fallen into a nice sleep. We were meeting on a Sunday at 4 p.m. at the office - and I had been asked to do some training! We got the kids up and took a taxi ot the office. Granddad stayed at the hotel, as he was still feeling under the weather. We put the children in a conference room with snacks and Grandma and David and I met the few people at our Shanghai office. Then David and Grandma entertained the children while I spent more than an hour with the IP folks. It was very useful so I felt good about it. The folks from the office had ordered a driver and so we all went together in a very posh vehicle to dinner. Dinner was at a fantastic Thai restaurant, back on the side of the river as our hotel. Dinner was delicious although some items "sworn" to not be spicy, were definitely too spicy for some. Given that we were at dinner for a while, and the kids were exhausted, they did super well. Isaac really liked Yan and Indigo took the photo of Yan that you see. It was a lovely evening. The driver took us back to our hotel and we staggered in for some rest. Then, the bizarre phone calls begin...
So, I think the night before, Saturday night, we're fast asleep in our room, and the phone rings - it's about midnight. I answer but I am really out of it. Someone is asking for David - a woman, and she sounds Chinese. I give the phone to him, but he is so out of it that he hangs up. Fast forward to Sunday night. I am still up and am on the computer catching up the blog. The kids and David are asleep after our busy day and night out. I don't remember what time, but after 11 at night, the phone rings, and it's this same crazy lady. She kept asking for David and even knew our last name - it was freaking me out. We're staying at the Crowne Plaza in Shanghai, China, and someone is calling our room and has our name. This woman said she wanted to practice her English. I am very irate (not me) and saying that it's late and I have sleeping children and how did she get our name etc. I hang up and she calls again. I hang up and call the front desk and ask if they can find out who has been put through - language barriers, not much success but I did ask that they block all calls to our room and not put anybody through. David thinks that perhaps it was someone from the wait staff at the restaurant where we had our buffet breakfasts - they would have our name, but I find it hard to believe someone there would risk their job harassing the visitors - mystery unsolved. This was our last night. I'll have a much shorter (promise) post next about our last day in Shanghai and the trip home.
Link to all photos for this day here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623952087712/
Friday, March 5, 2010
Shanghai Saturday February 20th
I need to finish China so that I can catch everyone up on life back in the states - things are getting much better thanks to some much needed sleep. Oh, Shanghai seems like so long ago... The kids slept well in the bed together although at some point in the wee early morning hours Indigo woke us up and said "where is my brother" so we kind of panicked thinking he had fallen off the bed until I spotted the dark spot of his head laying across the bottom end of the bed and put him back into a more suitable position. We had a yummy breakfast - so much selection again and met our guide Jimmy at 9:30. Our first stop was the SWFC - Shanghai World Financial Center - to go up to the observation deck. As we crossed over into the financial district, our guide told us that in 1992 (yes, not 1892, but 1992) this whole area was rice paddies. The pictures speak for themselves as to what has happened since then. So we get our tickets to go up this building - which they call the bottle opener - pictures will reveal how it got this name. When the building was completed it was the second tallest in the world and is now the third tallest. However, the SWFC has the tallest observation deck in the world at 1,555 feet. The building is 1,614.2 feet. We first went up to the 97th floor which is the lower part of the observation deck and then we went up to the 100th floor - unbelievable. Yes, those are clear glass floors beneath your feet! As you can see, the kids did not care a whit about the height - can't say the same for myself. Some photos are photos that I took of a screen showing photos so that you can see the inside of the observation deck. There is also a nice shot of our guide Jimmy with the children. We were also able to get a family package shot taken up there so we have a souvenier. Granddad loved this adventure - probably third best after the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors although he'll have to comment if I mispoke. He wished my mom was there because she gets such a kick out of being up high and sat out on the ledge last year of what was the Sears Tower in Chicago - now, he has bragging rights. The other really tall building you see featured a lot is the Jin Mao Tower which was the tallest building until the SWFC was complete. The Jin Mao tower is also the location of our Foley Shanghai office (which we visited the next day). You also see the Pearl Tower featured multiple times with its tall antenna for broadcasting tv and radio. You could also see a lot of smog from that high view. Okay, a word about the toilet photo! From squatty pottys to the fanciest toilet I have seen. This was a public toilet in the SWFC - on the bottom floor where the restaurants and shops are. I took Indigo in and she sat on the seat and she said the seat was hot! Sure enough, it was a heated seat. I have no clue what all the other buttons were for!
From there we went and did a cruise so that we could see the city and also the historic Bund - those of the European style buildings are part of the Bund. Unfortunately, a lot of the Bund is under construction for the World Expo so we did not get to walk around that area. For me, the best part of the cruise was watching the children. Indigo made a little friend in this boy who ended up having popcorn with us and she dragged him around. We went up to the deck outside and she wanted him to come with her so the grandparents brought him up too and then back down - it was very cute. Mom - David took the "Alison" building photo just for you. After that we went to lunch which was excellent. Jimmy made a friend in Indigo when on the lazy susan, in addition to the wonderful Chinese food, there was an entire plate of french fries!
Oh yes, the Expo mascot Hai Bao is everywhere! Indigo loved him and getting a plastic model of him was pretty much the only item that she asked us to buy her the entire time we were in China (except for some Great Wall beverage coasters). The shape of Hai Bao is created from the Chinese character which means people and his name means "treasure of the sea" which is easy to remember, echoes with the color of his body and is a typical lucky name. There is so much symbolism to this mascot that it's quite remarkable. His hair, which has a crest is like the wave of the sea represents his open character and stated the character's birth place is Shanghai. His face shows confidence and is friendly and welcoming. He has big round eyes which show anticipation of the city for the Expo. His color blue shows its latitude and imagination which represent the rising potential of China. His body is round to show being well-off and also lovely and cute. His fist shows a thumbs-up to show appreciation and warm welcome to people. He stands steadily on big feet and opens his arm to embrace the world which shows China has the ability and faith to host a successful Expo - gosh, he sure does represent a lot!
After all this, we went to the Old Town part of Shanghai where there were just swarms of people and the smell of "stinky tofu" everywhere. It was crazy busy - and yes, those are baby sparrows being offered as a delicacy - ugggh. We made our way to the Yu Yuan Garden which was finished in 1577 by an officer in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The word Yu in Chinese means pleasing and satisfying. The officer had it built for his aged parents to make them happy. Over the centuries the garden fell into disarray and part of the land was lost but it was restored in 1956 and reopened in 1961. There are over 40 buildings, ancient trees, ponds, bridges and sculptures. We loved the dragon head where the body draped across the top of the wall. It was beautiful. We also loved the moon and vase gates and notice the two sided split corridor - one side for men and the other for women - note that the right side is for women :-). The furniture you see is made from the Banyan tree. The kids were completely exhausted, but Grandma did a little shopping and bargaining on the way out and then back to our hotel for a very short break. Indigo and Isaac fell asleep and then less than an hour later we had to wake them to go out to meet folks for dinner - it was a hard wake up. We were having dinner with the brother of our dear friend Robyne. Her brother Andy is married to Mency who is from Shanghai and they are now living in Shanghai with their two daughters, Sarah and Hannah (5 1/2 and 7 months respectively). Mency's parents also live with them and her mom joined us. We took two cabs to the restaurant - and arrived safely. It was a lovely place and we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. After Indigo had recovered from being so rudely awoken she had the best time playing with Sarah - they are like two peas in a pod - adventurous and spirited. The dinner was delicious. Mency and her mom ordered really carefully so that not everything would be too spicy for Grandma. Some things were very spicy - I had tears over the fish stew but everything was great - that is chrysanthemum tea in the glass tea pot. You can also view the kitchen - I would have loved to have spent time standing and watching. It was a great night and we were so happy that Andy and his family were glad to meet us. Photos from this busy day here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623437549057/
From there we went and did a cruise so that we could see the city and also the historic Bund - those of the European style buildings are part of the Bund. Unfortunately, a lot of the Bund is under construction for the World Expo so we did not get to walk around that area. For me, the best part of the cruise was watching the children. Indigo made a little friend in this boy who ended up having popcorn with us and she dragged him around. We went up to the deck outside and she wanted him to come with her so the grandparents brought him up too and then back down - it was very cute. Mom - David took the "Alison" building photo just for you. After that we went to lunch which was excellent. Jimmy made a friend in Indigo when on the lazy susan, in addition to the wonderful Chinese food, there was an entire plate of french fries!
Oh yes, the Expo mascot Hai Bao is everywhere! Indigo loved him and getting a plastic model of him was pretty much the only item that she asked us to buy her the entire time we were in China (except for some Great Wall beverage coasters). The shape of Hai Bao is created from the Chinese character which means people and his name means "treasure of the sea" which is easy to remember, echoes with the color of his body and is a typical lucky name. There is so much symbolism to this mascot that it's quite remarkable. His hair, which has a crest is like the wave of the sea represents his open character and stated the character's birth place is Shanghai. His face shows confidence and is friendly and welcoming. He has big round eyes which show anticipation of the city for the Expo. His color blue shows its latitude and imagination which represent the rising potential of China. His body is round to show being well-off and also lovely and cute. His fist shows a thumbs-up to show appreciation and warm welcome to people. He stands steadily on big feet and opens his arm to embrace the world which shows China has the ability and faith to host a successful Expo - gosh, he sure does represent a lot!
After all this, we went to the Old Town part of Shanghai where there were just swarms of people and the smell of "stinky tofu" everywhere. It was crazy busy - and yes, those are baby sparrows being offered as a delicacy - ugggh. We made our way to the Yu Yuan Garden which was finished in 1577 by an officer in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The word Yu in Chinese means pleasing and satisfying. The officer had it built for his aged parents to make them happy. Over the centuries the garden fell into disarray and part of the land was lost but it was restored in 1956 and reopened in 1961. There are over 40 buildings, ancient trees, ponds, bridges and sculptures. We loved the dragon head where the body draped across the top of the wall. It was beautiful. We also loved the moon and vase gates and notice the two sided split corridor - one side for men and the other for women - note that the right side is for women :-). The furniture you see is made from the Banyan tree. The kids were completely exhausted, but Grandma did a little shopping and bargaining on the way out and then back to our hotel for a very short break. Indigo and Isaac fell asleep and then less than an hour later we had to wake them to go out to meet folks for dinner - it was a hard wake up. We were having dinner with the brother of our dear friend Robyne. Her brother Andy is married to Mency who is from Shanghai and they are now living in Shanghai with their two daughters, Sarah and Hannah (5 1/2 and 7 months respectively). Mency's parents also live with them and her mom joined us. We took two cabs to the restaurant - and arrived safely. It was a lovely place and we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. After Indigo had recovered from being so rudely awoken she had the best time playing with Sarah - they are like two peas in a pod - adventurous and spirited. The dinner was delicious. Mency and her mom ordered really carefully so that not everything would be too spicy for Grandma. Some things were very spicy - I had tears over the fish stew but everything was great - that is chrysanthemum tea in the glass tea pot. You can also view the kitchen - I would have loved to have spent time standing and watching. It was a great night and we were so happy that Andy and his family were glad to meet us. Photos from this busy day here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623437549057/
Monday, March 1, 2010
the blog resumes... Xi'an Friday February 19th
Firstly, we're safely home and gradually working our way out of the stupor of the 14 hour time change, getting kids adjusted to some sort of similar sleeping schedule and the realities of life back at home, what no buffet breakfast and twenty different items placed in front of you without effort on a lazy Susan? More on our return home in a later post - in the meantime, we resume with China - were we just there? We continue with Xi'an, a city that we'll have to return to as we simply did not have enough time there.
We rose early after the most dreadful night in our smoke infested room and had a meeting time of 8 a.m. Our suitcases had to be packed and ready to leave for the airport as they were transported there separately - slightly nerve wracking. We had to ensure that our families luggage was correctly all identified to go to Shanghai as Laura Beth's family was returning to Beijing. After that was sorted we went to the Muslim market. China has a Muslim population mostly going back to the Silk Road. I think we were told that in a city of 8 million there are 20,000 Muslim. We absolutely loved the experience of going through the Muslim market and took a bunch of photos of the street food scenes and wares for sale. Since we were so early everything was getting started and people were having breakfast on the street which is apparently quite common. Walking through the market we ended up at the Mosque and you can see the photos from that - see the lotus flower carvings on the ceilings of one of the little gazebo type structures. As you can see the kids all had fun running in the courtyard area. When we walked back Indigo and Isaac enjoyed looking at these birds that were in cages - some kind of singing bird - sad to me, but cute of Indigo with Isaac. We were being hurried along when I think most of us would have loved to have been able to spend a little time shopping or looking - Laura Beth managed to pick up a gorgeous scarf.
We got on the bus thinking we were off to see the Terracotta Warriors which was our primary reason for going ot Xi'an. However, we had another stop, not on the agenda, at a "Jade Museum". I stayed on the bus with the children and my dad went in for a while and did see the different types of Jade- some from mountain and some from river and learned the difference in the value etc. but ultimately it ends in a government run shop - the good thing is you know you're getting the real deal - the bad thing is that it's expensive and the worse thing was that we lost 1.5 hours there which ended up seriously cutting into our time at the warriors so that was a bit irritating - except for the shoppers in the group. I must admit that I ultimately benefited, because after getting to Shanghai, David surprised me with a jade pendent of a peach which is for longjevity - hopefully this means he wants me to stick around. After leaving there we went to lunch and then to the Warriors. The warriors - soldiers and horses, are truly a wonder. They date back to Qin Shi Huang - the first emporer of China. They are dated back to 210 BC! The were first discovered in 1974 by some farmers drilling a well. They comprise warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen and museums. It's estimated that there are 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots and 520 horses, as well as 150 calvary horses. Most are still pits. The figures vary in height from 6' to 6'5 with the generals being the tallest. No two soldiers are alike - which was ordered by the emporer - I think he was about 12-13 when the army first started being made and it's guessed that about 700,000 workers created the army whose purpose was to accompany the emporer to the afterlife so that he could rule another empire in the afterlife. Needless to say, it's fascinating. Flash photos in the pits are not allowed but Pit 1 had really great natural light so the photos came out farely well. Credit to Granddad for the close-ups of faces taken at my request as I had no zoom with me. It would have been nice to have time in the museum but there simply was not time except for a quick peek at the bronze chariots - quite frankly it was so packed with people about 6 people deep around the exhibits that we would not have wanted to stay too long anyway but we wished we had not felt so rushed. The one thing that was truly exciting was that the farmer who found the warriors was there signing books! Apparently this is something he comes and does each Chinese New Year so we were truly lucky. All photo credits of the farmer are thanks to Laura Beth's family - there was a no photo sign but the farmer asked her if she wanted to take a picture so I am snagging those photos. Also, if you're wondering about the photos of Ben and Drew with the Chinese teenagers and of us taking photos of the people photographing them - that was really cute. Ben and Drew were like popstars and the kids wanted to have their photos taken with them so we photographed that and their paparazzi. We raced to the airport where Laura Beth's family had the first flight to Beijing - they made it by a hair and then we caught our flight to Shanghai. You can see that Indigo fell fast asleep on the bus - the positions in which she can sleep are astounding to me. We transported her sleeping in the stroller but then had to wake her up to go through security - both to get her through and to fold the stroller up - what a disaster - she completely fell apart and then fell off the block on which they were wanding her and then Isaac cried hysterically - it was just a big mess, but we coped - barely.
We were met in Shanghai by our new guide Jimmy and were transported to the Crowne Plaza - which was very lovely. After the debaucle in Xi'an we asked Jimmy to call ahead and ensure our room set up was accurate which he did. It was late and we did not want to have problems. Our whole floor was non-smoking - wonderful. The only glitch was that we did not have a crib for Isaac so we called for one which arrived promptly. Well, from the photos you can see that this crib would be on the instant recall list in America, not to mention would probably result in several law suits. We placed Isaac in the crib, and the bottom promptly fell out and he crashed to the floor and got stuck. We retrieved him and decided that he and Indigo would share the double bed. We pushed a chair up to the side to try to prevent him from falling out and put Indigo on the other side with a pillow next to the night stand so she would not bump into the sharp glass corner. I really felt like I had two siblings at that point because Indigo would say "he is not going to sleep" to which I would respond, "well, neither are you" and then she would say he was touching her and then he would mess with her hair but ultimately sleep overtook them both and I was very excited to get a picture of our two babies asleep together. I don't think I mentioned this in Beijing, but we had crib failure there too. The crib was delivered and we could see that it looked like an Ikea special with pieces of wood not quite fitting together and the next night about 4 or more spindles just completely fell out. Our solution was to turn it around so that the gaping hole in the side of the crib was against the wall and that worked out for the rest of the stay there. Something to be said for American crib standards even though plenty here still seem to manage to be recalled. See photos from Xi'an and crib tale here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623537757296/
We rose early after the most dreadful night in our smoke infested room and had a meeting time of 8 a.m. Our suitcases had to be packed and ready to leave for the airport as they were transported there separately - slightly nerve wracking. We had to ensure that our families luggage was correctly all identified to go to Shanghai as Laura Beth's family was returning to Beijing. After that was sorted we went to the Muslim market. China has a Muslim population mostly going back to the Silk Road. I think we were told that in a city of 8 million there are 20,000 Muslim. We absolutely loved the experience of going through the Muslim market and took a bunch of photos of the street food scenes and wares for sale. Since we were so early everything was getting started and people were having breakfast on the street which is apparently quite common. Walking through the market we ended up at the Mosque and you can see the photos from that - see the lotus flower carvings on the ceilings of one of the little gazebo type structures. As you can see the kids all had fun running in the courtyard area. When we walked back Indigo and Isaac enjoyed looking at these birds that were in cages - some kind of singing bird - sad to me, but cute of Indigo with Isaac. We were being hurried along when I think most of us would have loved to have been able to spend a little time shopping or looking - Laura Beth managed to pick up a gorgeous scarf.
We got on the bus thinking we were off to see the Terracotta Warriors which was our primary reason for going ot Xi'an. However, we had another stop, not on the agenda, at a "Jade Museum". I stayed on the bus with the children and my dad went in for a while and did see the different types of Jade- some from mountain and some from river and learned the difference in the value etc. but ultimately it ends in a government run shop - the good thing is you know you're getting the real deal - the bad thing is that it's expensive and the worse thing was that we lost 1.5 hours there which ended up seriously cutting into our time at the warriors so that was a bit irritating - except for the shoppers in the group. I must admit that I ultimately benefited, because after getting to Shanghai, David surprised me with a jade pendent of a peach which is for longjevity - hopefully this means he wants me to stick around. After leaving there we went to lunch and then to the Warriors. The warriors - soldiers and horses, are truly a wonder. They date back to Qin Shi Huang - the first emporer of China. They are dated back to 210 BC! The were first discovered in 1974 by some farmers drilling a well. They comprise warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen and museums. It's estimated that there are 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots and 520 horses, as well as 150 calvary horses. Most are still pits. The figures vary in height from 6' to 6'5 with the generals being the tallest. No two soldiers are alike - which was ordered by the emporer - I think he was about 12-13 when the army first started being made and it's guessed that about 700,000 workers created the army whose purpose was to accompany the emporer to the afterlife so that he could rule another empire in the afterlife. Needless to say, it's fascinating. Flash photos in the pits are not allowed but Pit 1 had really great natural light so the photos came out farely well. Credit to Granddad for the close-ups of faces taken at my request as I had no zoom with me. It would have been nice to have time in the museum but there simply was not time except for a quick peek at the bronze chariots - quite frankly it was so packed with people about 6 people deep around the exhibits that we would not have wanted to stay too long anyway but we wished we had not felt so rushed. The one thing that was truly exciting was that the farmer who found the warriors was there signing books! Apparently this is something he comes and does each Chinese New Year so we were truly lucky. All photo credits of the farmer are thanks to Laura Beth's family - there was a no photo sign but the farmer asked her if she wanted to take a picture so I am snagging those photos. Also, if you're wondering about the photos of Ben and Drew with the Chinese teenagers and of us taking photos of the people photographing them - that was really cute. Ben and Drew were like popstars and the kids wanted to have their photos taken with them so we photographed that and their paparazzi. We raced to the airport where Laura Beth's family had the first flight to Beijing - they made it by a hair and then we caught our flight to Shanghai. You can see that Indigo fell fast asleep on the bus - the positions in which she can sleep are astounding to me. We transported her sleeping in the stroller but then had to wake her up to go through security - both to get her through and to fold the stroller up - what a disaster - she completely fell apart and then fell off the block on which they were wanding her and then Isaac cried hysterically - it was just a big mess, but we coped - barely.
We were met in Shanghai by our new guide Jimmy and were transported to the Crowne Plaza - which was very lovely. After the debaucle in Xi'an we asked Jimmy to call ahead and ensure our room set up was accurate which he did. It was late and we did not want to have problems. Our whole floor was non-smoking - wonderful. The only glitch was that we did not have a crib for Isaac so we called for one which arrived promptly. Well, from the photos you can see that this crib would be on the instant recall list in America, not to mention would probably result in several law suits. We placed Isaac in the crib, and the bottom promptly fell out and he crashed to the floor and got stuck. We retrieved him and decided that he and Indigo would share the double bed. We pushed a chair up to the side to try to prevent him from falling out and put Indigo on the other side with a pillow next to the night stand so she would not bump into the sharp glass corner. I really felt like I had two siblings at that point because Indigo would say "he is not going to sleep" to which I would respond, "well, neither are you" and then she would say he was touching her and then he would mess with her hair but ultimately sleep overtook them both and I was very excited to get a picture of our two babies asleep together. I don't think I mentioned this in Beijing, but we had crib failure there too. The crib was delivered and we could see that it looked like an Ikea special with pieces of wood not quite fitting together and the next night about 4 or more spindles just completely fell out. Our solution was to turn it around so that the gaping hole in the side of the crib was against the wall and that worked out for the rest of the stay there. Something to be said for American crib standards even though plenty here still seem to manage to be recalled. See photos from Xi'an and crib tale here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623537757296/
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Beijing to Xi'an - February 18th Thursday
We left very eary to catch our flight from Beijing to Xi'an - we left at 6:30 for a 8:30 flight and arrived in Xi'an around 10:30ish. We were met by our guide Penny. It was a glorious day - sunny and much warmer than Beijing. We headed to our hotel which is considered to be a five-star Sofitel. The lobby was gorgeous - see later photos with rose flower arrangements. However, the room bookings appeared to be a disaster. We must have spent close to 1 1/2 hours trying to sort out the mess of our rooms for the two families. David and I were put in one room but it had no crib and no bed for Indigo but a crib was brought in and we thought we would either put Indigo in one of the beds with us (they had two wide single beds) and get a crib for Isaac or have Indigo sleep on this chaise piece in the room. However, we were then moved to another room which had the right beds, and they moved a crib in but it was so smoky. Granddad and Grandma had a right room set up but the other family did not and so then Granddad and Grandma had to move - we needed to leave to start our touring so everyone just left bags in whatever room they had and we left but now this made us much later than we should had been. Anyway, we went to the City Wall which is fantastic - apparently you can go 9 miles with it all intact. We were supposed to bike ride on there (not sure what the plan would have been for Grandma and the kiddos) but we did not do that. It was glorious up there and the wall was so decorated for new years - it was just stunning. We walked a while but all along were different scenes reflecting different countries scenery - we just mostly saw the Chinese decorations. After that we went to an "art gallery" showing local artwork and the history of painting in China - we saw beautiful farmer/peasant paintings that are lovely and bright, also puppets made out of cow hide that are so intricate and then the start of water color painting. Then there was a demonstration of the calligraphy strokes - there are just eight that make up all the characters. Folks got to practice doing calligraphy. However, as this was a government "exhibit" of course it ended with paintings that you could purchase. David really liked one and so he bought that with birthday money from his mom. We went back to the hotel where we were supposed to be ready in about 30 minutes to go to the dinner show but we were still dealing with room issues - it was really a big pain. Also, I had put our stuff in the safe and then could not open it so I was panicked about that and did not want to leave for the show without dealing with that. After enough calls to the front desk someone came and helped. I should have insisted at that point that we move rooms because of the smoke in our room but exhaustion prevented that. Granddad felt so poorly that he stayed back and we went to the Tang Dynasty Dinner show which was super and we had a wonderful time. The kids were really good considering how tired they were and the show - Isaac really seemed entranced. The show was very much music and dance so translation not an issue. The food was good too. When we came back there was some more hotel issues - particularly with the other family basically sitting on the floor with sleeping kids waiting for a hotel room - just not satisfactory. I was just dying from the smoke and it was not a great night especially since I was getting the sore throat etc. that many had been suffering from. Also, we could see that Xi'an is just incredible and knew that we wanted more time there. Okay - so this is all I can manage for updates before the states - hopefully these last four posts are enough to keep you reading and looking at photos until I can wrap up the Isaac China tour. We are checking out of the hotel, the driver and guide are waiting downstairs and we're on our way to Shanghai airport, to Chicago, where Isaac will become a US citizen and onward home to Dulles - should arrive 9 pm Monday February 22 - we cross the date line so we arrive the same day we leave.
Oh, one last thing - at the beginning you will see a lot of photos of Indigo with Drew - she was in love with him this day and he was so sweet with her. Everything was "Drew, Drew, come with me Drew, sit with me Drew" so he sat at our table with us at lunch - so very cute. Photos from Thursday the 18th here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623358838325/
Oh, one last thing - at the beginning you will see a lot of photos of Indigo with Drew - she was in love with him this day and he was so sweet with her. Everything was "Drew, Drew, come with me Drew, sit with me Drew" so he sat at our table with us at lunch - so very cute. Photos from Thursday the 18th here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623358838325/
Beijing - Final day - village tour Wednesday February 18th
We were really looking forward to our village tour which had been planned as a village tour, lunch with a local family where we would make dumplings and perhaps see some local dancing - Ha! On the way there, which was a significant drive from Beijing, Doyle told us that we were going to this village because it was a prosperous village - started to not sound like quite the "quaintness" that we were seeking. As it turns out we felt we were in the middle of one big propaganda movement. The "village" was actually more a model town - very nice, where there were multiple homes all in the exact same style, some very large and then sort of in rows and grids, differing models in different styles, probably according to people's status in the village. We pulled up at a huge house - see photo (which is actually the house next door but looks the same) and entered the court yard where there was a poor dog in a cage barking its head off. The family greeted us very warmly and we all squeezed around a small table in a room to have lunch (given the size of the house the dining room seemed small). We were served course after course. The very last photo of the food is what was left at the end of the meal and this was after we had our guide and driver take two of the dishes that none of us were eating. Most everything was delicious and felt like real country food. We left there and went to a museum of hte village - basically a whole place dedicated to how this village had become so wealthy, models of the village before and after etc. It was quite interesting after we got over our disappointment from what we had expected. Basically people in the village had become involved in construction, I guess at the start of the building boom in China and they have built just hundreds of huge sky rises, there was one whole case of model buildings they have done that have won prizes. Additionally, they are involved in some water transport effort to get water to drier areas. You will see photos of people in front of their old homes and then their new homes - it's quite impressive. The best thing about the whole place was that it was an enclosed place where the kids all just ran and ran and played. The lady giving the tour probably thought we were horribly disrepectful letting the kids run wild but we were happy to let them run about where it was relatively safe. After that we went to the greenhouses - there are about 50 of them but we toured the "one for the public". I think we would all love such a green house - the variety of things growing and the layout of the greenhouse was just stunning. It was also lovely and warm - the other building had been really cold. We drove back to Beijing for our last night. I think several people napped on the return. Adam, Drew and Ben went to a Kung Fu show and David, Laura Beth and I took the kids to the playground at the hotel. We had a great time although it was very cold. It was wonderful to see the kids playing together and Indigo, Maya Mei and Eliana loved piling up on the curly slide. We also met a Chinese man with his 18 month old son (Laura Beth had met the mother before). He and his wife adopted their son domestically so that was very interesting as we have not met (or at least talked to) any Chinese people who have adopted. Apparently in China, the couple has to be over 40 and cannot have any children. He told us they waited two years for their son who is a gorgeous healthy boy from Jiangxi - Indigo's province. That evening we ate stuff we had in the apartment and got all our packing done as we had a 6:30 a.m. departure on Thursday. See photos from Wednesday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623482856116/
Whoo Hoo - it's a second post in the same day - catching up. Beijing February 16th
Everyone is going to have a LOT of photos to look at. I am catching up on posting so check below if you did not see the February 15th post yet. I have no idea how terrible we'll feel when we get home so I am in a marathon to try and get caught up before the return flight home - and back to real life of laundry etc. Tuesday the 16th was another insanely hectic day (Amy, I'll await the smart aleck comments from the peanut gallery poking fun at our schedule... :-P - at least you are a most loyal commenter and non-stalker.
At breakfast in the morning Adam had a difficult time with Maya Mei and after returning to the room, before setting out, he and Laura Beth made the decision to stay at the apartment with Maya Mei. So, we set off with our family group and with Lisa, Laura Beth's sister, her mom Bonnie, Ben their son and Drew, Lisa's son and little Eliana. Our first stop was a park - I do forget the name or actually don't know if I ever knew it. Anyway, they were holding something called a Miao Hui at the park (pronounced something like Meow Way). I don't think any of us have ever been in such a throng of people in all our lives. It was pretty much impossible to all stay together so Granddad, Grandma, David, me and the kids went our way - we had the stroller too which we pretty much used like a tank and as a safe place so the children would not be crushed. You did not walk so much as move in a wave. Hopefully the photos will do it justice. Shelli - you're probably done by now with CNY presentations but this one about tops it - you said you were using some of the photos. We got to one stall where we bought a few little decorations and after that made no attempt at any more shopping - it was so exciting and such a fervor. We made our way to a courtyard area where there was entertainment at different corners and people playing fair type games to win stuffed animals etc. There were also people who are buddhists paying homage to ancestors, lighting incense and bowing etc. To top it off, there was a Michael Jackson impersonator. We met up at the designated spot and walked away from the park - you can see photos of street scene stuff such as food vendors selling their food from the back of bike carts and all the bicycles lined up. The temple photos you see are of temple in the Tibet style. We walked quite a while - our guide was trying to find a place for lunch. We actually ended up in one of the Hutongs and around a Confucious temple area. You can tell some of the wealthy Hutong homes by the lavish door posts, and one even had a double garage. After no success of a lunch place we rejoined our bus and driver and Doyle would pop off at places to see if he could find a place to eat - despite the fact that we were seeing places to eat everywhere, but probably not that could handle our large crowd.
Doyle found a place in what appeared to be a hotel and after lunch we walked again and found a Hutong tour (in a different Hutong from where we had been before). Indigo loved the Hutong tour - the part where we were in the rickshaw. We also stopped at a Hutong home and saw the traditional set-up - walk through the doorway into a courtyard and then into the house. The house we saw was owned by the Wu family and we had a delightful visit. Mrs. Wu spoke to us - she and her husband are retired. She had worked at a rubber factory and he was an archeologist for the government. Their two sons with their wives shared the home with them although she said they each had their own kitchens - thank goodness, when you see the size of one kitchen.
After the Hutong we were already tired but we went on to Beihai Park which was an Imperial Park close to the Forbidden City so you see some photos passing the walls and gates of the Forbidden City and the moats. We were not at Beihai Park long - too tired, and it was getting cold as the wind had kicked up and sun was going down. Really, it's a place to return to because you can tell it would be lovely especially in spring/summer when the weeping willows are in leaf. The park is known for the large white pagoda - which looks like a liquor bottle. We also saw a white budda carved out of a single piece of flawless white jade and a huge jade vessel that apparently used to be filled with liquor that the generals drank from. We did not cross the bridge to go further into the park - just exhausted. Came back to the hotel for one hour - both Isaac and Indigo went to sleep. Granddad was feeling exhausted and starting to get sick (sore throat) and he said he would stay at the apartment. We decided there was absolutely no point in getting the children up and so we left them with Granddad and went out with the group to dinner before going to the Laoshe Tea House. We were happy that LB, Adam and Maya Mei joined us although poor Bonnie was also sick and did not come out. A day at the apartment together had really been good for Maya Mei and seems to have been a turning point. Dinner was good although we were not that hungry - my favorite was a lamb - I think there are some dinner photos. The tea house was all the way back near the City Gate to the Forbidden City and everything was beautifully lit up at night. The tea house was lovely but so hot that we all were roasting the whole time - most unpleasant. Also, we were packed in there like sardines - David and I were together at a tiny square table that had two other couples! The best part of the whole evening was seeing Maya Mei laughing so much at the two man act. We could not understand a word of it - most of the show had no interpretation which gave us a good inkling of what this poor 8 year old was experiencing all the time - everything being said that you don't understand. However, the two man act had her laughing so much and we loved to see that. There several tea demonstrations throughout the show which represented tea for winter, spring, summer and fall. We had jasmine tea served to us and some little tasty goodies. The last three acts were super as they required no translation - a magical act, a great acrobatic act and the Sichuan Changing faces performance which is just incredible. We enjoyed ourselves but were so glad that we did not have the kids - thanks to Granddad who watched them. Isaac was so tired that he never woke up the whole time until the next morning - slept in his clothes. Indigo woke up and was crying but Granddad got her and read her the note we had left her saying that she had been sleeping and Granddad was going to watch her and would give her food and treats and so she was happy as a clam when we returned home. What a pace...
Photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623354999655/
At breakfast in the morning Adam had a difficult time with Maya Mei and after returning to the room, before setting out, he and Laura Beth made the decision to stay at the apartment with Maya Mei. So, we set off with our family group and with Lisa, Laura Beth's sister, her mom Bonnie, Ben their son and Drew, Lisa's son and little Eliana. Our first stop was a park - I do forget the name or actually don't know if I ever knew it. Anyway, they were holding something called a Miao Hui at the park (pronounced something like Meow Way). I don't think any of us have ever been in such a throng of people in all our lives. It was pretty much impossible to all stay together so Granddad, Grandma, David, me and the kids went our way - we had the stroller too which we pretty much used like a tank and as a safe place so the children would not be crushed. You did not walk so much as move in a wave. Hopefully the photos will do it justice. Shelli - you're probably done by now with CNY presentations but this one about tops it - you said you were using some of the photos. We got to one stall where we bought a few little decorations and after that made no attempt at any more shopping - it was so exciting and such a fervor. We made our way to a courtyard area where there was entertainment at different corners and people playing fair type games to win stuffed animals etc. There were also people who are buddhists paying homage to ancestors, lighting incense and bowing etc. To top it off, there was a Michael Jackson impersonator. We met up at the designated spot and walked away from the park - you can see photos of street scene stuff such as food vendors selling their food from the back of bike carts and all the bicycles lined up. The temple photos you see are of temple in the Tibet style. We walked quite a while - our guide was trying to find a place for lunch. We actually ended up in one of the Hutongs and around a Confucious temple area. You can tell some of the wealthy Hutong homes by the lavish door posts, and one even had a double garage. After no success of a lunch place we rejoined our bus and driver and Doyle would pop off at places to see if he could find a place to eat - despite the fact that we were seeing places to eat everywhere, but probably not that could handle our large crowd.
Doyle found a place in what appeared to be a hotel and after lunch we walked again and found a Hutong tour (in a different Hutong from where we had been before). Indigo loved the Hutong tour - the part where we were in the rickshaw. We also stopped at a Hutong home and saw the traditional set-up - walk through the doorway into a courtyard and then into the house. The house we saw was owned by the Wu family and we had a delightful visit. Mrs. Wu spoke to us - she and her husband are retired. She had worked at a rubber factory and he was an archeologist for the government. Their two sons with their wives shared the home with them although she said they each had their own kitchens - thank goodness, when you see the size of one kitchen.
After the Hutong we were already tired but we went on to Beihai Park which was an Imperial Park close to the Forbidden City so you see some photos passing the walls and gates of the Forbidden City and the moats. We were not at Beihai Park long - too tired, and it was getting cold as the wind had kicked up and sun was going down. Really, it's a place to return to because you can tell it would be lovely especially in spring/summer when the weeping willows are in leaf. The park is known for the large white pagoda - which looks like a liquor bottle. We also saw a white budda carved out of a single piece of flawless white jade and a huge jade vessel that apparently used to be filled with liquor that the generals drank from. We did not cross the bridge to go further into the park - just exhausted. Came back to the hotel for one hour - both Isaac and Indigo went to sleep. Granddad was feeling exhausted and starting to get sick (sore throat) and he said he would stay at the apartment. We decided there was absolutely no point in getting the children up and so we left them with Granddad and went out with the group to dinner before going to the Laoshe Tea House. We were happy that LB, Adam and Maya Mei joined us although poor Bonnie was also sick and did not come out. A day at the apartment together had really been good for Maya Mei and seems to have been a turning point. Dinner was good although we were not that hungry - my favorite was a lamb - I think there are some dinner photos. The tea house was all the way back near the City Gate to the Forbidden City and everything was beautifully lit up at night. The tea house was lovely but so hot that we all were roasting the whole time - most unpleasant. Also, we were packed in there like sardines - David and I were together at a tiny square table that had two other couples! The best part of the whole evening was seeing Maya Mei laughing so much at the two man act. We could not understand a word of it - most of the show had no interpretation which gave us a good inkling of what this poor 8 year old was experiencing all the time - everything being said that you don't understand. However, the two man act had her laughing so much and we loved to see that. There several tea demonstrations throughout the show which represented tea for winter, spring, summer and fall. We had jasmine tea served to us and some little tasty goodies. The last three acts were super as they required no translation - a magical act, a great acrobatic act and the Sichuan Changing faces performance which is just incredible. We enjoyed ourselves but were so glad that we did not have the kids - thanks to Granddad who watched them. Isaac was so tired that he never woke up the whole time until the next morning - slept in his clothes. Indigo woke up and was crying but Granddad got her and read her the note we had left her saying that she had been sleeping and Granddad was going to watch her and would give her food and treats and so she was happy as a clam when we returned home. What a pace...
Photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623354999655/
February 15th - Beijing Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Duck Dinner and David's 40th!
So many days behind on the blog now. We are in Shanghai and leave for the states tomorrow. This is the first time I have been on the internet since Beijing, not for lack of access, but lack of time (and expense of internet at our final hotel here in Shanghai). We resume with February 15th - a most auspicious day! David turned 40! We had another active day and were driven to Tiananmen Square. On the way there Indigo taught Maya Mei how to play rock, paper, scizzors which is one of Indigo's favorites right now. We did the fair walk through the square to the entrance of the Forbidden City. There were some delays going in as we needed restroom breaks and the restrooms were packed full - Laura Beth said there was so much pushing and shoving she could not believe it. We made our way through the each of the courtyards of the Forbidden City - we were blessed with a glorious day. I had Isaac in the stroller so a lot of the time I took the stroller route so was separated from my dad, Grandma, David and Indigo. Poor David carried Indigo through much of the Forbidden City which is no easy feat. Indigo seems to require a lot more carrying lately, hmmm. I was walking with Laura Beth, Adam, Maya Mei and Eliana a lot of the time as they also had the stroller. In a way it was nice as we saw some side corridor areas that apparently were for retired emporers - it would be wonderful to have a whole day without kids to explore more. Apparently a lot of those areas now exhibit art and jade and other items. Granddad rejoined us as we came close to our meeting point but we had no idea how far along David, Grandma and Indigo were. Maya Mei, who had been really super, and was by now probably very tired from all the walking, got quite upset, which drew a Chinese crowd and so in order to reduce the level of attention, our guide took Laura Beth, Adam and their family back to the bus while we waited for our family. One can only imagine how if we, as westerners were in a huge crowd and saw a Chinese or other ethnic family taking a caucasian child who was screaming, might think there was an abduction or something taking place so it's not unreasonable that a huge gathering of Chinese people happens when a caucasian family is trying to deal with an eight year old screaming child who cannot communicate with them in the same language, but it is still not pleasant and obviously hard for our friends who are dealing with this situation. We cannot convey how wonderful of a job they are doing and we have seen the change in Maya Mei just over the few days we have been together with them in Beijing. We were all very exhausted after the long trek and so proud of Grandma who made it all that way - we practically fell onto the bus. We had a short rest, perhaps an hour at the hotel, I can't remember now and then met Doyle to go to Duck Dinner. Fortunately, the place we were going was just a short walk from the hotel and so we walked over. We had a wonderful private room and a superb dinner. Our only complaint was that too much great food was served before the two platters of duck and so we were quite full already (a frequent occurrence on this trip) and not able to indulge in as much of the delicious duck, sauce, spring onions and pancakes as we might have liked. Also, David and I are of the opinion that the duck place we go to near our house (renowned for its duck) is exceptionally good and definitely ranks up there with this duck place, which was better than any other duck we have had in China, this trip or our last. Laura Beth gave the children red envelopes for Chinese New Year (LB - Indigo has since bought a Hai Baio - the Shanghai expo mascot with her money - it's the only thing she has wanted and is sleeping with it now as I type). Of course, February 15th was David's 40th birthday and I was able to arrange for a cake which our guide brought to the restaurant and which was served there. David was very happy as it was a chocolate cake (perhaps not traditional American chocolate cake) but no cake with fruit for him so he was ecstatic and of course it was a very memorable birthday to be in China with our two children, grandparents and friends. Photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623354369493/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623354369493/
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Beijing, Sunday February 14th - Temple of Heaven, Noodles, Summer Palace and Acrobat show
So far behind on posting - the schedule in Beijing has been crazy and we have had little down time and we are just exhausted by the time we go to bed. Thanks for all the birthday wishes to David in the comments - also appreciated the laughs about the dentures which we had forgotten to mention - fortunately, David is not quite yet ready for dentures :-) We saw those just sitting like that on the wall and it just cracked us up - obviously left by someone although hopefully they took their photos while the dentures were still being worn! Do keep the comments coming - as you can see it's a struggle to keep up with the blog and knowing people are following along, is a motivating factor. On Sunday we bundled up and went to the Temple of Heaven - it was very cold, although clear, but bitterly cold wind. On the way we passed this burned out building you see in the first photos - this was the result from fireworks from last year's new year! There was quite a crowd at the Temple of Heaven as there was a ceremony of some sorts to represent the wish for a good harvest that would have been held during the time of the emporer. We watched a while and then watched some people playing hacky sack - they are very skilled at it. We were so excited to go for a hot lunch. Lunch was in a huge mall that had a lot of restaurants. We had a delicious lunch with some sort of fried sweet tarot root that you dipped in garlic sauce, a delicious green bean dish and some other good dishes. The main things was the huge bowl of noodles that we mixed with a bean and pork sauce and ate - they were super long. It's traditional to eat long uncut noodles on new year so that you have a long life and don't "cut" it short. After lunch we hit the Starbucks - just like home. We got back on the bus and headed to the Summer Palace. The sun had come out and although cold, it was more pleasant. We had a good time at the summer palace although the vendors there were extremely aggressive. It was crazy to see Kunming lake frozen after we had been on the boat ride on it when here in July 2007. This time people were out walking on it - including Ben, Drew and Adam from our crowd. Everyone was impressed by the long corridor with all its beautiful paintings - the summer palace was built to be a cool residence for the emporer during the summer months. We had the Acrobat show that night and it was already really late in the day. We were supposed to have duck dinner this night but we asked if it could be switched as we would have basically gone straight from the summer palace to dinner, to the acrobat show. Doyle, our wonderful and amazing guide said okay and so we got a very short break, perhaps an hour or so at the hotel before leaving again for the acrobat show. We just noshed on some of the food we had bought from our grocery store expedition. The kids got to have a sleep which was terrific. We headed out to the Acrobat show and all had the most fantastic time. We had worried that Isaac would not sit or would screech but he was transfixed, apart from occasionally trying to wack the head of the guy in front of us - who was a very nice Israeli who was on vacation without his kids so he said it made him feel good to see the kids. Indigo was transfixed by the whole show - we all loved it - and the Magnum chocolate ice cream sticks we got to eat while watching the show. The show had also been changed from when we were here in 2007 so that was nice. It was really a lovely night and both families had a great time. We had not realized that the fireworks would be a nightly event in Beijing during new year but indeed, even now, I am listening to the exploding sounds of crackers and fireworks going off - it's been every night into the wee hours of the morning - we have had some spectacular firework shows although the noise can become a little tiresome when trying to sleep - although not for Granddad! Isaac has started to say what sounds like "boom, boom" when he hears them - it's so funny, even coming back from the acrobat show, we basically had the drive the bus around people setting of fireworks in the street - there is nothing like it. Photos from the 14th here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623453532232/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623453532232/
Monday, February 15, 2010
Beijing - Saturday February 13th The Great Wall of China and Chinese New Year Eve - FIREWORKS
It was rough getting up and getting going after so little sleep - we felt bad waking the children. However, we all rallied, dressed, had breakfast and were on the bus by 9:30 a.m. Met up with Laura Beth and her family which now also included her sister Lisa and son Drew - so we were a party of 14. They had arrived in Beijing earlier than us so we did not see them untll morning and it's so fun to be traveling together. Destination the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of China stretches 5000 km from east to west in northern China (that is about 3000 miles). It goes across desert, grasslands and mountains. It was started in the seventh century BC and took two millennia to complete. The wall that we see today was mostly completed during hte Ming Dynasty. It's really very cold in Beijing but we were blessed with the most glorious day - blue sky and sunshine so the cold was okay. Also, it meant that the views and ability to see the extent of the wall were spectacular! David and I were in Beijing and at the Great Wall in 2007 and it was a rainy day and almost zero visibility and this was so amazing. We were at the section that has the cable car so you walk a good bit up, all the while being pushed to buy souveniers - kept saying we would come back on the way down. These ladies would tell you their name and "store" number and write it on a card to give to you and then would want your name so they would say "Melanie, I will wait for you, you will come back to my store" We climbed up to where you take the cable car - Grandma did a superb job. We took the cable car up and the views of the wall from there were just to incredible for words and again we could not get over the amazing visibility. [insert facts on great wall - when built, length etc] We had a great time. Indigo was very clingy and fussy - obviously suffering from far too little sleep. Isaac slept a bit on the 1 1/2 hour ride there so he was more perky. Our guide Doyle is superb! He seems to really like children and was wonderful helping with them and with Grandma on some of the steep steps up to the wall itself - some are 2 feet high steps. Indigo's mood got a little better - perhaps with the bribery of a pop and we all had a great time up there. Of course, Granddad went as far as you're able to walk - we just sort of went to each closest tower - not far apart and no stairs involved. He said that just that visit to the Great Wall made the whole trip to China worth it. It was late when we left and the restaurant where we might have had lunch was closed for the start of New Year. We said we would work something out and came back to the hotel where the kids crashed and slept for a long time. During this time, Laura Beth and I walked to the grocery store as we needed to feed ourselves because everything was closing for New Year's eve when it's tradition for families to dine together. Granddad ended up being at the grocery store which was awesome because we needed help carrying back bags. The grocery store is 4 floors and we did the lower two - rushing around getting provisions because we knew it was going to close. Laura Beth's Ben loves Mexican so she decided to do tacos (from a more westernized grocery store she was able to order on-line and have delivered, tortilla chips, salsa, queso dip, ground beef, taco seasoning etc. She bought rice as Lisa had brought some packets of black beans from home and then we got about 4 boxes of KFC chicken to have with meal to ensure enough for all. A New Year Feast! All afternoon we had been hearing little cracks and explosings of firecrackers but by now it was really starting to pick up - it must have been around 6 p.m. From our 17th floor we were just having a beautiful fireworks display so some of the LB's family came over and the kids played and watched the show - it's incredible to see fireworks exploding right outside your window. Then we moved to their apartment and had our feast. Everything came together so well and we had such a great time. We came back around 9ish to get the kids to bed. Trying to explain the noise and the fireworks is just beyond description but I will do my best. None of us have ever experienced anything like it. It seems that all 14 odd million people in Beijing over the new year must all light their own personal arsenol of fireworks - we're not talking about planned fireworks in a park - we're talking, every person just lighting big rockets - the bursting type like we see at the national mall on fourth of July, from the middle of every street, in front of every apartment etc. It's incredible. The fireworks did not stop and just seemed to gain in their intensity. Looking out our bedroom, the living room, Grandma's bedroom, as far as you could see and right in front of us - anywhere you looked their were fireworks exploding. The kids fell asleep - no idea how. Granddad, with the curtains open and the non-stop boom and explosions and the room lighting up, fell asleep. Grandma was transfixed and could not tear herself away from the window watching. Finally, she fell asleep on her bed. Around 12:40, they seemed to get even louder, as if yet another grand finale was beginning. Around 1 am they mostly stopped - we think that might be a city ordinance. Grandma thought that the constant barrage of explosions and pops and booms must have sounded like the London blitz or war, but this was so happy and joyful. I can't find the words to describe what we were experiencing - who knew you could make so many fireworks. At 12:30 I was trying to video out the windows just to get some of the sound and explosions because nobody would believe it unless you were here in Beijing on New Year's Eve. I will never feel the same way ever again about our July 4th fireworks - they are just going to seem so very puny. Finally managed to sleep although there was still the occasional pop. Feeling very sleep deprived after the past two nights. We don't have the camera or ability to get good fire work shots but took a few token ones for the memory. The ones looking down on the street below were outside the front of a restaurant where first we had seen all the cooks with sparklers and then these guys kept scurrying back and forth lighting fire crackers and then running off - they had Grandma and I cracking up. Photos from Day 1 in Beijing here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623439739496/
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Friday February 12th - Guangzhou to Beijing
Finally, back to getting a post done. We have been on the go and have had no computer time. The first two photos are from Fridya night - Isaac was in his pjs playing with David's belt while David read to Indigo. On Friday morning our group was going to the Chen Family Temple. David and I had been there before in 2007 and it's an incredible place, not to be missed. However, since we had been before, we thought a park might be more fun for the children. Grandma and Granddad went with the group to the Chen Family Temple - really a learning and art center - very beautiful. They had a wonderful time with Grandma's big complaint being that I had not told her not to take her wallet - yes, I was blamed for this round of shopping. David, the kids and I took a taxi to the park - Yuexiu Park. Entry for the day was free - we assume because of new year starting. We had a great time and it was so beautiful with all the red lanterns hanging from the trees. We also bought 4 bags of koi food and had great fun feeding the wide open gaping mouths of the fish. We had a downpour while there but managed to find shelter. We then let the kids have a ride on the carousel and also they went together on the other ride where they were on the train. We left there and went back to the one shopping plaza we had been to. It was a crazy frenzy of people shopping although one whole wing of the "department" store was locked up - to David's relief it was the one with all the pearls. We caught a taxi back to the hotel (lest you think we suddenly became proficient in Chinese, our hotel concierge had a written card to give the taxi driver to show where we wanted to go first and then second and then the hotel address in Chinese for our return. We only got back around 2ish and had to have the luggage ready for the porters by 4:30 so we were able to get the kids to sleep in our room - Indigo on our bed and Isaac in his crib while we dragged all our luggage and baggage into the living room and packed there. Grandma popped round to see which of her items we could take in our baggage... We and two other families were going to the airport - them to return home and us to head to Beijing. Things went pretty smoothly and we boarded the plane for our 8ish flight. We thought for sure that Isaac would crash but oh no - he was awake the entire flight and some of it was bit rough. He was not keen on being restrained by the seat belt - oooh, 14 plus hours is going to be so fun. Indigo was mostly quite good for the flight. We arrived past 11 and after getting our luggage, met our guide Doyle who took us with the bus (necessary for our luggage) to our hotel. It's very nice - we are in a two bedroom/two bathroom apartment. Unfortunately, both bedrooms have double beds so grandma is in one room, David, the kids and me are in another and granddad is on a rollaway in the living room but that is very spacious and means that we can all be in living room while children go to sleep in our room or nap there (not that we have been here a whole lot). There was no crib so we had to wait for that to be delivered. When it was carried in it was definitely some IKEA special and must be on some recall list somewhere because the side spindles were all falling out! It was almost 2 by the time we got to bed. Since Isaac had not slept he was near comatose state and fell apart when we changed him but he fell asleep really fast. Safe arrival in Beijing! More later about our great day on Saturday. Photos for Friday here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623432559438/
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Guangzhou - Thursday, February 11th - botanical gardens and consulate appointment!
We have had a really super day despite a rough night (not enough sleep). Isaac slept like a log the whole night but Indigo was up just before 4 a.m. with bad coughing. We gave her a little benedryl - really all that I have at my disposal since she did not need tylenol or advil but she did not stop coughing so I took my huge pillow and plopped it under the upper part of her mattress and that seemed to really help as she stopped coughing. However, I really struggle with sleep so after all that I had a rough time going to sleep - I let my mind run. However, I must have fallen back asleep eventually because I was awoken by the alarm at 7. We all dressed and went to breakfast and then at 9:30 am we left for the Botanical gardens - beautiful, stunning etc. Some of the cutest photos of Indigo being a big sister and wanting to hold Isaac's hand and him letting her. I love the close up one of them from behind, hand in hand. We only had about 1 1/2 hours there which was not enough. We raced up the pathway to the top of the hill and were first at the start of the rock garden but then we went right, met up with David, Grandma and Isaac who had made it up the hill - go Grandma (it was one steep hill and we went up fast) and we went into the beautiful greenhouse which was filled with orchids and then also had some cacti. It was so beautiful. It was also the sunniest and hottest day here so far - about 30 degrees celcius. We went back to the rock garden but bought some waters first and Granddad bought lollipops for the kids. We worked our way through the rock garden and then to the rose garden - gorgeous and then back down the hill towards the entrance, passing some beautiful sculpted trees. Granddad took a diversion and power walked up a higher pathway - you can see him waving part way up the path in one of the photos. The kids sat on some tiger figures which I guess are up for Chinese New year - the year of the tiger. Back to the bottom and meeting up with our group and onto the bus back to the hotel - on the way back I took some shots of buildings with the laundry hanging out. This barely catches the flavor but we see this over and over, passing building after building. It's hard to capture shots from the bus and you're never sure what side or when something is coming up but this is very typical scenery. Guangzhou is incredibly built up and more buildings seem to be going up everywhere. The good thing about getting back early was that Isaac fell asleep immediately for a nap and Indigo fell asleep shortly after him - yeah. We got them both up by two o'clock and gave them something to eat - these little hot dog things wrapped in a bun that David had found at a pastry shop (along with some desserts - no surprise to those who know him well). David took some photos from out our hotel window so those are the tall buildings you see - it is definitely the clearest day we have had. We were down at the lobby before 2:30 for our trip to the US Consulate for our swearing in ceremony. There were 16 families, with 17 children being adopted. One family was adopting two girls, one of whom would have aged out when she turned 14 on February 18th so it was really special that she got her forever family just in time. I think there were three families who were first time parents and almost every single family raised their hand when asked who was here for a second (or more) adoption. They also said that the for the first time last year, adoption of "special needs, waiting children" exceeded those of non-special needs. We were there for a really long time because they said that as a new year gift to us they would get the visas (allowing the children into the states) today instead of having to wait tomorrow. So, we all started to leave and then they said we would just wait as they were doing them right them. So, we left the consulate with our brown packet envelopes and our children's passports with their visas. Yippee! Means we could have taken the earlier flight to Beijing tomorrow but Granddad said he'll appreciate another warm day. After a 10 minute clean up we all headed out to the Banana Leaf restaurant in the Toshiba building across the way. It's Thai food and we had a delicious meal and ate too much (except for Indigo). Indigo was far more interested in dancing with the waiter singing Day Oh, Day Oh, Daylight come and I wanna go home...) She actually got down from her chair, held his hands and danced, until all of a sudden she said "I have to go pee pee" so off we ran. You never have video and camera when you need them - we'll just remember that. We came back and the children had another bath. Yes, by the way, when you see Isaac's filthy shirt in the close ups and in the cute ones from the garden - that shirt was put on clean this morning and he ate breakfast in his coverall bib! You can see that bathtime was again a fun affair. So, I mentioned that our weather here was hot and sunny and back home we're having blizzards and record amounts of snow and apparently our road is impassable etc. Our good neighbors sent us a few shots of the front of our house, the side view of our house and one from their house (with their cute dog Fred) looking down to the road - where you can see someone cross country skiing! We appreciate our neighbors watching out for our house and for helping us to organize some plowing! We'll be back to cold ourselves tomorrow night!
Photos from today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623407666530/
Photos from today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623407666530/
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Guangzhou Wednesday February 10th
Wednesday was a nice relaxing and quiet day. We were told that from 10 a.m. at least one parent needed to be available in the room to ensure that all US consulate paperwork was in good order. We had a great night and we let the children sleep until htey woke up which was nice. We bathed them in the morning and Isaac loved the bath - did not get photos but we had a not a single tear and he seemed reluctant to come out. He really enjoyed it. After breakfast, because it was a nice day, Grandma, David, Isaac, Indigo and me all took a walk around the hotel garden which is very pretty so you see the photos out there. We went back to the room and basically the children just played. We put Isaac down for a nap and he crashed for two hours but Indigo, although she laid down for a long time, was unable to sleep - at least she rested. While the kids were down, I stayed in the room and David, Granddad and Grandma just went out walking to see the shops etc. They walked poor Grandma off her feet. She bought a small digital camera as she has been fussing at me for not taking every photo that she thinks I ought to take so now she can snap away. When David came back he and I took the kids out to the "playground" on the fourth floor - but outside. It's one tiny slide set but the kids had fun and Indigo climbed the climbing thing on the side - be still my heart... We found the squash courts and so we set them free to run in that enclosed space which was fun and then back to the room. I was able to talk to Laura Beth on the phone for a bit which was a treat - you forget how nice it is to just be able to talk on the phone with a friend in English. Laura Beth and family decided that they would join us for our Pearl River cruise so our guide Rebecca made arrrangements with them to do that. you can see some cute photos of Indigo playing in her dad's shoes and in her ladybug t-shirt - thanks Shelli, she loves it and I am so glad I popped it in because we have had a major shortage of short sleeves here in Guangzhou and they have been pretty impossible to find for children. You can also see some cute photos of Indigo and Isaac sharing a snack of cheetos (more spicy here) and some Lays potato chips. Our group met at 5:30 and our bus took us to the boat. We had a very enjoyable evening cruising down the Pearl River. Everything is lit up beautifully, even though it is probably an environmental nightmare. We passed the White Swan where we stayed before. There was a small magic show which Indigo enjoyed and she wanted to get right up front to see it. It was wonderful to see Laura Beth, Adam and their family and Indigo and Eliana enjoyed jumping around. Their daughter Maya Mei, who they have just adopted from Wuhan, Hubei, did very well on the cruise. Adopting an eight year old has been challenging and we think they are doing the most incredible job. Thanks to Laura Beth, Granddad also got to have his first red wine of the entire trip! We had to take a photo of the label. Dad pronounced that he already really likes Laura Beth :-). We saw their family off in the taxi to their hotel and we all boarded our bus - it was hot and we could not wait for the engine to go and the air conditioning to start - well, we waited and waited. The engine would not turn over. Everyone started to get off the bus and just as most people were off, the driver got the bus to start, but it did not sound good and we were grateful that it made it to the hotel. We were off to bed shortly after returning home. One aside, the past two days Indigo has had 3 little hive outbreaks which we can't connect to anything. The first one was at the zoo and little bumps appeared on the side of her face, then again later that afternoon and then again yesterday afternoon. I am very grateful for the big bottle of Benedryl I have with me - we just wish we could figure out the source - it could even be heat as our furnace girl is burning up here and her whole head just gets wet. Photos from Wednesday here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623274726999/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157623274726999/
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