Day 10 and 11

It's Monday night here in Guangzhou and the last two days have been less than exciting as it has been cold, rainy and windy both Sunday and Monday. Sunday was a scheduled free day which means that Eddie and I were on our own for the day. Eddie is a typical teenager and likes to get to sleep in the mornings, but his dad is not going to miss the buffet American breakfast down on the "Middle" floor here at the Victory Hotel. This means that I usually have Eddie up around 9 which gives me a full hour to munch down on eggs and bacon. But don't think that I am the only one who enjoys eating as Eddie usually eats at least as much as his dad does. Eddie is a huge fan of all kinds of sausages, but particularly likes the chicken and pork sausages (here in China, sausages come in all forms). In addition, he looks for noodles, toast and jelly, dumplings and many of the local dishes. He always finishes his meal off with a large plate of fruit. Throughout a meal, he often signs that he is full and I tell him that he does not have to finish everything, but he continually dives back in until the plate is finished.

After breakfast we strolled down to the park which sits alongside the Pearl River. Here it is not uncommon to see families having a quiet walk (many American families come here to stroll their newly adopted children), Chinese senior citizens playing hackey sack, dancing or engaging in traditional Tai Chi. We watched some of the activities and would have taken in some shopping but all shops are closed on Sunday morning. Eddie stood and watched and even understood some of the movements and did a few simple movements for me to see his expertise.

Eddie and I went back to the room and spent most of the afternoon watching TV, engaging in a little horseplay and basically lounging around. Later in the afternoon, we headed down to Lucy's Restaurant which is a favorite for their many traditional American dishes. Lucy's sits alongside the river next to the park as well and is an enjoyable stroll. Eddie had a shish kabob and I had chicken strips. After our late lunch we headed back to the room for some more lounging. Later in the evening, we headed out to the local 7-11 store for some snacks. Eddie's version of a snack is noodles, but he usually is able to work in a little candy as well. We turned in early after a little TV.

On Monday morning, we had our usual breakfast and headed back to the room. Connie, our guide, was coming by today to go through all of our documents in preparation for our consulate visit. This is nerve racking since there are so many documents and missing even one can bring about tremendous hardship for a family. As Connie went down the long checklist, Eddie would try to file through the papers to pull out the right documents. He really did not have a clue what he was looking for, but he was sure that he was a big help in the process. He also headed over to the refrigerator to pour our guide a big glass of Sprite. Eddie enjoys playing the host and does so even when it is only me that he is serving. Fortunately, all of our documents were in order which made the day start off right. After completing the checklist, we headed out into the rain back to the medical clinic to retrieve the reports from Saturday's visits. This would be necessary to complete the process at the consulate. Fortunately, here also, everything was OK with the reports. A bad report here could keep you in the country for possibly several more weeks. After the reports we headed back to the hotel.

On Monday afternoon, Eddie spent a couple of hours with Daniel, a previously adopted Chinese boy who now lives in Mississippi. His family had adopted another child and his mom asked if it would be OK if Daniel and Eddie played handheld video games while she got her new son down for a nap. Eddie really enjoyed the interaction of a new friend here in the hotel. Even tough Daniel could not sign, he and Eddie could easily communicate with one another by instincts alone. There are several families here who have adopted children and stay here at the Victory Hotel (and down the street at the White Swan Hotel) as we have met another family from Chicago also. If you are reading this and you have adopted a child before, you understand the bond that quickly develops among families who have trudged through the process. All of them are so happy, yet many are so scared with this new delivery from Heaven that is with them forever. It is always comforting that no matter the difficulties, we always realize that we are not alone in this new adventure.

After Daniel left, Eddie and I gathered our laundry to carry to one of the many shops that do laundry here close to the hotel. Interestingly, all of these laundry shops are "50% off." The owners of these shops are such barterers. It is really a lot of fun dealing with them. I sometimes have wondered why they just don't put the reduced price out to begin with, but I have come to realize that this would take away half the fun of their daily work. Eddie used this time to try and negotiate a bracelet. That is something that we will deal with when we pick up our laundry.

Things are getting better each day. Eddie and I have made a lot of progress in our communication and our bonding which is quite a relief. Each day brings closer to understanding one another, But, I would be remiss if I did not point out how badly we both want to get home. Eddie just beams every time he sees the family on the computer. They already have quite a relationship together, but getting them face to face will be so much better. Tomorrow, our plans are to go to the Safari Park. There is record cold here in China this month, but here in the sub -tropical Guangzhou it is not terrible. Expected temperature tomorrow is to be around 50 which is better than the freezing that is being experienced in Beijing. If nothing else, the rain is supposed to hold off tomorrow so we will at least see some sunshine. Thank you again for taking the time to follow us in our journeys. We look forward to sharing with you again tomorrow.

Day 9 First Day in Guangzhou

For those of you who are looking for lots of pictures, I must apologize for my camera; I think that it must have drank from the wrong fountain while here in China and has come down with a bug. Hopefully, I can find a cheap camera to get me by for the next week.

Today was our first day in Guangzhou-the location of our final appointments before heading back to the United States. Our guide, Connie, came by around 10 AM and we took a short walk through the streets of this small island to the local medical clinic. Eddie must have asked a 100 times if he was going to have shots and at the time, I was unsure. The medical clinic here is full of Americans...with their newly adopted children. The purpose is to give a basic medical examination, get a TB test and get any necessary immunizations before entering the US.

Eddie soon realized that he needed to be a "big boy" because he could see that he was the oldest adopted child in the clinic. He pointed around the room at the mostly infants and toddlers that were receiving their check ups. Nonetheless, it was pretty easy to see that he was a little nervous about the whole show. He tried to hide his emotions by constantly flashing the boyish smile, but there was no mistaking his nervousness. Eddie went through the exam well, but he did have to leave with three new shots.

After the exam, we took a stroll through the streets of a more leisurely city than Beijing. Everything in this part of Beijing is much slower as evidenced to those in the local park playing a game that is similar to our version of hackey sack...oh by the way, they all looked to be 60 or older. Connie pointed out the local Bank of China, Lucy's Restaurant, a place to get our laundry done and the local 7-11 convenience store. As we headed back to the hotel, I realized that Eddie looked to be feeling the effects of his shots so we headed back to the room for him to take an afternoon nap. Eddie woke up right before supper so I am sure that the shots had some effect on him. Sorry that today was not more exciting, but maybe the next couple will offer some more interesting tidbits about our life in Guangzhou. We have several more appointments to keep...most of which are at the US Consulate.

PS The weather is certainly better than the record snow that they are having in Beijing. Take care.

Eddie and Jimmie

Leaving Tianjin

I had to miss a day on posting because the last day has been spent mostly in traveling. Our trip to the Great Wall had to be cancelled because we awoke to another day of snowfall in Beijing. The roads looked to be a little dangerous and our guide confirmed that they were getting slick on her way into the city. We decided to make a short trip to the grocery store so we would not have to venture to far away from the hotel today. Eddie picked out his usual as well as some Fudge. He is certainly like most kids in that regard. But the really neat thing is that he is always excited to share his prize possessions. I noticed that when we went to the Forbidden Palace also. I was cold because I had no hat or gloves, but Eddie quickly shared his hat with me since he had a hood on his coat. Although, he has an independent streak, he has a BIG heart.

One highlight that we had waiting for us on Thursday night though was the instructor that we met who knew both Chinese and American sign language. Eddie really has a tremendous head on his shoulder and that was certainly on display when Mr. Wu came back for a second visit. He has such a way in communicating and had a real knack for understanding Eddie. They conversed at great lengths, first in CSL and then ASL as Mr. Wu instructed Eddie on the signs that were the same and some that were different. Even after I had tried to learn ASL over the last few months, Eddie picked ASL up much faster than me. In fact, after Mr. Wu had given Eddie a deck of playing cards that were in ASL, Eddie was quickly giving me lessons on the conversions of each term. Watching those two work was really a sight to see. This has probably been the most enjoyable part of our trip is having Eddie be able to “say” everything that he wanted. I also had Mr. Wu share with Eddie more about our family and the messages that we wanted him to know as he arrived to his new forever family.

Friday morning had us up early. We had to make the drive back to Tianjin where we had to pick up documents, dropped off some clothes and gifts back at the orphanage and then had to pick up Eddie’s passport from the police station. We finished around noon and had time to stop in a local Chinese fast food restaurant for some of the best eating that we had in awhile. It was some type of pancake wrapped around a meat filling. After quickly gulping down our food, we headed to Tianjin airport for the afternoon flight to Guangzhou where we would finish out the week. There was a sense as we left the Tianjin airport, the city where Eddie had spent his whole life that he was excited and a little scared about what this beginning meant for him. As he watched those jets take off, he knew that he too would soon be on one for his trip to America.

Eddie really liked the security checks and preparing to board the plane. As soon as we got on the plane, you can only imagine what he wanted to do first; he wanted to see the bathroom like all other kids (even though he had just used it before he got on). Since our seat was the first one behind first class, it was cute seeing little eyes peeping through the curtain to see what the other side did when they flew. He really was mesmerized by the things that he saw as we took off on our 3 hour flight South. After arriving at the airport and being dropped off at baggage claim, Eddie was amazed at how the luggage came out from so many different directions. I really thought that he was going to crawl through the little whole in the wall to see where it was all coming from. I think that I was more relieved than he was when it finally came out.

Our new guide Connie, met us as we exited baggage claim. Connie is a special guide because she was part of the China team that worked so hard to finish up the last bit of paperwork before arriving in China. She went the extra mile to make sure everything was completed and to complete what she herself termed “a miracle.”

Tomorrow we will begin this last leg of our journey to bring Eddie home. Eddie has a medical checkup in the morning and will get his picture made for his visa. Guangzhou will be a little different than Beijing as it is suited more for the Western taste. In fact, less than 10 feet from our hotel door is a Subway and not far down the street is a very Western Lucy’s restaurant.

As always, thank you for the prayers and support. It is certainly felt in your post and comments. We love you all.

Eddie and Jimmie



I will post pictures soon!

Day 6 The Zoo

Today was basically a free day so I decided to see if there was a way that I could get to the zoo on my own. Previously, I had asked Mary if the Beijing zoo was very far and she wrote out for me the instructions to give our taxi driver. It would certainly be a shame to come to Beijing and not carry him to see the pandas. As we walked out of the hotel, Eddie kept pulling at my coat to go in one direction, but I had my eyes on the busy street to catch a cab with my handwritten directions. Eddie had the look of disgust all the way to the street because he had a better plan than mine. I would find out later what he was bothered about.

We stood next to the street for 15 minutes trying to hail a cab, but to no avail. You should have seen Eddie doing these different hand gestures trying to coax a cab our way. I practically had to hold on to his coat so he would not get to far out in the street. But with all of our frantic waving no cab stopped. Finally, someone drove by on a bike and said in Chinese something to the effect that no cab was going to stop in the bus and bike lane. If you wanted a cab, then you needed to go stand back there at that hotel (now I knew what Eddie was trying to tell me earlier). Eddie sure was proud of himself as he led me back to the hotel to the place where he was pointing. And, to the place where we caught our cab.

At the zoo, Eddie enjoyed looking at the animals. He really loves the video camera and the still shot camera and uses them both frequently. He takes pictures of everything. We took a leisurely stroll through the Beijing Zoo enjoying popcorn and coke, saw the world famous pandas and saw the fish in the aquarium. The aquarium was especially nice for both of us; me because it was warm and Eddie because it had an arcade. He loves playing car driving games on the computer and then to finally sit down at a real car driving game excited him immensely. We played a couple of times before we left to find another cab (this time doing it Eddie's way) to get back to the hotel.

We had to get home before 4 because I had sent our laundry out to be cleaned. In China, this means that everything comes back pressed and in its own plastic wrapping. Eddie was proud of his clean clothes and quickly packed his suitcase even though we were not scheduled to leave Beijing until Friday morning. As soon as we packed, Eddie and I headed back out to the streets...this time walking down to my heart's desire-McDonald's. All restaurants have a picture menu which makes ordering easy for me...just give me the Big Mac combo, but that clearly was not enough for this 75 lb child as he wanted the Big and Tasty Combo, a Big Mac Combo, a Fried Chicken Combo, ice cream sundae and a pie. It took a lot of convincing for me to satisfy Eddie that one combo would be enough until he finished and then I would buy him something else if he wanted it (which was the chocolate pie). He barely finished the pie and he gave me the sign for being full.

We left McDonalds and went back to the hotel in anticipation for our evening call home on the computer. I had forgotten that today was a holiday and that everyone would not be getting up so early. On our first attempt, which was a little before 6 am your time, we did not get a response. This clearly frustrated Eddie as he was ready for the show that always comes when 5 people stand in front of a web cam to see their new brother. Eddie is certainly amused at all the activity that takes place when we call. But quite honestly, I don't think they are as excited as Eddie. I left a chat invitation up so everyone would know that I was available when they got up, but this really did not seem to satisfy Eddie as he kept signing to me for 45 minutes to wake everyone up...over and over, "wake up, wake up." I was so relieved when Alisa finally answered that everyone was ready. And then for the next half hour, Eddie runs around the room showing everyone his things, his books, his trinkets that he has bought, pictures that he has taken and by the way he likes to take pictures of the computer screen when everyone is online also. Comically, the web camera can bring about other laughs as well. For example, when Alisa was carrying the web camera around to each of the windows, it came across the load of laundry that Alisa had been separating out; Eddie quickly asked what mom did during the day while Allyson was at school This brought a few laughs. This is always an enjoyable time for all of us to be able to see one another.

As I close for the evening, I am reflecting on a little of what I know about Eddie so far:

1. Although he is 14, he still has the heart of an 8 year old
2. he loves trinkets and would buy them all if you would let him
3. he has a BIG appetite
4. he is excited about flying to see in person his new family
5. he likes to sleep in and play video games
6. he is very independent, always wanting to do things his way
7. he is proud of his things and takes very good care of them
8. he likes TV
9. he LOVES basketball
10. he is LOVED by his family very much!!

These are just a few, but I hope that they are enough to help you understand a little about who Eddie is. Please keep praying for us and that the transition to a new family will be smooth for us all. Attachment is an extremely difficult process and is especially difficult with a child of Eddie's age coming in as the oldest member of the family. Pray that we ALL are able to provide for him the things that he needs.

To close, we are headed to the Great Wall today. I certainly hope that it is not as cold as I think that it will be. Looking forward to talking with you again.

Love,

Eddie and Jimmie

Day 5 Forbidden City

Today we awoke to a surprise...about 6 inches of snow in Beijing. We are on the main road in Beijing and so the snow was not an issue because they cover it with salt pretty quickly, but that does not mean that all was well outside of Beijing. We had a 9:30 trip to the Forbidden City planned but since our guide lives outside of Beijing, traveling for her would be more difficult. So, we took a later breakfast so Eddie could sleep in. During breakfast once again he showed his comedian side. We are in the hotel restaurant with dozens of empty seats. Eddie and I have found a seat but while waiting on our food, Eddie saunters off to a not too distant table to take up by himself. With his arms thrown back over the back of the chair and his legs out in the middle of the aisle, he looks at me gives me a playful wink as if to say I am "king of the world."



After breakfast, we waited in our room for our guide before we ventured out. But, after getting out, I quickly realized that I was under dressed for the cold of November in Beijing. Expected high temperatures for the week are only around 35-40.

Eddie has already told me on several occasions how he loves history so I thought a day spent looking at the history would be appropriate. So, our trip started with a stop at Tienanmen Square. This is the largest open area public square in the world and will hold 500,000 people. If you remember, this was the location of the student uprising several years ago. The square is a bustling people with tourist from all over China and the world. It has a distinctly guarded appearance with lots of military and police.


But as much as Eddie loves history, he loves snow more. The guide did share a lot of interesting things about the history, but Eddie had one thing on his mind...snow and making snowballs. One of his snowballs was tossed at me with surprising accuracy. Usually Eddie likes to do a lot of the videos with the Flip camera that he is using, but not today. The only thing that he wanted to film today was a snowman inside the Forbidden Palace. He truly is a kid at heart.


From here at the square, one can see the Great Hall of the People which is the parliament building for the National Chinese government. Prominently displayed close by is a very large picture of Chairman Mao who is revered here in China. Also next to the square is our next destination, The Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is very beautiful especially with the large snow covering of this cold November morning. For over 500 years, this was the home to two Chinese dynasties. The name comes from the fact that it was "forbidden" for common people to visit, unlike today as it is full of people from all walks of life and from countries around the world.


After leaving our tour, we made a stop at a grocery store to get some things for supper. Eddie is already tired of the restaurant scene. Lastly, we settled in for the evening. One thing that I should mention is that, yes, I am aware that Eddie seems to be wearing the same clothes a lot, but he is wearing different clothes. He really likes taking care of the good things and changes out of them pretty quickly when he arrives back at the hotel. So mom, don't worry, I am keeping Eddie fed, bathed and happy and of course clothed in different clothes. I look forward to sharing more with you all. Thank you for the prayers sent here and for the prayers for our family back home. We love you all.


Eddie and Jimmie

Day 4 Back to Beijing

Well Monday was not quite as exciting as past days as most of it was spent in traveling and checking into a new hotel. But, before we left, we had to get Eddie's passport information turned into the police office in Tianjin. This police office is one busy place. I am not sure if there is that much crime or if it was just the normal occurrence of business.

After leaving the police office, we traveled to the "fast train" station again for the train ride to Beijing for a couple of days. We have to return to Tianjin on Friday to pick up the passport and catch an afternoon flight to Guangzhou. This was Eddie's first trip on this speedy train. I think that he was as surprised as I was to see the train click off at 326 kilometers per hour which for us Americans is about 203 mph.


When we arrived in Beijing, our driver picked us up to carry us to a very luxurious hotel. We quickly unpacked and traveled down the street to a local mall to get some lunch. Ordering by pictures is a new experience for me...the dishes always look better in the picture (and different in a lot of ways, too) than what you get when it is brought to you. We rushed through our meal and lunch because I had a surprise for Eddie when we returned to the hotel.


At 3:00, there was a knock at the door. The surprise that I had was an interpreter of both American Sign Language and Chinese Sign Language. And boy was he good in so many ways. His personality was tremendous and his teaching was very good because he kept us both mesmerized for three straight hours. He was able to show Eddie the signs that were the same in CSL and ASL and teach Eddie a few new things as well. Oh yea, I was learning more than my little cup could hold also. Interestingly, all communication for me was in written English. We filled up SEVERAL sheets of paper with phrases, words and just the alphabet and Eddie thoroughly enjoyed the time. It must be more than a little frustrating for Eddie not be able to say everything that he wants.


After our 3 hour tutorial lesson, Eddie and I got ready and headed downstairs for supper then back to the room for an early night in. Speaking of meals, Eddie likes all the food out in the restaurants but he wanted me to tell mom that he REALLY liked fruits, vegetables and our version of Romain noodles the best. So Logan, get your garden tools ready.


As we go to bed tonight, it sure is chilly and cloudy out. I am wondering if there is any snow in the offering. Mary did say that Beijing had a very big snow last weekend, but there is no sign of the past snow today. Either way, I look forward to writing again tomorrow after our trip to the Forbidden City.

Eddie and Jimmie

Like Father...Like Son

I didn't get a post from Jimmie today. They were traveling back to Beijing to do some site seeing until Friday. So, I thought I would share some pictures. They are eating the meal that Eddie prepared for them.

I bet he sends me something tomorrow...LOL!!