Our official adoption day photo. The ladies featured are the government officials who watched us sign the final form and hand us the adoption certificate.
We couldn't be happier.
 |
| Madelyn Yinmi Roark |
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Day 6- Free Day
Free Day. Thank goodness. After yesterday's stressors and tears (both from baby and mom) we had a day off today while other families traveled to their kiddos cities of origin to apply for passports. That's the one saving grace of yesterday afternoon's visit with the police director- at least we didn't have a 4 hour car ride one way to do it.
What did we do with our time? We enjoyed it.
We all slept in a little. This meant 6am for Sarah and Chris and 7am for Maddy. However, we have learned Maddy is not a morning person. She stretches and squawks and refuses to open her eyes until absolutely necessary which is then followed by some crying. (Should be fun when she's a teenager...)
We actually did fun stuff. We bought a cheap stroller and headed to a nearby park and later to Carrefor (French version of Target in China). Both were interesting experiences. In the park we encountered many curious Chinese who asked us about our daughter. In Chinese. This led to lots of hand gestures capped off by a 'thumbs up' by both parties. We were thanked by one man who spoke English. Amid the gardens and waterlilies, we found a roller skating rink with American techno music and lots of tai chi. At the Carrefor, we were the only white people in the building but the employees were very kind and several were happy to practice their English with us.
Maddy and I are doing better. While Chris is still the favorite parent, she happily lets me feed her, is starting to come to me voluntarily and allowed me to comfort her when she awoke partly through her nap so that she could go back to sleep. She prefers for Chris to put her to bed, for which I can't blame her. He is warm and snuggly and she is moving to Minnesota where those are valuable commodities. Pretty smart move if you ask me.
So, all in all, today was a good day. Tomorrow we are going to visit the special care unit where Maddy was cared for immediately after she was found until August the following year. While it will be difficult to see little ones without families, we want to have as much knowledge of our girl's history as possible and want to thank the nurses who cared for her, if possible.
It is incredible how much we love this little girl. We fell in love with her little face last February but that was nothing compared to seeing her walk in administration room with her little pigtails, big brown eyes and rosebud mouth. And then to hear her voice and know her personality- wow. She is so special and filled with a spark you cannot believe. Someone asked us if we knew what the Chinese word for 'firecracker' is because that's what she is. But the most incredible part is --- she's ours.
*Thank you to our family and friends for the comments, emails and prayers. This buoys our spirits when we are wondering if we're doing things right and helps us feel connected to home.
Love,
S
What did we do with our time? We enjoyed it.
We all slept in a little. This meant 6am for Sarah and Chris and 7am for Maddy. However, we have learned Maddy is not a morning person. She stretches and squawks and refuses to open her eyes until absolutely necessary which is then followed by some crying. (Should be fun when she's a teenager...)
We actually did fun stuff. We bought a cheap stroller and headed to a nearby park and later to Carrefor (French version of Target in China). Both were interesting experiences. In the park we encountered many curious Chinese who asked us about our daughter. In Chinese. This led to lots of hand gestures capped off by a 'thumbs up' by both parties. We were thanked by one man who spoke English. Amid the gardens and waterlilies, we found a roller skating rink with American techno music and lots of tai chi. At the Carrefor, we were the only white people in the building but the employees were very kind and several were happy to practice their English with us.
Maddy and I are doing better. While Chris is still the favorite parent, she happily lets me feed her, is starting to come to me voluntarily and allowed me to comfort her when she awoke partly through her nap so that she could go back to sleep. She prefers for Chris to put her to bed, for which I can't blame her. He is warm and snuggly and she is moving to Minnesota where those are valuable commodities. Pretty smart move if you ask me.
So, all in all, today was a good day. Tomorrow we are going to visit the special care unit where Maddy was cared for immediately after she was found until August the following year. While it will be difficult to see little ones without families, we want to have as much knowledge of our girl's history as possible and want to thank the nurses who cared for her, if possible.
It is incredible how much we love this little girl. We fell in love with her little face last February but that was nothing compared to seeing her walk in administration room with her little pigtails, big brown eyes and rosebud mouth. And then to hear her voice and know her personality- wow. She is so special and filled with a spark you cannot believe. Someone asked us if we knew what the Chinese word for 'firecracker' is because that's what she is. But the most incredible part is --- she's ours.
*Thank you to our family and friends for the comments, emails and prayers. This buoys our spirits when we are wondering if we're doing things right and helps us feel connected to home.
Love,
S
 |
| Walking in the park. Finally out of the hotel! |
 |
| Trying on Mama's sunglasses. Hot stuff! |
 |
| Really, Dad? Another picture? |
 |
| Family visit at the park. |
 |
| Yep, I got them to buy me bubbles and a pinwheel. It pays to be cute. |
 |
| Our room is hot! Diapers only for playtime. |
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Day 5 - Adoption Day
Why would this day be called 'Adoption Day' if we got her yesterday? Funny little quirk. You are given your child on Gotcha Day and then you take them home (hotel room, yoga mats, etc) for 24 hours. The following day you go back to the same hallway where you were given the child and you sign the official adoption papers.
When you give up a baby after you sign the papers, you have committed a crime.
When you commit a crime, you go to prison.
When you are in China, you go to a Chinese Prison.
Don't go to a Chinese Prison.
This was a day of very big ups and downs. Maddy has attached to me (C). I did nothing special. The kids sometimes choose mom, dad, neither or both. Maddy chose me. There are 12 people in our adoption group and probably at least half are 'daddy's girls'. They speak of several possible reactions of the kiddos to this experience, and we saw all three yesterday among our group of 12.
Some children appear fine. They interact and play with new families with little difficulty. One little boy who was being picked up by 4 ladies did this. He acquired a harem and rolled with it.
Some children are terrified and scream as if they are being ripped directly out of mother's arms. One little girl did this and her nanny was actually just as attached. She ran out of the room crying. The adoptive family was a set of parents and their teenage daughters. This little girl was absolutely inconsolable until dad grabbed her. Then she was silent and smiling.
Others 'shut down' and appear numb and detached to the entire experience. Maddy did this. She was one of the last to arrive and we were actually taking pictures for other people when all of a sudden our little one with no less than 5 pig tails (intricately done, we will never replicate this. Ever.) comes walking in holding the hand of an orphanage girl. Maddy had fallen asleep in the car and had never actually stayed in the orphanage until the night before. Sunday she had been taken from her foster family to stay at the orphanage along with two other kids. She had been with this family since she was 10.5 months old. They are the only family she knows. She is two. She does not get that they were temporary and we are permanent. She was eerily quiet (though we were prepared for this as a possible reaction) and Sarah held her initially. All was fine. Then I got my turn and she kind of latched on. Understand that she did not start smiling, laughing and giggling. This was a terrified and confused little girl. We did what all adoptive parents do. We bribed her. Suckers. Cheerios. Worked well.
We went back to the hotel and Maddy and I played together while Sarah went to fill out more paperwork. During this time we got out the stacking cups and they were a huge hit. They were thrown, stacked, stepped on, used as an instrument with which I was bludgeoned... There were smiles and laughter.
She is supposed to nap from 1230 - 130. Not even close. Around 5pm she bumped her head (was dizzy with exhaustion) and I picked her up. Within 3 minutes she is out cold. So we put her down. Just after 7pm we got worried. If left to sleep she would probably be up around midnight and then the days and nights are flipped. I seem to remember somebody saying that you should never wake a sleeping baby. We called our guide (they do much more than guide. They are worth their weight in gold. Which is why I use GoldLine. I was a client before I was a custo----oops wrong blog). The instruction was to wake her. We did. She was up until ~10pm and slept until 0630.
Today we took her to breakfast and she demonstrated the origin of the cheeks you have all seen in the picture. She destroyed the breakfast buffet. Sausage, steamed bread, congee, yogurt, egg. Smiled and laughed.
Next stop was to sign the adoption papers. Shock. We signed 'em. She is ours (despite her likely strong desire to get away from the horrifically inexperienced bozos who really do not know what they are doing). That was followed by 45 minutes at a notary office on the 6th floor of a hot police station (no elevator. Awesome). During this time she largely did well thanks to Cheerios. She loves to do that cool thing while being held whereupon she goes from being limp and happy to tonically contracted, straight as a board, and screaming with a head butt to the face in 1/10th of a second. It is special, and from observations of the group - common.
Lunch break and then the afternoon disaster. We had to go get passport pics taken and then submit the application (think going to the DMV and then the social security office back-to-back with a small screaming stranger). She fell asleep in the car on the way over and so we had to wake her (again) to put a dark shirt on (Chinese insist on dark clothes for passport photos) and then bright flashing lights. Not cool. This was followed by a trip to the government center to formally apply for her Chinese passport. Our guide pulled strings and we literally skipped over 100 people in line. Then a director came down and saw three American families applying for Chinese passports for 3 infants. He wanted to 'ask us questions' and so we were lead upstairs and into his office.
Understand that this is well over 2 hours into this adventure tour and Maddy's wheels were fully off the wagon. He sat calmly and asked us very personal questions about how much adoption costs, why we wanted Chinese kids, who we were working with. He was not mean. He was young and curious. I pictured Brian Hagenhoff really wanting to 'cut deep through all the paperwork and really just talk about feelings'. While Chinese Government Hagenhoff calmly asked us questions Maddy screamed, spasmed, and threw things at him (sippy cup and cheesy poofs). I was so proud of her at that moment (sorry Hager, he just kept rambling like your 2:40 voicemail messages before the days of texting).
**As an aside I need to thank two entities**
1. Whoever invented Pirate's Booty. It is like heroin. This kid needed a fix and powered through two single serving bags in order to stay calm. Were it not for this elixir-of-the-Gods I do believe someone would have deported us.
2. Shanna Grant for telling us about this. You will never know the true extent of our gratitude.
Finally came back to the room after that. In all fairness to Maddy, she was actually quite a trooper and really well-behaved for about 90% of the afternoon (I attribute 60% of this time to item #1 above). She was laughing and playing and then all of a sudden her face turned to stone. She walked to the corner of the room and stood there and started to cry. She is grieving. Sarah rushed to her and held her tight. Maddy fell asleep on Sarah's chest. It absolutely rips your heart out to watch this precious thing grieve.
Two years ago today she was found in Zhengzhou. She spent 10.5 months in s special care unit and was then shipped to a foster family. Now she has been given to a couple of (woefully inexperienced) strangers. It is just going to take time and it is really hard to not have any way to reassure her of this. She is a lot tougher than I will ever be.
This post was likely painfully long and I apologize. This is your punishment for 1) reading this blog and 2) getting all the pictures yesterday without having to slog through our mushy commentary.
Executive Summary:
Adoption done. In the eyes of China she is ours. Everything we do from here on out is to get the US government to let her come back with us.
Maddy doing well. Grieving, scared, but strong
Sarah and Chris - not yet parenting champs (I have spared you the description of this evening. Of waking her up from yet another nap (yep, 3 times in 30 hours) only to bathe her. She is exhausted. She hated baths before. We suck at giving them. Toxic combination)
This was pre-bath. Notice how she is basically asleep. We woke her up.
til next time,
c
When you give up a baby after you sign the papers, you have committed a crime.
When you commit a crime, you go to prison.
When you are in China, you go to a Chinese Prison.
Don't go to a Chinese Prison.
This was a day of very big ups and downs. Maddy has attached to me (C). I did nothing special. The kids sometimes choose mom, dad, neither or both. Maddy chose me. There are 12 people in our adoption group and probably at least half are 'daddy's girls'. They speak of several possible reactions of the kiddos to this experience, and we saw all three yesterday among our group of 12.
Some children appear fine. They interact and play with new families with little difficulty. One little boy who was being picked up by 4 ladies did this. He acquired a harem and rolled with it.
Some children are terrified and scream as if they are being ripped directly out of mother's arms. One little girl did this and her nanny was actually just as attached. She ran out of the room crying. The adoptive family was a set of parents and their teenage daughters. This little girl was absolutely inconsolable until dad grabbed her. Then she was silent and smiling.
Others 'shut down' and appear numb and detached to the entire experience. Maddy did this. She was one of the last to arrive and we were actually taking pictures for other people when all of a sudden our little one with no less than 5 pig tails (intricately done, we will never replicate this. Ever.) comes walking in holding the hand of an orphanage girl. Maddy had fallen asleep in the car and had never actually stayed in the orphanage until the night before. Sunday she had been taken from her foster family to stay at the orphanage along with two other kids. She had been with this family since she was 10.5 months old. They are the only family she knows. She is two. She does not get that they were temporary and we are permanent. She was eerily quiet (though we were prepared for this as a possible reaction) and Sarah held her initially. All was fine. Then I got my turn and she kind of latched on. Understand that she did not start smiling, laughing and giggling. This was a terrified and confused little girl. We did what all adoptive parents do. We bribed her. Suckers. Cheerios. Worked well.
We went back to the hotel and Maddy and I played together while Sarah went to fill out more paperwork. During this time we got out the stacking cups and they were a huge hit. They were thrown, stacked, stepped on, used as an instrument with which I was bludgeoned... There were smiles and laughter.
She is supposed to nap from 1230 - 130. Not even close. Around 5pm she bumped her head (was dizzy with exhaustion) and I picked her up. Within 3 minutes she is out cold. So we put her down. Just after 7pm we got worried. If left to sleep she would probably be up around midnight and then the days and nights are flipped. I seem to remember somebody saying that you should never wake a sleeping baby. We called our guide (they do much more than guide. They are worth their weight in gold. Which is why I use GoldLine. I was a client before I was a custo----oops wrong blog). The instruction was to wake her. We did. She was up until ~10pm and slept until 0630.
Today we took her to breakfast and she demonstrated the origin of the cheeks you have all seen in the picture. She destroyed the breakfast buffet. Sausage, steamed bread, congee, yogurt, egg. Smiled and laughed.
Next stop was to sign the adoption papers. Shock. We signed 'em. She is ours (despite her likely strong desire to get away from the horrifically inexperienced bozos who really do not know what they are doing). That was followed by 45 minutes at a notary office on the 6th floor of a hot police station (no elevator. Awesome). During this time she largely did well thanks to Cheerios. She loves to do that cool thing while being held whereupon she goes from being limp and happy to tonically contracted, straight as a board, and screaming with a head butt to the face in 1/10th of a second. It is special, and from observations of the group - common.
Lunch break and then the afternoon disaster. We had to go get passport pics taken and then submit the application (think going to the DMV and then the social security office back-to-back with a small screaming stranger). She fell asleep in the car on the way over and so we had to wake her (again) to put a dark shirt on (Chinese insist on dark clothes for passport photos) and then bright flashing lights. Not cool. This was followed by a trip to the government center to formally apply for her Chinese passport. Our guide pulled strings and we literally skipped over 100 people in line. Then a director came down and saw three American families applying for Chinese passports for 3 infants. He wanted to 'ask us questions' and so we were lead upstairs and into his office.
Understand that this is well over 2 hours into this adventure tour and Maddy's wheels were fully off the wagon. He sat calmly and asked us very personal questions about how much adoption costs, why we wanted Chinese kids, who we were working with. He was not mean. He was young and curious. I pictured Brian Hagenhoff really wanting to 'cut deep through all the paperwork and really just talk about feelings'. While Chinese Government Hagenhoff calmly asked us questions Maddy screamed, spasmed, and threw things at him (sippy cup and cheesy poofs). I was so proud of her at that moment (sorry Hager, he just kept rambling like your 2:40 voicemail messages before the days of texting).
**As an aside I need to thank two entities**
1. Whoever invented Pirate's Booty. It is like heroin. This kid needed a fix and powered through two single serving bags in order to stay calm. Were it not for this elixir-of-the-Gods I do believe someone would have deported us.
2. Shanna Grant for telling us about this. You will never know the true extent of our gratitude.
Finally came back to the room after that. In all fairness to Maddy, she was actually quite a trooper and really well-behaved for about 90% of the afternoon (I attribute 60% of this time to item #1 above). She was laughing and playing and then all of a sudden her face turned to stone. She walked to the corner of the room and stood there and started to cry. She is grieving. Sarah rushed to her and held her tight. Maddy fell asleep on Sarah's chest. It absolutely rips your heart out to watch this precious thing grieve.
Two years ago today she was found in Zhengzhou. She spent 10.5 months in s special care unit and was then shipped to a foster family. Now she has been given to a couple of (woefully inexperienced) strangers. It is just going to take time and it is really hard to not have any way to reassure her of this. She is a lot tougher than I will ever be.
This post was likely painfully long and I apologize. This is your punishment for 1) reading this blog and 2) getting all the pictures yesterday without having to slog through our mushy commentary.
Executive Summary:
Adoption done. In the eyes of China she is ours. Everything we do from here on out is to get the US government to let her come back with us.
Maddy doing well. Grieving, scared, but strong
Sarah and Chris - not yet parenting champs (I have spared you the description of this evening. Of waking her up from yet another nap (yep, 3 times in 30 hours) only to bathe her. She is exhausted. She hated baths before. We suck at giving them. Toxic combination)
This was pre-bath. Notice how she is basically asleep. We woke her up.
til next time,
c
Monday, October 8, 2012
Day 4 - Gotcha Day!
Words will not do it justice anyway, so words come later. For now, pictures. She is the sweetest little thing you can imagine.
c
c
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Day 3 - Arrival in Zhengzhou
We are not in Kansas anymore. Random sign from a bus stop. I don't know the characters along the bottom, but I know the symbol on the top.
I never thought I would be so happy to sleep 'in' until 430a. We went to bed way too early two nights ago and paid for this by starting yesterday at midnight. Eyes open. Wide awake. Painful. I have a new respect for insomniacs.
As Sarah's post demonstrated, we pushed through the wall and had a great day yesterday climbing the Great Wall and seeing Beijing's Olympic Park. The Bird's Nest is even better up close. Last night we went out to dinner near the hotel (both being stuporous in our sleep deprivation) in order to avoid the sight of our beds. Way too tempting and we needed to stay up. You will notice that I said beds, and that is not a typo. The bed size is just between a twin and a full, only shorter. That means that we are kicking it 'Ward and June Cleaver' Style. As for comfort? They are not soft. Close your eyes and you would not be able to tell the difference between the bed and a cheap yoga mat. Our Chinese guide informed us that they have the same opinions about our soft mattresses.
We flew on China Southern Airlines from Beijing to Zhengzhou today. Uneventful. The most impressive feature was the air pollution. From the runways you had difficulty making out the terminals. There are two couples on the trip who each spent two years in different parts of China. Both remarked that the air quality while we were in Beijing was as good as they had ever seen it. Zhengzhou is a completely different story. We landed and there are just no words to describe the air here. I would not be shocked to find out that Maddy does not know the sky is blue. Imagine a humid day on which you feel a rainstorm is imminent. That is what it feels like. You could also take deep breaths from the exhaust pipe of a 1970s Chevy. Similar. It is sad because there are actually pretty trees that line many of the streets near our hotel as well as a park nearby that is lovely. Maybe we just caught things on a bad day...
After arrival we checked into the hotel and then one person from each couple went to the bank to change money into Chinese Yuan. Took awhile but there are actually bank tellers working on Sundays (a holiday Sunday, no less). Thankfully our guide stood at the window and basically told everyone what to do.
A trip to Walmart followed. Chinese Walmart has retained nothing, save the name, from its American parent. 1st Floor = food (Dead animals. Skinned. Whole. Barrels and barrels of rice. Booze. Weird chocolates). The 2nd floor is housewares, etc. Attendants could not be nicer. They want to be helpful but also want to practice their English. Our whole group continues to enjoy celebrity status as the camera phones come out very quickly to snap pictures of the foreigners. Usually they are not subtle about this. Lots of craned necks and awkward staring matches.
As I said earlier, it was a good day. Nice to be in the same city as our little girl. The bags are packed. The gifts wrapped. Tomorrow we get on a bus and go to the orphanage to be handed the chubby cheeks from all the pictures. Sarah is asleep and that is where I need to be also.
Thanks for all the support, prayers, and well-wishes. The next post should have some new 'family' pics. It all started with this one last Winter.
Tomorrow the real debacle begins.
Parenthood...
And
Here.
We.
Go.
-c
We flew on China Southern Airlines from Beijing to Zhengzhou today. Uneventful. The most impressive feature was the air pollution. From the runways you had difficulty making out the terminals. There are two couples on the trip who each spent two years in different parts of China. Both remarked that the air quality while we were in Beijing was as good as they had ever seen it. Zhengzhou is a completely different story. We landed and there are just no words to describe the air here. I would not be shocked to find out that Maddy does not know the sky is blue. Imagine a humid day on which you feel a rainstorm is imminent. That is what it feels like. You could also take deep breaths from the exhaust pipe of a 1970s Chevy. Similar. It is sad because there are actually pretty trees that line many of the streets near our hotel as well as a park nearby that is lovely. Maybe we just caught things on a bad day...
After arrival we checked into the hotel and then one person from each couple went to the bank to change money into Chinese Yuan. Took awhile but there are actually bank tellers working on Sundays (a holiday Sunday, no less). Thankfully our guide stood at the window and basically told everyone what to do.
A trip to Walmart followed. Chinese Walmart has retained nothing, save the name, from its American parent. 1st Floor = food (Dead animals. Skinned. Whole. Barrels and barrels of rice. Booze. Weird chocolates). The 2nd floor is housewares, etc. Attendants could not be nicer. They want to be helpful but also want to practice their English. Our whole group continues to enjoy celebrity status as the camera phones come out very quickly to snap pictures of the foreigners. Usually they are not subtle about this. Lots of craned necks and awkward staring matches.
As I said earlier, it was a good day. Nice to be in the same city as our little girl. The bags are packed. The gifts wrapped. Tomorrow we get on a bus and go to the orphanage to be handed the chubby cheeks from all the pictures. Sarah is asleep and that is where I need to be also.
Thanks for all the support, prayers, and well-wishes. The next post should have some new 'family' pics. It all started with this one last Winter.
Tomorrow the real debacle begins.
Parenthood...
And
Here.
We.
Go.
-c
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Day 2- Beijing
Sleep did not come easy for Chris and I last night. We may have underestimated the power of a 13 hour time change. We were both awake at midnight and slept only bits after that. Finally, at 5am, Chris went outside and went running on the streets of Beijing around our hotel while I showered.
Thankfully, the events of the day were exciting which kept us awake. Today's schedule included a visit to a jade factory/showroom, the Great Wall (one of the seven wonders of the world), Olympic park including the Bird's nest and the water cube and an acrobatics show. The Great Wall was pretty amazing both in its structure and surroundings.
Interesting things we've learned so far:
Tomorrow we head to Zhengzhou, which we have learned is pronounced 'Jong-Joe'. And Monday... we get our girl. Only two more sleeps until Maddy.
Thankfully, the events of the day were exciting which kept us awake. Today's schedule included a visit to a jade factory/showroom, the Great Wall (one of the seven wonders of the world), Olympic park including the Bird's nest and the water cube and an acrobatics show. The Great Wall was pretty amazing both in its structure and surroundings.
Interesting things we've learned so far:
- The harder the bed in China, the nicer the hotel. Apparently, we're at a nice hotel.
- Americans are the only people who really like air conditioning. This is based not only on this trip but our travels to Europe as well.
- Animal characters with big eyes are the thing. Cats, bears, dogs, you name it.
- Babies in split pants on dad's shoulders are not good things. Maddy will not be doing this.
- The Colonel is a big man here.
- Despite its claims, the Minnesota State Fair is not the only place to find crazy food on sticks.
Tomorrow we head to Zhengzhou, which we have learned is pronounced 'Jong-Joe'. And Monday... we get our girl. Only two more sleeps until Maddy.
 |
 |
| Completely amazing! The weather was great and the smog was low. |
 |
| Rockin' our alma maters on the Great Wall! |
 |
| The Bird's Nest Stadium from 2008 Olympics |
 |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Church- downtown Beijing. Yes, that is a dance party outside. Some sort of large group line dancing to techno music occurred for people of all ages. |
 |
| Becoming friendly with the cats. |
Friday, October 5, 2012
Day 1- Beijing
Somehow, we got out of bed today and made it to the bus on time. Today's plan was sightseeing with our travel group so as to get everyone acclimated to the time change.
The other families in our group are great. Everyone we've met has come to their adoption with a unique background story, all of which have been interesting to hear . We are the only first time parents so far in the group but this means we have experienced parents with us!
Scheduled sights today included Hutong tour, Tiananmen Square and the Emperor's City (otherwise known as the Forbidden City). These famous sites were very busy due to the national holiday week. We also toured a silk factory, ate a Chinese lunch and just observed. People watching is fantastic although more interesting is that we are watched with fascination. If our group stopped, people tried to get close to the group, take pictures near us or with us, or just stared. It's very interesting to be the ones sticking out. Although Beijing is a huge international city, the Caucasians are still rare. Thus far, the Chinese people have been nice and welcoming.
Some pictures from our travels...
The other families in our group are great. Everyone we've met has come to their adoption with a unique background story, all of which have been interesting to hear . We are the only first time parents so far in the group but this means we have experienced parents with us!
Scheduled sights today included Hutong tour, Tiananmen Square and the Emperor's City (otherwise known as the Forbidden City). These famous sites were very busy due to the national holiday week. We also toured a silk factory, ate a Chinese lunch and just observed. People watching is fantastic although more interesting is that we are watched with fascination. If our group stopped, people tried to get close to the group, take pictures near us or with us, or just stared. It's very interesting to be the ones sticking out. Although Beijing is a huge international city, the Caucasians are still rare. Thus far, the Chinese people have been nice and welcoming.
Some pictures from our travels...
 |
| Rickshaw ride near Hutong (old part of Beijing) |
 |
| Tiananmen Square |
 |
| Inside Forbidden City walls |
 |
| The architecture and detailing of the ancient buildings are gorgeous. |
 |
| The palace |
 |
| Chris and I at the palace. |
 |
| The City is extensive. |
 |
| No big deal, just your average Chinese Dragon. |
 |
| Rarrr! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)