Food for Thought

Of all the unknowns going into this trip, one of the foremost on our minds was what we were going to eat for almost three weeks in China. So we loaded up our suitcases and carry-ons with almonds, Clif bars, oatmeal packets and other non-perishable goodies from home. We’re VERY happy we brought them!

It’s not that we’re going hungry here. It’s just that things are very, very different than they are in the States. It wasn’t really like that to start off in Hong Kong. Someone mentioned today that Hong Kong was very much like New York City—not all THAT evident that you’re in a foreign country. There were many Western-style restaurants right around our hotel—Subway, Outback Steakhouse, McDonalds, Starbucks. We found however that the pizza from room service was good and also convenient, so we had that most nights. We did eat one meal with our group in a Chinese restaurant. We were also able to find a grocery store near the hotel which had a number of familiar products. I came home bearing KitKats, Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies, Skippy Peanut Butter and Sun Chips among other things. (Awesome!)

Now that we’ve moved on Nanchang (and mainland China), it’s very apparent we’re IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY! We eat at the breakfast buffet in the hotel each morning. Eggs, banana bread, bacon, fried intestines. Yes, there was a pot on the buffet labeled “Fried Intestines”! Having NO intent of actually taking any, I did however open up the lid. Any guesses as to what I saw? That’s right—sausages! Must’ve somehow got lost in the translation!

In this city of 4 million they have KFC, McDonalds and Papa John’s, but they’re all located a distance away from the hotel. Only Papa John’s delivers and is consistently like home, so they’ve been getting a lot of our business this week. The Papa John’s menu, also however features something called Squid Rings. We’ll stick with the cheese pizza, thank you!

China is definitely not as advanced when it comes to refrigeration, so every meal you wonder if everything’s safe. That also means that you need to get used to room temperature drinks as well—even the stuff that’s been refrigerated! And there’s absolutely no ice that should be consumed by Westerners because the water purification techniques are not advanced. CCAI recommends that you drink no water from the tap, take no ice in your drinks, eat no fruit or vegetable that’s not thoroughly cooked, and don’t even sing in the shower! The good thing is bottled water is readily available so we’ve been using that for a number of different purposes.

What is not readily available in the grocery stores of Mainland China are namebrand American food products. I went on a field trip with our group to Walmart thinking that it would be the cure for a little homesickness. The fact was that just the opposite happened. The labels are unfamiliar and of course are written in Chinese. So you have no idea what’s inside the package. You usually don’t even know what “section” of the grocery store you’re in! So when you see any familiar packaging you snap it up, even if it’s written in Chinese. (Sidenote one: Anyone need a big box of Depends? Sidenote two: I almost bought a big jug of apple juice till I realized it was fish oil.) Seriously, we did find Cheetos, Pepsi and Oreos in their Chinese packaging and they did pass the “taste test.” But wow the smell in the produce section! It was like serious death. Later we learned that it was a plant called durian, which has been banned from all public transportation in China (check out the wikipedia entry if you don’t believe me!). Otherwise, we didn’t see anything as exotic as you might have expected. It was however very different from the Walmart back home! Another day I’ll be sure to post on the authentic Chinese food we’ve had opportunity to try.

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A little bio on Miss Nora

Yesterday (Monday, July 26th) Nora became a member of our family in the eyes of the government of the People’s Republic of China. We had two interviews with the registrar and the notary here in Nanchang. It was really a lot less of big deal than it sounds—just a matter of answering a few simple questions—“Why do you want to adopt a Chinese baby?” It takes 4 business days for the paperwork to be processed, which explains why we have to be here in Nanchang for the rest of the week with not much to do except bond with the baby which, I suppose, might just be the point.

This morning, Nora had her appointment with the pediatrician associated with CCAI. He came directly to the hotel and checked out all the babies (one at a time) in the hotel room of the CCAI rep. Nora was fine for the first couple seconds of the checkup and then completely melted down. Her demeanor is very calm EXCEPT when you do something that she doesn’t like. In that case she’ll tell you exactly what she expects of you!

The doctor said that her heart and lungs check out great. She has a little ear infection possibly starting, but everything else was good. One of the babies was diagnosed to be malnourished and they made it a priority to get her up to speed as quick as possible.

Nora has a wonderful personality. She’s very stoic much of the time—as it seems almost all the babies are. But we’re slowly learning what to do to make her smile! From the start she’s been open to us and now after a few days is starting to really warm to us. Grace helps that a lot.
By the way, Grace has been a big hit with all the families in our group. I leaned over to Beth yesterday and said, “Can you imagine ME as a 9 year old going to China with Delbert and Lorraine?” What an adventure THAT would’ve been! She’s made friends with the two other boys on the trip with us. And the CCAI rep complimented her today on her prowess as a big sister. She’s being a real trooper, except for our day trip to Chinese Walmart. (Her comment: “I’m gonna throw up!" Thankfully she didn’t, but if she had, I couldn’t have really blamed her. They had a fruit called durian that stunk up an entire section of the store and smelled worse than death!) More on Chinese Walmart when I do the “food” entry of this blog.

Speaking of food, Nora is a great eater. She weighs significantly less than we were originally told—about 15 pounds total we think. But she’s making up for lost time! She loves watermelon, banana bread, eggs, cheerios—all things that can be found on the breakfast buffer here at the hotel. But she REALLY went to town on the rice and vegetable congee that was served at the Chinese restaurant we went to tonight. Congee, again, is like cream of rice cereal, but the Chinese put all kinds of gross stuff in it, too. Can you imagine spinach in your rice cereal? Welcome to Nanchang! But the kid LOVES it. She should probably enjoy it now, because I can’t promise we’ll be having it too much back in Normal, Illinois!

Baby Day

On Sunday our lives changed forever and changed for the better when we met our daughter, Nora Mei-Li. We arrived in Nanchang about 1:00 p.m. and took about an hour ride from airport to hotel. Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi province, a city of about 4 million people--more on the city later. Our group was met at the airport by the Nanchang rep of CCAI, our American adoption agency. We were told that our babies were on their way to the hotel from the orphanage in Fuzhou and that we would be meeting them at 5:00 p.m. We had just enough time to drop our bags in our room before a 3:00 p.m. orientation meeting, again led by the great folks from CCAI--we'd really be lost without them! That meeting lasted till about 4:30. Only half and hour to grab our cameras (and check our batteries!) before the babies would be brought to the conference room where we had been meeting.

Just before 5:00 p.m. 12 babies with their nannies from the orphanage came into earshot--imagine the anticipation when you've never SEEN your child but can HEAR the babies just outside in the hallway! Waldschmidt being at the end of the alphabet, Nora was the last child brought in. It was love at first sight.

The reactions of the babies to their new parents was what you might expect--some were terrified and screamed almost from the start. Imagine being taken from your foster mom and dad and being given to a stranger who looks, smells and talks differently from anyone else you've ever seen in your life. A side note--all the girls in our group were actually in foster homes, not the orphanage itself. The foster moms brought the babies back to the orphanage yesterday and the nannies from the orphanage escorted the babies to Nanchang. No foster moms are allowed to come to the hotel--as you can imagine--that could make for quite a scene.

Nora's reaction to us was a bit of timidity, but no crying. She was mesmorized by the huge chandelier in the conference room. After posing for a few family pictures, she was 100% in our care--after having been 100% in our hearts for so long!

Going to Disneyland

One of the reasons we came in to Hong Kong a few days early was that we were planning a surprise trip to Hong Kong Disney for Grace. She's wanted to go to Disney for many years and we've never had the chance--so when we found out that Hong Kong had a Disney theme park we knew that we had to take it in. It was a bit of a challenge keeping the secret from Grace that last several weeks however!

We took the subway from our hotel to the park about 30 minutes out of town. Another new experience as none of us had ever traveled on the subway before! Fortunately, our new friends John and Susannah (who are also here adopting a daughter) made sure we took all the right transfers and got us there safely. John and Susannah's young son is with them and he and Grace have also struck up a friendship. The subway here is efficient and clean and not real crowded even in rush hour--a real good way to get from point A to point B.

I'm not a huge Disney fan to begin with, but even I have to admit that the day was just wonderful. Temps were in the mid-90's and the sun was out, but we were able to take periodic breaks in the air conditioned buildings. Lines were short--I think our longest wait for anything was 20 minutes. Highlights included Space Mountain (for Beth and Grace--I happily sat that one out), The Lion King show, Grace meeting Cinderella, the Main Street parades, the Buzz Lightyear ride (that one was tame enough for me!), and It's a Small World After All.

Today (Saturday the 24th) we're officially meeting our group from CCAI and taking a tour of some of Hong Kong's tourist spots. We'll be sure to tell you what we see. Miss you all very much!

Where's your Walmart?

A bit of an off day today as rain has put some of our outdoor touring on hold. Apparently Typhoon Chanthu made landfall this afternoon in South China. We knew it was typhoon season, but really didn't know anything was imminent until we saw it on CNN tonight. We just thought it was raining a lot! Hopefully tomorrow things will clear up a bit.

The rest of our travel group arrives in Hong Kong tomorrow. That means that for the last couple of days we've been on our own in the city. As far as adventure goes, we're taking baby steps. Yesterday, I got a rush out of exchanging US money for Hong Kong dollars. Then I bought water at the 7-11. (Breath-taking I know, right? Didn't Indiana Jones also do this in one of his movies?) Today, I nearly wept openly upon finding a grocery store around the corner from our hotel. I've never been so happy to see Sun Chips in all my life. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's not like they have these "8 acre Walmart monstrosity of a building" grocery stores like we have at home. There's a door with a few lights around it surrounded by 500 other similar doors with lights around them.

We've stayed in for most meals so far. The hotel has complimentary breakfast buffet with made to order omelets, breads, juices, etc. Very good. I also tried some of the dim sum and the congee this morning. Congee is like cream of rice cereal and we heard that Nora loves it. Mine needed a little splenda.

We're safe and well, thankfully. One day closer to meeting our little one--we fly to Nanchang on Sunday and Nora joins our family that afternoon. Internet is pretty reliable here in Hong Kong--hopefully will remain so in Nanchang. We'll try to update daily.

Hello China!

We're happy to have arrived safely at about 6:50 a.m. on Wednesday, July 21 at Hong Kong International Airport. Many prayers of thanksgiving are being sent heavenward as we reflect on all the blessings our God has given already on this journey. I know it won't ALL go so smoothly, but as I sit here at Hong Kong's Regal Kowloon hotel, I'm thankful for good health for all three of us throughout the plane ride(s), two very smooth flights (but that journey from LA to Hong Kong felt like forever!), leaving our checked bags in Chicago and having all of them actually show up in Hong Kong, finding them immediately on the baggage carousel and getting to take in Hong Kong's skyline on the 45 minute shuttle bus ride to our hotel. Again, I know the whole trip will most likely not run so smoothly, but so far everything has clicked right into place.

Hong Kong is unlike anything I've ever seen before. My brain's a little punchy from lack of sleep, so I'm lacking the words to describe it, but suffice it to say as you approach the city, high rises cover the horizon from one end of your vision to the other--one stacked right next to the other.

We're official!

We received word this morning that we will leave for Hong Kong on July 21st and travel home August 7.

We are in contact with several different travel agencies trying to find the most reasonable airfares. Some adoption friends have told us that airfare is currently the highest it's been in years. The internet makes it easier though to contact travel agencies and try to find the best deal.

For someone who's not very adventurous, this is all new and more than a little scary. But I (we) realize that in this case, it's about the destination and not about the journey! (We'll try to enjoy the journey as well!)

Travel Approval

We got some good news yesterday when we heard that our Travel Approval has been issued by the CCAA. (China Center of Adoption Affairs) Basically, this is the Chinese government saying "Come get your kid now!"

The final piece of the pre-travel puzzle comes when the American Consulate in Guangzhou issues us an appointment date and time. This is where Nora will officially become a U.S. citizen. We should hear from the consulate by the end of this week. Then our adoption agency will arrange our travel itinerary around that appointment. So we're a little closer.

We don't know officially when we'll be leaving yet, but it's starting to look like July 21 or 22 will be the day we'll be on our way.

Still here!

Yes, we've taken a short break from posting while we wait for news on our trip. But we're busy nevertheless! Indications are that we'll be traveling to China in mid-July, but we haven't received official word on that yet. Also unofficial, but likely, is our travel itinerary--Hong Kong (where we'll meet the rest of our travel group), Nanchang (the capital of Jiangxi province where we'll meet Nora), and Guangzhou (where the consulate is located and the adoption will become official).

We've completed and submitted our paperwork for our Chinese visas. Beth is sorting through baby clothes. And we're trying to remember what it takes to be parents to a 9 month old! (Think it'll all come back quickly.) Getting the baby's room ready and researching trans-pacific flights is also a favorite and necessary pastime.

We are responsible for getting ourselves from our home to the "meet up" city, which will most likely be the aforementioned Hong Kong. There we will join several other families from our adoption agency who are also adopting "Fu girls." Beth has enjoyed talking online to a few (fu?) of these other new moms whose daughters are currently in the care of the Fuzhou City SWI. From the port city onward, all our travel is arranged by our adoption agency. They also provide a guide for our group who makes sure we get where we need to be when we need to be there.

Nora is currently in foster care in the city of Fuzhou and not in the SWI itself. We're very thankful that she's in foster care--because even though she'll be very attached to her current foster mom and dad, we're hoping that will also lead to an easier attachment to Beth and myself when we meet her. More news to come as we receive it!