Fun in the afternoon and evening

We had a good day today. After Rachel's nap, we walked over to the market across the highway via pedestrian overpass. It was a bit of a walk, especially as Rachel has decided she likes to be carried quite a bit, even when safety doesn't demand it. The market was booth after booth of dried foods and spices. The most common items, in booth after booth, were roots and tubers of all varieties, mushrooms and other fungi, starfish, seahorses, and dried fruits we did not recognize. Many merchants were drying their goods on the streets then bagging them for bulk sale. It was an interesting area to walk around.

We ate at La Dolce Vita, and the pizza was quite good. Rachel ate 2 1/2 pieces herself, so she fits in well in our family! Fruit juice is very good here. The apple juice in the tall glasses in the photo was fresh, something like a cross between cider and the apple juice we're used to.

On the way back from supper, we stopped at the playground so the kids could wear themselves out. Rachel would probably still be there if she hadn't needed to find a restroom. She's asleep now. Her medical exam and immunizations are early tomorrow morning. We're praying that goes well; it can be an anxious experience.

Church on Shamian Island

We went to the Anglican church on Shamian Island this morning. The later service of the day, at 11 a.m., is in both Mandarin and English. Rachel hung in there for the hymns and prayer, but she became restless during the sermon, especially after a young Chinese woman came in late with two rowdy boys and sat down next to us. Mommy and Rachel went out into the courtyard, where the sermon was playing over loudspeakers, before Rachel started squirming even more. Daddy stayed for the duration and said it was a well-done and scripturally based service, Mommy and Rachel missed the youth choir that sang at the end of the service.

Rachel is napping now, and when she gets up, the three of us are going on an expedition to a market area a short distance for the island, accessible via a pedestrian overpass. Most of the other Holt families are going to the jade and pearl markets this afternoon, but as we did that 2 years ago, we thought we'd try something else this time.

Mommy is working with one useful eye now. I think some dust or debris got in behind one of my contacts and may have scratched my eye a little. I have backup contacts, but they didn't make a difference, so I just took one out and am hoping the eye will heal itself over the next day or two. At first I thought maybe I was just tearing up with allergies (it's very green and humid here in Guangzhou), but the way it's reacting to light points to a little scratch. The first order of business for our expedition today is getting some cheap sunglasses.

Tonight, conditions permitting, we are planning to eat at a local pizzaria with the other Kansas family in the White Swan, the Schmidts from Hutchinson.

First day in Guangzhou

We had a good flight to Guangzhou last night, and Rachel Guanglan did great, at least until the long busride from the airport to the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island. She was so tired (we got in after 10 p.m.) that she was almost deliriously giggly. She was as happy as can be but way too loud for 15 minutes or so. Once we got up to the room, she protested a bit before falling asleep. She had a great day today, although she didn't take a nap, so she went to bed just a short while ago, at about 8 p.m. here.

Guangzhou feels like we're halfway home. In terms of the length of our stay, we are halfway through our time in China. But more than that, it feels more like home, partly because we're reunited with so many other families, and partly because we had such a great experience here two years ago. So far, so good this time around too. Rachel had her visa photo taken and her TB skin test administered. She didn't even squirm, let alone cry, when the nurse stuck the needle in. She just watched with great curiosity.

Afterwards, she played for a while in the outdoor playground on the island, mostly with Chinese locals. She started out shy and ended up taking over the operation of the tornado slide, being a bit bossy in instructing other kids how to play correctly and enforcing a rule about not climbing up the slide. Mommy was approached by two 12-year-olds on school break and their moms, who encouraged them to practice their English on me. I got to try out some more Mandarin and was given a passing grade. (Cantonese is more common here.) Frankly, even modest attempts to speak Chinese are appreciated. People are so polite that they compliment your pronunciation when you tell them "I understand very little Mandarin."

Photos here include Rachel and Mommy on the plane, Daddy looking on as Rachel plays with her Barbie and Chinese baby doll (Mattel sponsors a playroom here and gives Barbies to all the kids), Rachel at Starbucks and in the park, and finally by the waterfall and pool in the White Swan, If she looks like she is sweetly appreciating the fish, you need to know that the moment after the photo was taken, she leaned over, said "Psssshhhh!" and spit into the pond.

Dumpling banquet

Last night, on our last evening in Xi'an, we went to a Tang Dynasty-themed show that included a dumpling banquet. We had close to 20 courses (one dumpling each course, per person), featuring dumplings designed to look like the filling on the inside. Rachel Guanglan ate the equivalent of 8 dumplings herself, plus appetizers.

A stage show in the tradition of the Tang Dynasty followed, lasting about an hour. Rachel was transfixed, although she covered her ears during the high notes played by the flat flute. It was a nice way to end our visit in Xi'an. Today, we're just waiting for her passport and our plane ride to Guangzhou. Rachel had a great morning, but she really fought her nap today. In the process she worked herself up into wild crying, during which she was trying to tell me what her mother (not me, she made clear) would say about all this. It's hard to differentiate real grieving from a 3-year-old's attempt to avoid a nap, but sometimes we think the latter segues to the former. She did eventually climb up onto the bed, snuggled up and went promptly asleep.

How this bodes for our flight tonight (early morning in the US) we're not sure, so all prayers will be appreciated!

Should have noted...

Taking photos of Rachel Guanglan's finding place required some derring-do on Brent's part. Our driver stopped the van ON THE HIGHWAY (no shoulder), and Brent climbed up along the railing to get photos of the area. That behavior is not especially unusual in China, though! People park on sidewalks, on the road -- pretty much anywhere they can find room in the city. We don't suppose parking on the highway would be tolerated very long, but it only took a couple minutes to get the shots.

In Xi'an, and perhaps elsewhere in China, the highway patrol uses cameras to catch traffic violators, then posts fines to the vehicle owner's account. When the time comes to renew registration, drivers have to settle up for the year. I suppose it's some kind of deterrent, but despite what we are told are steep fines, many drivers seem very haphazard. Driving conditions are much better on the highways than on city streets, though, so maybe it works.

Area of finding place

Photos

Days 3-4 with Rachel Guanglan

The last couple days have been great fun, until about supper time, when Rachel Guanglan starts to declare it's time to go home. (We THINK that's what she's saying. We're told she has a countryside accent, strong enough that our Xi'an native guide David can only pick out a word or two per sentence.) The orientation Holt gave us again was spot on: After the initial couple hours of terror, she realized we were going to be a lot of fun, so she was all bubbles and sunshine for about 24 hours. Then, nightfall the second night, she thought, "Well, that was fun. Time to go home." She had a terrible tantrum/crying jag, then finally agreed to crawl into bed and fell promptly asleep. Yesterday we made sure she had her nap so that tiredness didn't exacerbate her grief. Last night, she started in with the same crying, but it seemed more like a normal tantrum and less like wild grief. That seemed more certain when I produced a piece of gum, pointed to it, and told her in my basic Mandarin
that she could have gum when she stopped crying. She grabbed a tissue, blew her nose, wiped her eyes, and reached for the gum. She fell asleep contentedly next to us in bed.

She's very stubborn and persistent -- bossy, even -- which with boundaries will serve her well in life. Right now, it just means she repeats the same demand over and over, regardless of whether you tell her no, later, wait, or don't even understand. We can't imagine what this must be like for her.

However, she had a great time yesterday on our tour of the Wild Goose Pagoda and city wall -- running, jumping, laughing, teasing, sharing with the other Holt family in Shaanxi Province, and demonstrating abundant curiosity. Today at the Terra Cotta Army, it was much the same. During the day, she is a bubbly, energetic preschooler who wants to be near us. But she didn't get a nap today, so we'll see how tonight goes!

We got to see her finding place today too, although the information we have is so general that we're not really certain of the exact place. It's basically a highway tunnel near a train station. There is a pedestrian/bicycle area, and we're guessing that's where she was found.

Finalized

It's official -- Rachel Guanglan Bruffett is our daughter. Now we wait in Xi'an for her passport and the translated adoption documents. That will give us several days to see the sites of Xi'an. The plan is to visit the city wall and Wild Goose Pagoda tomorrow, then the Terra Cotta Army on Wednesday. We also hope to go to a dumpling banquet one evening. We will visit the city gate that was Rachel's finding place.

We're here with a family from Louisiana, and they and their new daughter are a delight. We'll always remember how scared we all were of the aggressive style of our skilled driver. Brent says driving is as much an art here as a skill. The streets seem much more intimidating here than in Beijing or in the other Chinese cities we visited in 2008. Pedestrians have no right of way ever, which makes the prospect of crossing the street to go to the nearby department store hard to face, even with our guide's promise of big holiday sales. We have enough clothes for Rachel, but we didn't bring many toys. So far she is well-occupied, so the live-action game of Frogger can wait another day.

photos with last post

Guanglan has landed

Well, it's the middle of the night and Rachel is fast asleep. She had a very rough first couple hours. She was there already when we arrived at the appointment. At first she was OK holding my hand and even being held, but once she figured out her auntie was not staying, she freaked out. She had just left her foster mom that morning -- the same woman who has raised her from the age of 2 months, even longer than we'd thought. The grieving process is going to be rough.

However, after doing some more paperwork with our guide back at the hotel, during which she cried to go back home, I took her for a walk in the lobby. I think she thought we were leaving at first, so she was in a good mood, and then we ran into the other Holt family in our province, who were getting ready to go to supper in the lobby restaurant with their cutie. Rachel tried to DRAG me into the restaurant, so after popping upstairs to tell Daddy we were going to try to eat, we went back and got a table.

She instantly transformed -- she ate up two little bowls of soup, a plate of fresh fruit, and a good portion of my noodle dish. All the while she was flirting, teasing, and finally REALLY smiling. Her mood continued even back up in our room, where she showed new interest in the little toys and gadgets we'd brought. We waited a little while then Skyped with Lillian, Grandpa and Grammie, and while we were talking, she fell asleep on my lap. She woke up a little while as I put jammies on her, but went right to sleep between us in the bed. (We did too, which is why we're now wide awake in the middle of the night!)

We're preparing for lots of mood swings, and it may be tough today when we go back for the finalization, where she'll see an auntie again. Her grieving may take a while, but at least we know she can be comfortable with us. She is so darling, and it tears your heart to see her so sad, but she has a big capacity for love.

The other photo is what the check-in line at the Beijing airport looked like at 6 a.m. before our flight. Our guide was our hero, though, as she made the process smooth for us.

Guanglan has landed

Well, it's the middle of the night and Rachel is fast asleep. She had a very rough first couple hours. She was there already when we arrived at the appointment. At first she was OK holding my hand and even being held, but once she figured out her auntie was not staying, she freaked out. She had just left her foster mom that morning -- the same woman who has raised her from the age of 2 months, even longer than we'd thought. The grieving process is going to be rough.

However, after doing some more paperwork with our guide back at the hotel, during which she cried to go back home, I took her for a walk in the lobby. I think she thought we were leaving at first, so she was in a good mood, and then we ran into the other Holt family in our province, who were getting ready to go to supper in the lobby restaurant with their cutie. Rachel tried to DRAG me into the restaurant, so after popping upstairs to tell Daddy we were going to try to eat, we went back and got a table.

She instantly transformed -- she ate up two little bowls of soup, a plate of fresh fruit, and a good portion of my noodle dish. All the while she was flirting, teasing, and finally REALLY smiling. Her mood continued even back up in our room, where she showed new interest in the little toys and gadgets we'd brought. We waited a little while then Skyped with Lillian, Grandpa and Grammie, and while we were talking, she fell asleep on my lap. She woke up a little while as I put jammies on her, but went right to sleep between us in the bed. (We did too, which is why we're now wide awake in the middle of the night!)

We're preparing for lots of mood swings, and it may be tough today when we go back for the finalization, where she'll see an auntie again. Her grieving may take a while, but at least we know she can be comfortable with us. She is so darling, and it tears your heart to see her so sad, but she has a big capacity for love.

The other photo is what the check-in line at the Beijing airport looked like at 6 a.m. before our flight. Our guide was our hero, though, as she made the process smooth for us.

But the big news of the day...

...was the update on Rachel Guanglan we received after orientation this morning. While some families received multiple photos, we received just one, but in that photo we see how much she's changed since the much earlier photos we'd seen of her. We also received updated measurements, which if correct could make fitting into her 4T clothes a bit tough, let alone the handful of 3Ts we brought.

We leave Beijing early Sunday morning and will meet her Sunday afternoon in Xi'an. That's now less than 19 hours away!

Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square/Silk

Today's activities continued our theme of lots of walking, and we enjoyed the opportunity to see the Forbidden City, which we had not visited previously. We also walked along Tiananmen Square and visited Yuanlong Silk.

More photos

Here are a few more photos from the Great Wall and Olympic park, compressed to allow mobile posting...

Great Wall and Bird's Nest

In 2008, we climbed the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This time, we went to the Badaling section, which is probably the most popular and commercial section. However, we arrived early, and it was bitterly cold, with strong winds, so for us there were no crowds to fight. The views were beautiful, as the air was sharp and clear. We decided to skip the cable car and walk up the steep beginning section, which was tiring but fun. Our guide, Sandy, did not join us on the Wall -- I think she thought we were a little nuts, given the temperature.

Because we went to the Olympic park after the Great Wall and lunch, we were not with a larger group. It was just Sandy, a driver, and the two of us. She told us interesting stories about the building of the Great Wall and some of the legends that surround it.

We ate lunch at a Cloisonne factory -- not the same Cloisonne factory we visited in 2008 -- then headed back to Beijing to visit the Olympic park. The Bird's Nest and Water Cube are as spectacular in person as on TV. We were able to go inside the Bird's Nest, where a winter sports festival was going on. The Water Cube is under renovation, but the outside view was lovely.

We walked A LOT today, so we might feel it tomorrow during the orientation session!

(p.s. We tried to post more photos, but mobile posting limits attachments. Maybe we'll have more luck in Xi'an.)

First morning

We tried to stay awake as long as we could last night, but we were both pretty much out of it. We did succeed in our short outing to the grocer to get bottled water, snacks and a pair of gloves for Kari. Later we also Skyped with Grammie and Lillian. But then we were out, until about 3 a.m., when a raging caffeine deprivation headache woke Kari up. A few baby aspirin later, we were back asleep until 6 a.m. So jet lag may not hit us as hard this time.

We arrived at the new terminal at Beijing Capital International Airport yesterday afternoon. Two years ago, in January 2008, it was still a couple months away from opening, so it was a new experience for us. It is a gorgeous terminal -- we definitely could see the influence of the Olympics on its design and size.

This morning we had a great breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant. Chinese hotel breakfast buffets are incredible, as they offer choices for all palates. You can get western food or more traditional Asian breakfast fare -- or both, in our case!

Now, off to the Badaling section of the Great Wall (a different section than we visited in 2008) and the Olympic village. We'll check in again after our excursion today. (Incidentally, we can't open the blogger site from this hotel, but can post remotely by email. So we have no idea how the posts are formatting -- a good excuse if it looks sloppy!)

Countdown begins in earnest

Today is my (Kari's) last day at work before travel preparations must begin in earnest! We'll be in China very soon, and meeting Rachel on Jan. 24. Thank you, Grammie and Grandpa Austin, for staying with Lillian while we're overseas. The anticipation of meeting Rachel is overwhelming, but it's really started to affect me in the last few days that we will be away from Lillian for the longest time -- by far -- since the day we met her. I don't think I've been away from her for more than a day and a half in two years. Conflicting emotions -- but we are confident that it will all be MORE than worth it in the end.