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Tuesday, 5/29 or Wednesday, 5/30 (depending on which side of the International Date Line we are on). Right now we are on the plane somewhere over Russia. We have been flying for six hours since we left Seattle, and we have about four and a half left to go. We flew over Anchorage and north across the Bering Strait, and now we are heading south toward Japan. It is a long flight, but the TV’s and computer offer much more entertainment than we had when we went to Europe in high school. It is 8:13 Spokane time, and we will arrive about midnight, though it will be 4:15 p.m. in Tokyo. Cortney has gotten some sleep, but I still have not slept a wink. I think I’ll give it another shot.

Thursday, 5/31 – It is morning and I am just posting to let everyone know that we made it into Beijing a little after 9:00 last night. We got to our hotel and went straight to bed. It was a long flight, and we are happy to be done. We are just going to breakfast, then we plan to do a bit of exploring Beijing. It is cloudy today, so it shouldn’t be too hot. Here is a picture from our hotel room. There is a lot of traffic, and it is fun watching cars and pedestrians play a dangerous game of chicken in the street in front of our hotel room.

Thursday, May 31st - Today we visited Beihai Park. Our first adventure was getting there. The cab ride was fascinating. It seems that most traffic laws that we take for granted in the US are just suggestions here. We also noticed that bicycles are used to transport all kinds of things here--it's impressive the type of cargo we saw on the back of bicycles.

Beihai Park was amazing. It was drizzling and cool for most of the day, so the park was not very busy. The park wraps around a lake, and part of it is on an island. Throughout the park are temples and a variety of buildings built by emperors dating back to 1100 AD. Many of the buildings were built by Emperor Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty. We walked almost all the way around the lake and explored just about every corner of the park. We were entertained by all of the people who were staring at us, and we kept trying to figure out the most polite response. We finally settled on just smiling and saying "Nihao" (hello.)

We bought pieces of jade from a vendor, and I got my first chance to try my hand at negotiating in Chinese. The vendor was a very nice woman who helped us pick out good quality pieces and forgave my butchering of the Chinese language.

After spending hours in the park, we were ready for a meal, so we found a quiet restaurant outside the park on a lake and had Peking Duck for dinner. It was excellent, and the atmosphere was unreal. After dinner and Starbucks (we had to have something that reminded us of home!) we headed back to the hotel and relaxed for the evening. Now we are recharged and ready for another day of exploring the city.

Friday, June 01 – We had another amazing day of touring Beijing today. We visited the Pandas at the Beijing Zoo, the Summer Palace, Lake Kunming, and the Temple of Heaven. On the way, we passed by the Olympic village under construction for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The most interesting building was the “Bird’s Nest,” the stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies and many events will be held.

Panda House	Summer Palace Entrance
Round Temple	Bird's Nest

This was the first day with a large group of adoptive families from all over the US, and it was fun getting to know them. Many were here for a second or third adoption, and one family had their 3 ½ year old daughter with them who they had previously adopted from China. She was quite the center of attention throughout the day.

The sites are incredible and there is so much history to learn. Probably the highlight of our day, though, was the people. Cortney had a picture of Meilyn with her, and people would frequently ask her questions about the adoption. I had the chance to play a type of hackie-sack game with a group of people in the park near the Temple of Heaven.

As we entered the Summer Palace grounds, a man was writing calligraphy with a large water-soaked pen on the stones of the walk. It was fun watching him effortlessly make the intricate Chinese characters.

Calligraphy

Later, we were surrounded by a group of 11-14 year old students from a bilingual school who were excited to use their English to speak with all of us.

Bilingual Students

The people are so friendly, and they are very curious about our group and why we are here. It is fun visiting with them (the best we can between their broken English and our broken Chinese). The food has also been outstanding. There is much more to describe about the day, but it is time for us to head out again, so I’ll leave a few of the pictures to help tell the story. We miss everyone at home, but we are truly enjoying everything here.

June 2nd – Today we spent our morning in Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We heard many fascinating stories about the emperors who inhabited the palaces of the Forbidden City. It is a huge complex with 9,999 rooms and many large open squares. I was most interested in the dramatic safety measures that were put in place to protect the emperors from enemies. The complex is surrounded by moats, and of course most people have seen pictures of the high walls and guard towers enclosing the city. Inside, we learned that 15 layers of heavy bricks make up the floor of the complex to ensure that nobody could dig a tunnel under the moats and into the city. No trees are planted in the complex to make sure that there is nowhere for enemies to hide in the squares. Even with all of these measures, the emperors would move around, never sleeping in the same room two nights to keep enemies from knowing where to find them.

Tiananmen Gate-The Gate of Heavenly Peace	Inside the Forbidden City

We then drove an hour out into the country and into the mountains to the Great Wall. Cortney and I climbed the wall up the side of a mountain. The stairs were uneven, very steep, and heavily worn. The climb was exhausting, but it is an awe inspiring experience just being on the Great Wall of China.

Putting our lock on the wall	Our Lock

When we came down, I saw a sign for espresso, so I followed it to its source. There, a girl who was about ten years old invited me to sit down with her using nearly perfect English. She began very properly asking me questions while her father videotaped our conversation. I was so impressed with her English—she told me her name is “Alice” (most Chinese people who learn English adopt an English name.) When we finished our conversation, she had me write down my e-mail address for her. I really hope she e-mails me; visiting with her was one of the highlights of my day.

After our tour, we decided to go out to dinner with a couple from Silverdale. We wanted to try a “hotpot” restaurant (hotpot is like an elaborate fondue using a soup base rather than oil.) We had a card created by the concierge with the characters for the name of the restaurant and general directions. On the way, we had to stop multiple people, show them the card, then try to follow their directions. Finally we found the restaurant, but there was a fight going on at the entrance between what we believe was a customer and one of the reception staff. We stood back and watched as the restaurant staff and the people argued, pushed, and the customer even threw punches. Through all of this, people continued to sneak by and enter the restaurant, so we concluded that the food must be good enough to justify the risk. We found a break in the action and snuck through the group and in the door. I’m happy to say that the food was definitely worth it. The wait staff was very patient with us as we pointed to things on the menu and tried to figure out how hotpot is done. We stuffed ourselves on meats, vegetables, and noodles and had a great time.

Finally, we packed and headed to bed, excited about our flight to Hangzhou first thing in the morning.

June 3rd – This morning we were off to the airport bright and early at 5:30. We had families in our group going to Hunan Province and Guangdong Province. We are the only family in Zhejiang Province, so we said goodbye to our guide and the other families and boarded our plane. As we approached Hangzhou, we could immediately see that this area is totally different from Beijing. Looking around Beijing, you mostly see plain tall apartment buildings, a mixture of old and modern business buildings, and the areas in between are generally the concrete and asphalt of roadways and sidewalks. In contrast, Hangzhou is very green. Flowering bushes, trees, and grass dominate the landscape. The people here still mostly live in apartment buildings, but outside of the city the buildings are very modern and upscale in comparison.

We met our guide and went to our hotel in downtown Hangzhou. Hangzhou is a city of about 3 million people—quite small compared to the 17 million of Beijing. We soon noticed that unlike Beijing, Hangzhou is not a big international tourist destination. We did not see any other westerners, and we draw even more curious stares from the people here. They are very nice, but they obviously don’t see many American couples wandering the streets and shopping at their markets. At our hotel, my first swift move was to accidentally lock all of our money in the hotel room safe without knowing the combination. Luckily, our guide was waiting in the lobby and was able to get the staff to open it—she explained that this is a fairly common mistake, which made me feel a bit better.

After settling in, we went for a walk to West Lake, a famed resort area of Hangzhou. This area is absolutely beautiful; this is a popular tourist destination for people in China, and it was very clear why they come here. The sun burned through the clouds as we walked to the lake, and we walked through a beautifully manicured park along the shore of the lake. In one area near the shore is an elaborate fountain that moves to music much like the fountains at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Behind this fountain, however, is a lake surrounded by green mountains. We had a nice visit with a group of college age students who spoke English (they were making bets about whether we were American)—like everyone we have met here, they were very friendly and really eager to visit.

Downtown Hangzhou from West Lake	Looking out onto West Lake

After a long walk and some shopping in a few of the shops, we returned to our hotel to prepare for the big event tomorrow. It finally feels real—I’m sitting in a room full of toddler clothes, toys, a crib, and gifts for Meilyn’s caretakers. Our daughter has probably already boarded a train in Wenzhou and is on the all night ride to meet us here tomorrow morning. It’s impossible to describe the feeling of nervousness and anticipation we feel right now. Despite all of our reading, research, and information from friends who have adopted, we know that there is no way for us to be completely prepared for what lies ahead. We know that this will be a difficult and frightening transition for Meilyn, and we will just have to give her all of the love and support we can.

All set for Meilyn!

To Colton & Abigael – We love you and miss you so much, and we think about you all the time. We know you will be the greatest brother and sister for Meilyn, and we can’t wait to bring her home to meet you. Be good, and we’ll talk to you as soon as we can.

I’ve written a book tonight, so I should get going. We’ll write more after we get settled in tomorrow, and we’ll post the first pictures that we actually get to take of our newest daughter.

June 4th, 2007 – We have Meilyn!!!
This morning at 9:00 we arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau here in Hangzhou. It is on the 6th floor of a fairly plain looking apartment building. After hiking up the stairs to the top floor, we caught our first glimpse of our daughter running by the door in the courtroom at the end of the hall. We entered and found her playing with the nanny who had accompanied her on the nine hour train ride from the orphanage. We soon learned that they had arrived in town at 5:00 a.m. and had been playing by the lake ever since.

Cortney asked questions of the nanny and the orphanage director while I filled out the required forms. Meilyn was curious about us immediately and did not seem scared, though she did prefer to be held by the nanny. After a few minutes, she let Cortney hold her and play with her. We gave her treats and a couple of new toys, and we showed her pictures of her family. The nanny told us that Meilyn is a very easy baby; she said that she likes people, sleeps well, and is easy to comfort. After about an hour of paperwork, paying fees, and after saying goodbyes and giving the orphanage director donations for the children at the orphanage, we were free to leave the court with our daughter and our guide.

Our adoption has not yet been completed—that will happen tomorrow. Today we are in what they call the “harmonious period.” We are given 24 hours to spend with her before we make the final commitment and she legally becomes our daughter. We’ll be back in court tomorrow morning at 9:00 to complete the adoption.

Once we completed the paperwork and took some pictures, we left to a small photo studio for another photo and then back to the hotel. Since we needed formula and some other supplies, we decided to go to the local market. We immediately noticed that the curious looks we received before have been amplified—people now stop, stare, and even approach us at times. We hear the word “Meiguo” often (this is the Chinese word for American). At the market, we had three employees approach and help us find what we needed, and another customer with a baby approached us to visit. We are really glad we had a card translated explaining what we are doing—it does the talking for us.

After this, we returned to the hotel to get to know Meilyn. At first she was very reserved and cautious, but after playing with her for a while, she began to open up. Her favorite toy so far is her stacking blocks—she is fascinated by them and can play with them for hours. She has cried a few times today, and she is still trying to figure us out. It does seem that she is showing signs of beginning to attach to Cortney already; when Cortney leaves the room, Meilyn follows. She will let me hold her, but she prefers to snuggle with Cortney.

We have settled her down for the night now, and she is drifting in and out of sleep. She has been so brave today, and we are very proud of her. She spent all last night on a train ride, and then she was handed over to people who speak a different language, and she was taken away from everything she has known in her life so far. Despite that, she has stayed calm and seems to be doing well.

Well, I should turn off the computer so that I don’t wake her up. I’ll hopefully have some video up on the site soon; it is uploading now, but our Internet speed here is quite limited. It has been a truly unbelievable experience today. I’m glad I took a lot of video—I’ll need to look back later because it has been almost too much to take in all at one time. We are so happy to finally have her, and we can’t wait to bring her home.

June 5, 2007 – Adoption Day – We started our morning by going back to the civil affairs bureau to complete Meilyn’s adoption. She is now officially our daughter. Congratulations Colton and Abby, you have a sister! Congratulations grandparents, you now have another grandbaby!

The Adoption Certificate and Photo

After our court date, we went to a huge childrens’ market to shop for clothing and a new carry-on bag (we had to give Cortney’s carry-on bag to the orphanage workers to take all of our donations back on the long train ride to Wenzhou.) The market was huge, and we had a great time shopping through a few of the countless stores. We bought Meilyn a pair of “squeaky shoes” that squeak every time she takes a step. She loves walking in them and making noise (though I imagine these shoes probably drive some of the locals crazy, we think they are a great novelty.) Our guide, Rui, is an excellent negotiator. They would tell her a price, and she would work them down to a great price for just about anything.

We then took Rui out to lunch at a great restaurant near our hotel. It’s a good thing we had her with us, because the menus did not have any translations, but the food was great. One of the waiters really took to Meilyn—he asked if he could hold her, and he was showing her to the other employees in the restaurant. After lunch it was time for Meilyn to take a nap, so we headed back to our room.

In the late afternoon, we decided to buy a stroller and head to West Lake. Since Rui was gone for the day, we were on our own. Unfortunately, we didn’t pack well for this trip, which would later prove to be quite a challenge. We did fine buying the stroller, and we had no problems on the half hour walk to West Lake. Meilyn grew tired of the stroller, though, by the time we reached the lake. She also decided that she only wanted Cortney to carry her, so we realized we would need to take a taxi back to the hotel.

Meilyn walking on the street with mom	Hauling Cargo on a Tricycle

We had a nice walk on the lake and bought ice cream. We visited for a bit with a man whose American name is “Peter.” He began asking us questions in very good English. Peter had what we believe to be cerebral palsy affecting his legs, so he gets around on what looks like a large tricycle with hand controlled pedals. He told us that he had learned English by watching the BBC and Fox News. He was very nice and seemed to enjoy talking to adoptive families from the west who travel to Hangzhou.

Soon after Peter moved on, we drew a rather large crowd while we had ice cream. They were all interested in Meilyn and asked many questions that we couldn’t understand. I explained what I could with my limited Chinese, and they would say “hello” and “goodbye” and talk to Meilyn in Chinese. When we were ready to go home, we headed out to hail a taxi—this is when our poor preparation for the outing became a problem. The problem is that hotels have a different Chinese name from their American name, and we did not have a paper with the characters for the hotel. I spoke with the driver and told him what I thought was the name of the hotel in Chinese, and he finally seemed to understand. He drew the characters on a piece of paper (which I couldn’t read) and we headed down the road. At first he was headed the right direction, so we thought we were on the right track; then, he got on a highway and we soon found ourselves speeding away from our hotel. I started frantically pointing toward our hotel and saying “Ting” (stop). He pulled off the highway, and I started searching my pockets. In my pocket, I found that our room key had the characters for the hotel, so I handed it to the driver. He nodded and pulled out the paper that he had shown me before with the characters he had drawn and pointed at it as if to say, “Can’t you read?” He finally got us back to the hotel, and he left with a very nice tip.

At this point we were ready to turn in, so I went across the street to McDonald’s to get dinner; I don’t think we’ve ever enjoyed a McDonald’s meal as much as we did tonight. We love the Chinese food, but something familiar is nice once in a while, too.

June 6, 2007 – Today we were scheduled for afternoon tours with our guide and driver, so we had the morning in the hotel to relax. We thought about going out, but Meilyn seemed to be opening up in the hotel room, playing and vocalizing more, so we decided to stay in and let her play. We got a good look inside her mouth and can see that the cleft in her palate is very large. Most of the roof of her mouth is open. It is truly impressive that she is able to eat, drink, and use her mouth as well as she does. She also has a cleft in her gums and some missing teeth. It looks like she will have a beautiful, but expensive, smile someday!

This afternoon we went out to a tea farm in the country. It was so beautiful there that I couldn’t stop taking pictures. As you go into the hills, everything is lush and green. The trees and flowers climbing the hillsides surround rows of tea trees and farmhouses. The tea farm was also beautiful, and we enjoyed learning about tea and having tea with a very informative guide. Hangzhou is famous throughout China for their high quality teas. This tea is so good that you put the leaves into the cup and drink them with it—they taste great. He explained that they do not export this tea to the US because it would be too expensive to be marketable, but the Chinese are big tea drinkers and are willing to pay higher prices for their tea. In fact, there are storefronts on the streets of Hangzhou that only sell tea, and they have teahouses similar to coffee shops in America. Our guide explained that he had hosted one of the owners of Starbucks once, exploring the tea industry in China.

On our way back to the city, we stopped along the lake and went for a long walk. Most of the lake is surrounded by flower and tree covered parks and stone bridges, many dating back to the Ming dynasty. Meilyn would ride in the stroller, walk short distances, or insist on being carried at times. I took hundreds of pictures trying to capture the beauty of the lake and the hills, but it isn’t possible to fully capture the peace and tranquility of these parks. We ran into at least four different photographers taking photos of couples getting married, and we enjoyed watching them as we walked.

Tomorrow we will go to a silk factory and museum as silk is another product Hangzhou exports around the world. We’re looking forward to the tour before we go to pick up Meilyn’s translated documents from the notary.

June 7th – This morning we spent time at a silk museum learning about silk production in China. It is amazing to learn about how the silk industry has developed in China over the past 5,000 years. They had silk producing tools in the museum dating back to between 200 and 400 BC! Some of the silk robes on display in the museum were over 1,000 years old! The history here continues to amaze us. We also got to see people weaving silk on traditional looms; it is such a fine thread and a very tedious and time consuming process to make just one piece of cloth. Afterward, we bought some silk items to bring home and went out to lunch.

We spent the afternoon getting Meilyn’s translated documents from the notary’s office and then went back to West Lake for a walk along another shore. We could spend many more days exploring West Lake. Everywhere we go on the lake, we find more beautiful views and historic landmarks. We’ll probably go back again tomorrow if we have time.

Dinner this evening was an adventure. We decided to go to one of the restaurants in our hotel. In the book in our room, it claimed to be a “Chinese and Western buffet.” We were weary from walking and looking for something informal, so this sounded perfect. When we got off the elevator, we were immediately escorted by very formally dressed staff into a very stylish and elegant restaurant. It was immediately clear that we were very under-dressed, and we could also see that none of the wait staff spoke English. They handed us the menus, and we found that none of the items on the menu were translated into English, so there would be no pointing to the items we wanted.

After our waiter stood watching us for a couple of minutes as we decided whether we were bold enough to randomly point at items and eat what comes, he decided to assist. He motioned for me to follow him, and he took me to a room full of aquariums containing a variety of swimming meals and a large refrigerated case with plates displaying many of the menu items. I looked for a while, but I was having difficulty finding a meal we were brave enough to eat (though they all looked very gourmet.) The waiter finally helped me again by pointing out a cooked duck—this must be his standard suggestion for confused and frightened Americans. I agreed, and he returned me to our table. The dinner was excellent; possibly even worth enduring the awkwardness of the entire experience!

This evening we started packing our bags to fly to Guangzhou tomorrow. We’ll get Meilyn’s passport tomorrow, and we are then clear to be on our way.

Hangzhou Skyline

June 8th – Today was our last day in Hangzhou. This morning we went back to West Lake for one last visit. We took Meilyn to the Childrens’ Park there, and she had a great time playing on a slide. We have seen a total personality shift in Meilyn over the past few days. The child who came to us as a quiet, reserved little girl is now laughing, smiling, and playing nonstop. It’s clear that she has gotten comfortable with us, and she is enjoying having two parents there for her day and night.

This afternoon she had her nap, and then it was time to say goodbye to Hangzhou and fly out to Guangzhou. It was surprisingly difficult to leave Hangzhou—it is such a beautiful city that we could definitely spend more time there. We said goodbye to Rui and waited for our plane. On the plane, Meilyn was a wiggle-worm. As the plane took off, she pasted herself to the window and kept pointing at the ground, then looking at us and back at the window and pointing again. We were amazed that she seemed to understand what was going on, and she was very interested. We kept her under control the best we could for the flight, and our guide brought us to the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou.

The White Swan is well known in the China adoption community as the final stop for nearly all China adoptions. The hotel is an elegant five star hotel on Shamian Island, close to the American Consulate. Nearly 5,000 American families come through the consulate on Shamian Island every year as they finalize adoptions from China. In contrast to Hangzhou, we found westerners everywhere here. As we entered the lobby, we met families who we had traveled with in Beijing. Now each of these families had a new addition, and we had the chance to get acquainted with a couple of the new babies.

View from our hotel room

June 9th – This morning we had a very nice treat—we went to breakfast at the White Swan buffet. For the first time in over a week, we found ourselves with a selection of western-type foods. I love the Chinese food, but it was a true treat to have the chance to have French toast (with syrup!), bacon, and scrambled eggs. I was even excited to find salt and pepper on the table, and silverware! At breakfast we caught up with many more of the families we met in Beijing, and we got to meet their new little ones.

We took Meilyn to the photographer for more pictures for the American Consulate, then it was on to her medical examination. The office where the medical examinations take place is fascinating. It looks like a typical hospital waiting room and examination rooms, but the level of chaos is much higher. Imagine the room filled with about fifty sets of parents and little ones speaking two different languages. Now add the sound of about twenty of those babies crying and guides directing people in all directions, and you have an idea of the scene. Meilyn did great, and after going through several different stations, we headed back out into the heat.

Happily waiting for the medical exam

The weather is very hot and humid in Guangzhou. When you walk outside, you hit a wall of heat. This afternoon there was a thunderstorm, and then it was much cooler. We did a bit of shopping, had lunch, then spent some time playing with Meilyn. She has opened up so much, and she is now an energetic, curious, and often mischievous little toddler. We are about to head out to dinner, then I hope to get over to Starbucks to post my entries. (Internet is expensive at the White Swan, but it is free if you buy coffee at Starbucks—a great excuse to stop in for a coffee.) Sorry mom and dad, there is no Forza in Guangzhou—yet.

June 10th – We had a fairly quiet Sunday in Guangzhou.  This morning we visited Chen’s Family Temple, a large, ornate temple built in about 1635.  Afterward, we went to a market that sells jade jewelry and porcelain.  This was the beginning of our biggest shopping spree yet this trip.  We bought Chinese art works, chops, jade, tea sets, gifts for the kids, and another piece of luggage to haul home everything we’ve bought.

Shopping here is quite entertaining.  There is one shop after another on the island set up to cater to adoptive families.  When you enter a store, one of the employees immediately joins you and walks around with you.  The first thing they do is tell you how beautiful your child is, then they start pointing out things that they think you need to have.  Any time you show an interest in an item, they tell you all about how great it is.  When you ask the price, they tell you, “The price we ask is 200 Yuan, but for you today, I give a discount.”  If you look interested, the discount is small.  If you show little interest and act as if you don’t really want it, the discount gets much bigger (sometimes to less than half of the original price.)  When you leave, they will give you a business card and tell you that the card will get you a discount if you come back.

Riding a Dragon-Dog

Meilyn continues to be a wild-child.  She wrestles with us, laughs, and is extremely curious about everything.  She talks, babbles, and eats anything she can get her hands on.

Tonight we went out to a seafood restaurant with David, our guide.  It was entertaining from start to finish.  First, we had a death defying taxi ride through the streets of Guangzhou—I think our driver was late for an appointment.  Most of the taxi rides here are and adventure because few people obey any traffic laws and the cars swerve very close to each other.  This driver took it to a new level, though, weaving through traffic, barely missing busses and pedestrians, and flying through the streets at high speed.

When he dropped us off, a boy who was about ten years old started trying to sell us plastic roses.  We started to walk on, but he held one out to Meilyn.  Of course, she grabbed it as any toddler would.  Then he demanded ten Yuan.  I would have paid the boy, but I didn’t have any small change, so we told him no and tried to hand it back to him.  He refused to take it back and began yelling at us in Chinese to pay him.  Finally, Cortney set the rose down on the bench next to him and we walked away.  He chased after us, grabbed Cortney’s leg, and wrapped himself around her, yelling at her to pay him.  After we both tried to politely remove him, I had to put on my disciplinarian voice and tell him, “Bu Yau!” which means we don’t want it.  I think he was shocked to hear this phrase come out as assertively as I said it, and he let go of her leg so that we could move on.

David ordering dinner

At the restaurant, our guide had several of us help him pick out our dinner.  On the first floor of the restaurant was what looked like a large fish market.  All of the seafood was alive and in aquariums, however, and most of the seafood was quite exotic.  As our guide explained, the people in Guangzhou eat everything with four legs except the table.  Most of these dishes, however, did not have four legs.  We had one animal that looked like a cross between a crawfish and a shrimp, but supersized.  David told us that he is not aware of an English name for this creature.  We also had sea cucumber, some type of fish stomachs, and a variety of more traditional seafood.  We had shrimp, which isn’t a big deal, but when you get shrimp here they come with the head, feet, and all.  David showed us that you just eat the head of the shrimp with the body that we traditionally eat in the U.S.  At times the dishes on our table looked like a gourmet edition of Fear Factor.  Meilyn loved just about everything and ate voraciously.  I tried at least a bit of everything, and I even found that I liked the alien caterpillar-shrimp-crawfish looking creatures.  I do, however, prefer the way we disguise our food at home.  It’s a bit harder to eat a shrimp when its little eyes appear to be looking at you as you prepare to bite its head off.  Tonight I’ll likely be grateful for the arsenal of stomach medications we brought with us for just these occasions.

June 11th – I’m just stopping in at Starbucks to send off a couple of entries.  We had a long night last night.  Meilyn was very fussy and wouldn’t sleep.  We tried everything we knew to try, but we couldn’t get her to sleep. Finally she settled down at about 3 a.m.  This morning she continued to be a bit fussy, and we are also finding new hives on her skin.  We took her to the doctor in the hotel, and we learned that she has ear infections in both ears and her palate is infected.  We’re not sure of the reason for the hives.  We now have a regimen of cleaning her palate with cotton swabs, ear drops, and medication.  It is one of those times that we really would like to be at home, but we’ll do the best we can for the next couple of days.

If you’ve seen news of the flooding in China, we are seeing the effects first-hand.  In the Pearl River outside our hotel room, there is a mass of debris floating down the river.  A fleet of boats is trying to remove as much of the debris as possible, but it is simply too much for them to collect.  We hear that about 9 million people have been affected by the flooding.  Luckily, it isn’t raining here.  Well, I’ll sign off for now—I’ll probably drop one last entry before we fly out on Wednesday morning.  We’ve had a great time, but we are ready to be home.

Meilyn, Jia, and Pearl on the Red Couch	Cleaning up the Pearl River after flooding	Dinner

June 12th - Well, we’ve just finished packing our bags, and we are about to go do some of our last shopping in China. This afternoon we went to the American Consulate for a swearing in ceremony, and they gave us Meilyn’s passport and Visa to enter the U.S. Afterward, we said goodbye to the two other families in our group and our guide (they were all leaving tonight) and headed back to the hotel. Tonight we went out to dinner with the Lastinger family and the Hedrick family. Both families are completing their second adoption from China, and we’ve had a great time with them over the trip. We had dinner at the “Cow and Bridge” restaurant, a great Thai restaurant on Shamian Island. The food was great, and we had the chance to say more goodbyes. It is amazing how hard it is to say goodbye to families we have only known for a couple of weeks, but we feel lucky to have made some great new friends while we were here.

Coming back from the Consulate	Dinner at a great Thai restaurant
The Hedrick family at the Cow and Bridge	The Lastingers at the Cow and Bridge

This will be our last posting from China, though I may post one last entry on this page once we get home (if there is anything interesting to report.) I have a computer full of video and photos of our trip. I’ll take time to edit and produce a couple of videos when I get home to post on the site, and we’ll add updates when we get home to keep everyone informed of our progress. Once we are home, Meilyn will have some difficult surgeries to endure and much to learn—please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She has already proven to be so strong that we know she can handle anything.

China has been a fascinating place to visit, and we have had a great time. The people are so kind and friendly, and they seem genuinely interested in visiting with us. We have enjoyed every city and getting to know the culture of China, but we are now ready to be back home. We miss Colton and Abby so much—we can’t wait to see them at the airport. We’re also very ready to introduce Meilyn to her new home and family.
The good news is that we will be home tomorrow morning. The bad news is that “tomorrow morning” is two days away. We will fly out of Guangzhou at 8:20 tomorrow morning, and we’ll arrive in Seattle at 8:45 tomorrow morning! We’ll be back in Spokane at 11:55 a.m.

Thank you to everyone who has written notes of encouragement, signed Meilyn’s guestbook, and supported us along our adoption journey. We feel truly blessed to have so much love and support from our family and friends. This has been an indescribable experience, but I’m glad you’ve followed us along as I’ve tried my best to put it all into words and pictures.

Take care, and we’ll see you all very soon!!!