China – Days 8+9: December 2014
Sorry for the delay in posting. Yesterday (Friday Dec 19, Day 8 of our trip) we travelled from Shanghai to Guangzhou and by the time we got to the hotel we were too tired to go out for dinner, much less post to the blog. Given that there wasn’t a lot going on yesterday, we don’t feel too bad about combining two days into one. (Actually, I don’t feel bad about it at all).
So, yesterday we got up and went to breakfast, as always. Since we didn’t have to meet our escort until 1:00 to leave for the airport, we went for a walk to yet another shopping center. (Seriously, is there ANYTHING to do in Shanghai other than shop?) We had some fun riding the escalators and walking around then we went to lunch at Mr. Onion, which was the only place in that shopping center with English translations on the menu. Mr. Onion was a pretty interesting place. We think it was supposed to be a Western style steakhouse/Italian place. Jeff got spaghetti bolognese and Leslie ordered risotto with pesto cream sauce. The spaghetti was basically tomato sauce with a few strips of Chinese-style beef. The risotto was really just white rice with pesto sauce but was strangely tasty. Han would not eat any of it as he has decided all things green are disgusting. In fact, he seems to think that anything that is not a banana or white bread is disgusting. It has taken him less than a week to go from eating anything put in front of him to an entirely white foods diet. Now, it is a little amazing that a child from an orphanage has already realized that he will always have enough to eat and, therefore, can refuse things that he doesn’t like. That being said, Leslie was really hoping to have at least one member of her family eat vegetables with her; however, Han seems to have taken to the Lash side of the family when it comes to eating habits. He will fit in well with his sisters.
Anyway, after lunch, we went back to the hotel to check out of our room and meet our escort, Joan. When we got to the airport Joan mentioned that our original flight was either delayed or cancelled (we were not clear which was the case), so they got on to a a different flight that was originally supposed to leave earlier but was delayed and was scheduled to leave about the same time as our original flight. This was fine except our new seats were in three separate rows (and we realized this as we were waiting in line for security). Joan told us that we should just go through security and then talk to the agent at the counter. When we got to the ticket counter, the agent did not speak English and, since we do not speak any Mandarin, this was a little problematic. Another passenger came up to the ticket counter and asked if we needed help. He then asked if the baby was lost and we were trying to find his parents. (This was just another in what will surely be countless number of incidents like this.) Once we cleared up that we were the baby’s parents, he translated for us and the ticket agent basically said there was nothing he could do since we had accepted the tickets. We just had to get on the plane and “negotiate.” We figured that no one on the plane was going to want to have to entertain a 2 year old that didn’t belong to them so someone would be bound to switch seats.
While waiting for our flight, Han threw his first temper tantrum (or at least the first tantrum we have been fortunate enough to witness). We can’t remember exactly what prompted it — we think it might have been when we told him he couldn’t eat Cheerios off of the floor. It may seem silly to celebrate tantruming, but it’s actually a good sign, in that it means that he feels comfortable enough with us to know that he doesn’t have to be on his best behavior and we will still be there for him. The tantrum only lasted 30 seconds max and he was back to his cheerful self.
When we got on the plane the flight attendant was very helpful and Leslie was able to sit next to Han and Jeff was 2 rows ahead of them. Han did very well on the flight. The flight itself was a little over 2 hours, but we spent about 45 minutes on the plane waiting to take off. Leslie was a little worried since she had managed to go through pretty much all of her in-flight entertainment for Han prior to take off; however, with snacks, stickers, and the iPad we made it to Guangzhou in one piece. By this point it was after 7 pm and Han had not had a nap at all that day (since he completely refused to sleep on the plane). While we were waiting for our luggage, Han managed to do a giant faceplant and end up with a big goose egg on his forehead (right where the bruise he had on gotcha day had finally healed). After a few cuddles from Mommy, he was good to go.
We finally go our luggage and then met our guide (we’ve interacted with so many different people at this point, and we’re both bad with remembering names anyway, so we’re going to go with Joyce, which we’re about 60% confident in being right) and driver and were on our way to the hotel. We got to the hotel a little after 8 pm, put Han in his PJs, and Jeff put him to bed while Leslie went to the executive lounge in search of a snack.
A few words on the executive lounge. When we were planning the trip we decided to go ahead and splurge for the suite with executive lounge access figuring it would be one more place to go in the hotel if we had a kid who was too terrified to go anywhere too crowded. Though Han seems to be game for anything, we are pretty happy with our executive lounge privileges. There are snacks all day, free bottled water and soda, cocktails and wine at night, and a giant happy hour of food which can replace actually going out for dinner.
While Jeff put Han to bed, Leslie had a glass of wine and grabbed a few apples to bring back to the room. (For those of you concerned that Han did not have dinner before bed, our tiny little boy ate enough on the plane to feed an entire football team.) Jeff and Leslie ended up having apples, crackers, and peanut butter for dinner before crashing for the night.
This morning we woke up and headed down to breakfast. The buffet at the China Hotel in Guangzhou puts all other breakfast buffets to shame. This buffet has EVERYTHING. Fortunately, we will be here for several days and have the opportunity to sample everything of interest. The China hotel is where the families from a lot of different adoption agencies stay when they are in Guangzhou (all US families must end their trip here because this is where the consulate that processes immigration visas is located). The hotel is definitely used to all of the families, they have an entire section of the restaurant set up with high chairs already at the tables and plates and cups for the little kids. It was really strange to be sitting in a giant group of white parents with Chinese children after spending the last week in a hotel with basically no children at all. We chatted with some other families, including a family that we met on the plane ride to Beijing at the start of our trip. It is really nice to talk to other families going through a similar experience (and just to talk to other people in general).
Han continued his picky streak, though his new habit of refusing some food is going to work against him, as he was strangely afraid of the chocolate-covered donut that Dad offered. He still has much to learn, this kid.
After breakfast, we met our guide from Holt (still feeling good about Joyce) and went to the official clinic that processes all the medical exams for people wishing to immigrate to the US. The exam, overall, is not a big deal. They start by checking height, weight, and temperature; then just a general physical exam. This is where we encountered a little hiccup (really our first of the trip). There was a mistranslation from the Chinese to English versions of Han’s medical records (of which we were aware). Without going into to much detail, the English version stated he had been treated from something he never had in the first place. It took a few minutes (and an extra blood draw) to get things figured out. We knew Han would have a blood draw at the medical exam (to test for TB), so they were able to just take a little more for the second test. The thing that is really awful is that parents aren’t allowed in the room when they do the blood draw. Two nurses take the kids into a room and they close the door and when the door opens they hand you a crying child with a bandaid in the crook of his elbow. Fortunately, we were aware that a blood draw was taking place and we had a Dum-Dum unwrapped (he had his first taste of one yesterday on the plane and loved it) and ready for when he emerged. Most of the kids came out wailing (that was fun to listen to, especially since we knew what was coming but Han didn’t and you could tell he was thinking “what are all these kids crying about? This isn’t so bad†and had no idea what was coming next.) Han just had a few tears, took his sucker, had a few snuggles from Mommy, and was good to go.
When we got back to the hotel, Jeff went down to the Holt office (it is in the hotel) to go over all of the paperwork we need for our consulate appointment and Han and Leslie went back to the hotel room where Han played withy bendy straws and the pocket doors (only slamming his hand in them one time) while Leslie unpacked (since we had been too tired to do it the day before). When Jeff came back we all went downstairs to a restaurant at the hotel to eat lunch and then back up to the room for naptime. After our nap (yes, we all took a nap), we went to a magnificent park across the street from the hotel — Yuexiu Park (we have some pictures, but look it up and you’ll find a whole lot more about it). The park is gigantic. We saw only a fraction of it in the close to 2 hours we were there. Guangzhou has a lot more more “green†than the other places we’ve been — it’s more southern, feels a bit more like Savannah or Charleston — but the park is 90%+ trees. This is a nice change from the super-developed urban environments we’ve been in for the past week. It’s also very hilly — we worked up a good sweat hiking up some hills and staircases, and didn’t even reach the tallest point. There are some beautiful historical structures, about which we learned nothing because the signs were all in Chinese and there’s no guide / map in English we could find. We’ll surely go again, and maybe next time we’ll go with our guide who can help translate or at least provide us with some details in advance.
Han had a great time walking around, though he did almost as much tumbling as walking. Han managed to faceplant not once but twice adding another gigantic goose egg to the one he got yesterday. His falls today ended with him hitting his head in the exact same spot in the middle of his forehead. He now has two huge bruises (one with an abrasion) on his forehead.
When we got back from the park we went to the playroom at the hotel for an hour or so (small room with some toys and literally padded walls) and then went up to the executive lounge for happy hour (aka dinner). At dinner, we discovered that Han likes tonic water. Leslie had some extra tonic water and Han wanted to try it. Thinking that he would think it would be disgusting and that would be the end of it, she let him. Apparently, tonic water is delicious to 2 year old little boys. What is not delicious? Ice cream, apparently. After dinner we stopped at the McDonalds next door to the hotel (don’t judge) to get an ice cream cone. Han took one bite and made a face that said “why on earth would you feed me such a disgusting thing?” For the record, he did have ice cream yesterday. You can see Jeff’s giant soft-serve cone we got from the place next to the hotel in Shanghai — that was a SMALL and cost about $1.50 — which Han really enjoyed. What it made up for in quantity it lacked in quality; it really wasn’t good ice cream. This McDonalds ice cream was actually pretty decent but Han was not a fan.
When we got back to our room, Jeff gave Han a bath and he played with some toys that we were able to borrow from the adoption agency’s office. Tomorrow we are going to join some other adoptive families for a trip to Shamian Island. Right now, we are going to bed.
Oh, one last thing — the internet connection in this hotel is MUCH better so hopefully we’ll be able to post stuff more timely… and we were also able to finish uploading the leftover movies from day 4 and day 5, so go check out those galleries to see a few new things.
See pictures and videos below or in our China: Day 8+9 SmugMug gallery.
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