Who Needs Hong Kong Disneyland?

We are on our own for most of the day today so we had breakfast late then went out for a walk. The staring here is REALLY intense! Tina and I are quite amused as we speculate what's going on in their heads. Foreign adoption is not commonly known about within mainland China. I think when we're with Bob people assume he is Kai's father, Tina is Bob's wife and I'm the brother-in-law, Uncle Scott. When it's just Tina, me and Kai the looks we get make it appear that there is no reasonable explanation for what they are seeing.
So anyway, we headed out away from the hotel in hopes of finding a park. We only had to go a few large city blocks before we found a really sweet deal. There was a beautiful little park with a man-made lake with islands and bridges where they were renting paddle-boats.



This sounded like a great idea to Kai. You know, paddle-boats look much more serene then they really are.



I wish I could tell you that the well-maintained state-of-the-art engineering behind the propulsion systems on these ones made them a joy to peddle, but all I can really say is I'll be feeling that ride tomorrow.
There was also a set of carnival type rides there as well, which Kai absolutely loves, so we let him pick one out to ride.

But not this one.



or this one.

He settled on this one, but didn't really understand the point of the ride.



Until the kindly ride operator hopped on his car in motion and explained how the guns worked.


These are targets that you shoot to make them animate!


Soon Kai was joyfully shooting up the animals like a pro!


This ride went on for about 15 minutes or more. At one point two older boys came along who were itching to ride spaceships and shoot at animals too, so one of the workers used brute force to stop the cars and let them on. After a while the operators moved around behind the control booth like they were going to end the ride, but they were only taking a smoke break. When some other kids came along and wanted on they stopped it again, and this time I stepped in to remove Kai. Even though the deal was "only one ride" it cost us this balloon to get out of the park and back to the hotel without a tantrum.


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Old and New

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Mmmm... Italian Red Meat Flavor!

Free sample that came with the very hard to find plain potato chips. Ketchup and Tomato appeared to be the most popular flavors. Also saw Spicy Seafood and Korean Kimchee flavors.

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A Note We Found Slipped Under The Door

Apology Letter
Dear guest:
Our hotel will repair the wall of our building from tomorrow to 15 Aug . So you need to notice something:1.Plese close the door and windows when nobody in the room.2.Please Dont approach the building avoid hurting yourself.3.Please stop the car 10 meters out of the building to avoid hurting your car. We hope you could understand it if it make you trouble.

Heng Tong Fortune Center Hotel

Nothing Like Blogging From China To Increase Your Hit Count!

Hits are way way up. It makes it fun to write when you know people are reading. Of course it's much easier to write when you're over your head in subject matter.
Comments and email are very welcome - sorry that responses aren't too great - most of my writing focus is centered here. I used to require comments to be approved before allowing them up, but for now your comments are posted immediately, so thanks for all your good wishes!
Here's where all the exciting blogging action is happening - one of the tidier areas of the room.



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Going Bonkers In Baoding

Today was the first day we woke up in China (I actually woke up a couple times in China this morning). We met Bob in the lobby at 9:30 AM.



Since we were up in our room at about 6:00 AM, this gave us plenty of time to get ourselves sort of put together and have breakfast first. The hotel we're staying in is not one I'd recommend, but it's not too bad. The "buffet" has very few western items, and I'm not quite brave enough to venture into the Chinese breakfast staples yet. We did alright though, and got a kick out of the amusement we provided to the staff. After breakfast we headed straight to the S.W.I. where Kai used to live for a visit. It appears being granted the opportunity for this visit was quite fortunate on our part. Another family who was just here to adopt was refused by the director. Bob told us that when he first inquired about our visit with the S.W.I. director he was refused as well, so he contacted the local governor who gave his approval. Basically Bob went over the director's head. We aren't sure why the director doesn't want familiies visiting, but the nannies and the assistant directors made us feel very welcome. We worried a bit about how Kai would do during this visit. Would he be frightened that we might leave him? Would he truly remember his nanny? Would he behave? As Bob drove closer to the S.W.I. Tina and I began to recognise the area from our trip to adopt Kai, and then we were pullling in to the compound. When Kai saw the entrance to the offices he proclaimed, "China!" He finally felt we had arrived.

We went in to the same office where we first met Kai; the assistant director we met two years ago called out, "Hui-Hui!"



She greeted us, and Bob explained that we would be allowed to take pictures outside, but not inside, then a few other adults joined us and we headed to see the new children's building. The assistant director took Kai's hand and he went with her willingly. As soon as we got the children's building Kai's nanny, Chin-yen appeared and scooped him up! Kai was actually thrilled to see her!





The language barrier is so frustrating, even with an interpretor it was very difficult to communicate what we wanted to say. We have looked at pictures of her so often with Kai, that meeting her again was almost like encountering a mythical being! There is a play-structure in the atrium of the new building that Kai was dying to play on, so they let him in and we all followed him. We had a short list of children who we know have adoptive parents waiting to come get them, so they brought these children down for us to photograph. I have a lot photos of these children, but the internet connection is too slow for me to upload them all now. Hopefully it will be faster in Xi'an and I will get them all uploaded to our Walgreen's site then. Kai had a great time playing and visiting with the nannies, and one little girl in particular who was close to his age. We only saw a few other children besides the ones on our list, and we weren't allowed to see their living areas. but the nannies were very gracious and truly thrilled to see Kai. They were all over him, and at one point his main nanny scooped him up and took him up the stairs. It was clear that Tina and I were not to follow, and even when she took him out of view, he was fine with her. It was actually quite strange the way he was so at ease. He seemed to be enjoying the visit every bit as much as they were.























We brought a few gifts of clothes and art supplies for the children and asked the nannies what they could use. They told us that they really needed disposable diapers and formula for the very young babies, as they seemed to be getting more of these lately. So we went to a store and bought some more of these items and returned with them later in the day.

We invited the directors to lunch but they declined. Bob felt that this was probably due to our visit being arranged in spite of the head director initially declining our request. He had met with us out of obligation, but was going no further. So we went to a very nice lunch at a beautiful Chinese restaurant with Bob. The rest of the day we spent touring the former governor's estate/office, and the Lotus Pond Gardens. The former governor was a very high ranking position and the offices were layed out like a small version of the forbidden city. The Lotus Pond Gardens, were formally owned a by a very wealthy landowner and are amazingly beautiful. Kai particularly enjoyed the gardens as he was able to run and play outdoors. Bob was very indulgant of him and played games of make-believe that Kai initiated. The day was very warm and humid, but the rains from last night had cleared the air and we had blue skies overhead and good visibility. In spite of feeling a bit sticky, it was a very beautiful day for site-seeing.











Kai had a few very minor melt-downs, but on the whole he has continued to be extremely cooperative and eager to go and see whatever is next. He loves talking with Bob, who is way too indulgant. The staff at the S.W.I. were this way too, he was definitely spoiled today and was the star of the show. Considering though, how things will shift for him when we receive Shen, we are glad that Kai is able to be the main focus for this part of the trip.

We continue to receive lots of intense stares from people when we are out. It's mainly the site of us with Kai that seems to puzzle people. I went alone to a little grocery store down the street from the hotel on my own to pick up a few snack items and was hardly noticed, but add the woman with curly red hair, and the little Chinese boy speaking English to us, and we become something like a UFO siting.

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Blogging through the night in China

I was so exhausted when I posted the last blog entry. Actually I still am, but I woke up and had to go to the bathroom a bit ago, and when I laid back down in bed I could not get back to sleep. I looked a the clock and it was a little after 3:00 AM. My cruel, cruel body-clock was suggesting we go find someplace good for lunch. I'm sitting at the desk now listening to the thunderstorm outside. I can see the flash of lightening around the edge of the curtains every so often and can faintly hear the steady tattoo of the heavy rain falling on the street below our hotel room window. It was hot and hazy here when we arrived, with very thick smog, so I am hoping this storm cleans the air up for us, but lets up in time to let us get outside later on.

So, my insomnia allows you to enjoy some pictures of our trip so far. I have not done as well with the camera as I had hoped so far (really missing Cam and Ben here for that) but will try to do better as we go ahead.

I forgot to mention that on our way to the airport in Seattle we stopped in Marysville to drop off Ben with my Mom and Sister. We left our van there and took a shuttle to the airport. While we were there we met Tanya Cecil and her children. She and her husband adopted their son Brandon in February (need to fact-check this date) from Baoding (where Kai used to live. This is the first time we've been able to get the boys together.


More Random Photos...

Flying over Mount Adams (? I think it's Adams - feel free to correct if you recognize the peak)


In flight status update shortly after take-off from LAX. (it feels good to be over 7000 miles away from that airport)


Kai enjoying his backpack full of activities Cathay Pacific Airlines gave him on the plane...


Kai enjoying the kid's HDTV setup in the Hong Kong Airport...


Thunderheads outside the airport in Hong Kong...


A few pictures from Baoding...






Okay, Kai was stirring and I've moved him into bed with Tina. I need to lay back down and pretend to sleep for a while now. I know there's more stuff I meant to write, but the synapses aren't all working correctly - hopefully I'll get a little more sleep and improve their connections. Good night again.

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And We're in Baoding!

I tried going to bed a few minutes ago, but Tina says I absolutely must blog first, and of course she's right.

I should dump some pictures in here, but that would take some more work, we'll see how I feel when I get to the end as to whether or not I have the energy left to hook up the camera and dump in the pix.

First of all, I just want to warn those of you who are reading this in anticipation of your own upcoming adoption trip that the experience of traveling abroad in Asia can have its share of discomforts and challenges associated with it. Developing countries aren't like home, and we found this to definitely be true as we set out on this journey. However the worst of the hardships and challenges we've been faced with so far were the conditions at LAX. I'm telling you, that place is a HOLE!. I mean really, how can a North American Airport of this size be such a dump? The smell, the filth, the horror of the security checkpoints, I really can't convey the trauma we felt passing through there. It was like an Orwellian, post-apocolyptic wasteland. And that we went from there to the airport in Hong Kong, which is absolutely beautiful which only underlined the nastiness of LAX.

There was one little glitch in Hong Kong. after we cleared security there (which was a breeze), and were making our way to the next gate, we noticed that someone was missing from our party. "Where's Stinky-Mouse," Tina asked. "Gone," was the answer. We had progressed up and down a couple sets of escalators and around a few odd-degree turns by the time we discovered his absence. Tina and Kai stayed with our luggage and I (Scott) headed back to see if we left him at the security check-point. I assume my sister is laughing already now, because she of all people knows that I am not the person you want to send on a recovery mission into unknown territory. You see, my sense of direction is not...
Well it's not, OK? It's just not at all. And so two minutes after leaving them and trying to retrace our steps through this maze of airport mall storefronts and backlit signs, I quickly slipped into a full on panic attack. Not only did I not know where I was going, but was now worried about getting back. I turned around and got back to Tina and Kai and told them they would have to come with me. Tina of course was able to walk us straight back to where we had been, and Mouse was there! Yay!

We pressed on and soon were in Beijing. Now I have to tell you, that Kai was an amazing little trooper through this whole travel leg of the trip. We left our house Monday morning at 8:30 AM and didn't get him put to bed in a hotel room until 5:30 AM Wednesday morning Bellingham time. That's about 45 hours straight of being on the go. He slept on various airplanes along the way, but still, that's a long haul.

It's really strange being here in China again, not quite two years after our last trip. We had no problems in the Beijing airport, and the 3 suitcases we had not seen since checking them in Seattle all appeared unharmed on the correct carrousel. We collected them and headed out to the front of the airport. There was a sea of guides holding signs. We started scanning them, looking for Bob, the guide we had in Baoding and Shijaizhuang when we adopted Kai, and there at the end we spotted him! He had a huge grin on his face and looked as excited to see us as we were to see him. Kai ran right up to him and gave him a big hug, then Tina and I hugged him as well. We loaded our luggage into his car and headed off for Baoding. As we drove along over the same stretch of road we had been on two years ago, catching up with Bob on one another's family, it was the oddest feeling. Two years ago this whole experience was so foreign and full of unknowns. And now we find ourselves relaxed and getting reacquainted with an old friend. It felt really, really good!

We went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant that was named something like "Beautiful Flower Mountain" which is the home of The Monkey King. The front of the building was decorated to look like a big rocky mountain, and perched upon it was a golden statue of The Monkey King. So we've seen him already! The food was excellent and we visited more with Bob.

And, now, I am completely exhausted, so I promise to post more tomorrow. The pictures will have to wait till then - there aren't any of Shen yet, so I don't feel too guilty about that.
We're safe, we're here, we're happy.
More to follow!

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Oh My Gosh, We're Really Going!

It has been a really crazy week around here trying to get everything ready to leave, but I'm pretty sure we're going whether we're ready or not!
Poor Kai is getting Very, Very Excited, and we are too busy to really give him the attention he needs. Tomorrow everything changes and the adventure really begins. I am looking forward to getting in the car and driving away. I'm tired of planning and getting ready. I want to be going and doing.

We had our weekly Sunday dinner with Cam and his girlfriend Brittni. We have had no time to cook this week so we were going to take them out, but then we didn't have time for that either, so we ordered Chinese take-out and sent all four of the kids (Cam, Brittni, Ben and Kai) to go pick it up. It gave us a few minutes to clean and pack without Kai. It's weird leaving the two big boys behind this time. We worry about them, but know they'll be fine.

Tonight for bedtime I read a Monkey King story to Kai. It's a big artsy book his Aunt Erin gave to him. It skims through the basics of the plot, including Monkey's defiance of Buddha. Kai always listens very intensely to it. In the end, Guan Yin helps Monkey solve a problem, and the moral is about learning to accept help from others. After I read the story to him I told him that maybe we would see the Monkey King when we were in China. Then he told me he didn't want to see the Monkey King. I reminded him of how Big Bird saw the Monkey King in China, and he told me he wanted to see Big Bird. I told him we could watch the DVD on the trip. After I tucked him in and turned off the light, I was sitting on the floor by his bed singing our standard lullabies, and he said to me, "Baba?"
"Yes Kai," I answered.
"I want to see Buddha."
"We'll see Buddha in China." I assured him.

I finished our lullabies.
And now I have to finish packing.
Next update will be from China!

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