Last Day in Guangzhou

Wow. What a difference a few days and a new city makes! If you have ever been to Savannah, GA, you can imagine Guangzhou (well, just the little island part we are on). Really, it looks so much like Savannah it is a little eerie. The big trees with the moss, the colonial style buildings. Lots of British and French influence. The hotel we are in, The White Swan (check it out on the web, it is a remarkable place), is on Shamian Island. The Island is very small, you can actually see from one end to the other. It is right on the Pearl River. We have an amazing view of the Pearl River and Guangzhou’s main city across the river from our hotel room. Each night there is a lazer show. Really, I have not been to Las Vegas, but I can’t imagine that it has much more neon than this place. At night, the dragon boats, all lit up, sail around the river for dinner cruises. Pretty cool sight. Oh, and they pipe in music to go with the laser show. Generally it is classical or, believe it or not, opera. Yeah, a little weird. Bayard and Travis took the ferry across to the main part of Guangzhou today. Travis said that part is NOT at all like Savannah, you are definitely back in China over there, no colonialism to make the westerners more comfortable across the river! After being in Guiyang, it has been a nice break to be here. The majority of the families who adopt from China come and stay at the White Swan on Shamian Island, so, it is like adoption Disneyland. The shops and restaurants cater to westerners and the adoption crowd. That is a bit weird too. The first morning we went down for breakfast it was pretty surreal to see all these Caucasian families with Chinese babies/kids. I am not kidding when I say the entire restaurant was filled with us adoption folk. There are 38 families from our agency alone and there are at least that many from other agencies. There are entire floors of the hotel filled with adoptive families. I felt a little embarrassed and apologetic for being a part of it. What do the Chinese really think of us, of this phenomenon? That, along with the t-shirts, and other commercialism around the China adoption experience during this part of the trip have felt a little plastic.

On the whole, China is just so very different. I wish we had more time to really see more than just a few touristy areas. The people have been so warm and friendly, so patient with us in trying to communicate. They are very interested in Bayard and Amelia. Each person who has understood that we are adopting Amelia has had a huge smile and has looked happy for us and for her. I have been incredibly impressed with how the people use the parks. There is a wonderful park next to the hotel here. Each morning there is a large group of mostly older people (all Chinese, whether it looks like Savannah or not, we are still in China) all exercising in synch. Tai Chi it seems to be. There is piped in music and direction coming from speakers somewhere. The playgrounds tend not to have benches where the adults are to sit and watch, but equipment that is meant to be used by adults and children. There are always adults there exercising. I like the focus on keeping the body healthy. Shamian Island is quite clean and there is very little smoking here, unlike in Guiyang. A funny park story… so, we went with one of the other families here (they have 4 kids—8, 4, 2, and the baby- 10 months) to explore this little amusement park part by the river. They had the smallest rides I have ever seen! A little lady was sitting there, just waiting for people to come by to ride the rides. They looked like they had been there since the 50’s. I think she may have been working there then too. She was very nice and friendly and encouraged the kids to ride. So, all the kids, with the exception of the baby hop on this one ride. It is little carriages with covered tops and a bench for 2, meant to go around in a circle. She starts up the ride and White Christmas starts playing! The ride lurches forward and jerks around the track about half way and the lady starts picking up the ride and helping it along! The 2 year old starts crying and bails, the lady motions for the 8 year old to get off, and she keeps pushing it around the track while Bayard and Emma (4 year old) sit with blank faces next to each other in the little car! It was hilarious! The lady was so nice, she had the kids get off and let them ride each of the other rides (only 3 others). The others worked fine. And Western Christmas music continued to play! The kids had a great time. It was definitely a highlight!

Amelia makes progress in settling into our family every day. Today was our best day. She is pretty funny. She is smiling more and today actually seemed to really enjoy time with me. She has some similarities to Bayard as a baby which we find funny. She is VERY vocal (lungs are working just fine…), very quick to let you know when she likes or doesn’t like something, pretty social, enjoys being in a restaurant or somewhere where there is a lot going on, sleeps well (ok, the first year he didn’t, but since then…), is a great eater, and just seems to have a similar temperament. She has a very strong grip, strong legs and arms (she can pull herself to stand, but has very little torso strength!). She has a pretty good attention span. And she seems to like books. We are looking forward to getting to know her more. Bayard is doing well. He has shown some jealousy and has had a couple meltdowns, but all in all is hanging in there. He says he misses Woobie and school. He has said a few times “ I bet Kassy misses me.” For those of you who don’t know, she is one of his neighbor friends. Having Amelia has highlighted how big he is. And it has reminded me a few times that he is still only 3 and still needs us to help him adjust to his new role as big brother. He said the other morning “I think I will take the batteries out of my ears” as he was tired of little sister’s crying. At the same time, he is excited when she plays with him without crying and he just wants to hug her all the time. He and Travis went a bargained for a dragon shirt that I have no doubt he will want to tell everyone about. He is pretty proud of it. He has a heightened interest in dragons since being here. He is planning his dragon costume for next Halloween. He has also discovered “karate guys” and enjoys working on his karate moves. He gets ideas from the Tai Chi people in the park as well as the Jackie Chan movies he and Travis have been checking out on the TV.

Anyway, tomorrow is our last day here. We will be back in Portland on Thursday! (we gain a day on the way back). We have had a very interesting trip. We keep talking about coming back to China sometime when we can devote more time to seeing much more of the beautiful country that we haven’t really been able to see this time. We feel like we have gotten just a snapshot of this huge and amazingly diverse place.

More in person… it is time for bed. We are off to the US Consulate tomorrow to do our last bit of adoption paperwork. See you all soon!