Guangzhou Part 2

I'm back!!  I really need to finish this flashback to China, don't I...considering we've been home for over two months already! 

I think I will hurry along a bit.  There isn't as much to tell about our time in Guangzhou, although I really loved it!

Corrie continued to amaze us with her resilient spirit for the rest of the time in China.  She did start to have some tears once in a while, although they were at odd times, and didn't seem to be connected to anything of importance.  You just never know what is going on in the mind of these sweet kids who have just walked away from everything they have ever known.  It just blows my mind to think about the enormity of that.  But over all she was absolutely happy.  Like she was having the best time of her life!

So, in Guangzhou we got to know our new friends in our group and their adorable children, visited a few neat places, had some meetings and a bit more official paperwork, and cherished our time together, walking around the city around our hotel, enjoying the beautiful park nearby and the little playground at the hotel, and my favorite--strolling and shopping around Shamian Island.  I just love it there.  So many happy memories of the last time we were there.  We remembered some of the shop owners, too.  And Scott even remembered where some of the specific shops were and how to get to them.  How he does it, I'll never know!  Here are some more pictures...

The ladies at Morning Star had told us she only liked "soupy" foods.  They had no idea she would love chicken nuggets from Mickey D's!  (Interesting thing--the milk in the kids' meals is warm!  They don't refrigerate it!)

Tea party with Daddy with her brand new tea set

She loves her daddy sooo much :)

She had no idea how to give kisses.  Now she puckers up with the best of them. :)

Hanging out in our hotel...she loves to put on different clothes, and then she checks herself out in the mirror.  I would find her standing like that whenever it got too quiet. ;) 

Wrestling with Daddy.  That's what daddies are for, right?

 

We took this chair lift to the top of this mountain.  It was a little scary!

Our guide was very informative, and always had great stories to tell, too!

This group comes every weekend and sings song after song.  I loved it!  He said they do it to stay healthy.  Singing is good exercise!

This was a bird park.  Lots of different kinds in a beautiful setting.

It was so hot!  Too warm for us northern folks.  Corrie's little head was just soaked with sweat!

We watched a fun bird show!  The birds did tricks, and then the children would hold out yuan for them.  They would take the tens and fly away with them, but they wouldn't touch the ones!  So funny!

One of the sweet new babies in our group.  She was just precious.  And this family's blond hair was a big hit with all the local people!

 

I loved the trees in the park across the street from our hotel!

Someone must have gone for a coffee break.

Each section of the park had a different kind of tree theme.  So cool!

 

 

Nice warning sign by the water...

 

"Playground" for grown-ups!  (But no playground for kids.)

I wish we had parks like this in the states!

 

We ate quite a few times at Lucy's on Shamian Island.  It serves American food and has an American theme.  :)  Corrie had gotten this little car that you pull back and it goes forward at one of the shops.  She loved it.

 

Little boys playing with swords outside one of the shops.  Kids are the same all over the world. :)

 

Eating at Lucy's again... Corrie ate great everywhere we went! 

 

I met a new friend.

 

 Cutie pie just wondering why we were making her stand there with those clowns...

 

When we were here with Sarah, she did not want anything to do with these kids.  Corrie did not either.  My dream of the perfect photo here never came true. I guess I should have stood there myself!

 

McDonalds delivers!

 

One night our group took a cruise on this beautiful boat!  It was too late of a night for Corrie, and Scott didn't care if he went or not, so I took the night off and went by myself.  It was really nice.

Beautiful Guangzhou!

 

Going to Guangzhou...and the dreaded doctor appointment!

So, after a few days in Nanchang, it was time to begin the last leg of our trip-- we were on our way to Guangzhou in Guangdong Province.  Our first time in China, we had been part of a wonderful group of 9 families, and I had loved it.  I wasn't sure how I would like being all by ourselves for much of the trip this time, even though I was looking forward to the time with my hubby.  It turns out we did really enjoy being the only family in our group this time around.  It was fun just being the three of us, especially remembering that when we got home there would be more than twice that many again.  But I was happy to meet up with other adoptive families that would make up our group when we got to Guangzhou, too.  :)

The flight to Guangzhou was pretty uneventful, and that was a welcome surprise.  Corrie had shown us in Nanchang that she does not like to sit still.  She just really loves to be moving all the time!  So we were not expecting a super easy plane ride, even though it wasn't a very long one.  And I wasn't very thrilled when it turned out that we were separated from each other on the flight.  Corrie and I were in a row, and Scott was in the row ahead of us in front of Corrie.  Somehow I kept her occupied, and thankfully there was food (they fed us a meal on every flight, no matter how short it was!)   It really did go very smoothly.  The child's meal was spaghetti, and I had no bib for her, so it was not easy keeping sauce from getting on everything, but we managed, and she loved it! 

 Getting ready to leave Nanchang.  Corrie made sure we had the snacks!

 

 At the airport!  Interesting thing about airports and stores and things in China...  they don't turn on the overhead lights when they don't need to or run their air conditioning much, probably to conserve resources,  But it was so hot in there!  I guess I'm thankful for AC in America, although we probably should conserve our resources more, too!

 

 Our guide.  I really liked her!  She was very down-to-earth and helpful.

 

 In the oven--I mean airport.  ;)

 



First plane ride, as far as we know!

 

We arrived at the China Hotel in Guangzhou.  It was very nice, and very best of all... the bed was so comfortable!  After the previous one I felt like I was in heaven!  The room was interesting.  You could look from the bathroom right into the bedroom through a big glass window. Very interesting! 

 

That window did have an electric shade!  Good to know, right?

 

Anyway.....we settled in and met some of the other families in our group right away.  There were three other families and us.  Such a wonderful group of people!  I was so happy to meet them and get to know them.  It turns out that two of the families live in the same city, and their sweet girls they adopted actually came from the same orphanage, and get this--lived in the same room!  I think their beds were even very close!  And they had no idea ahead of time.  Amazing!  Only God does these things!!

 

One of the first things we did in Guangzhou was the medical check up.  It's not much of a big deal--just checking eyes, nose and throat, and Corrie being over two had to have a TB test.  Well, it didn't seem like a big deal to us, but to Corrie, it definitely WAS.  For some reason, the children had to get their picture taken while we were there for their passports or visas.  And Corrie was already not liking this place, with the shiny tile walls and floors.  She started crying, and by the time she saw the doctor, she was really upset.  She clung to Scott for dear life, and was terrified and crying almost the whole time she was getting examined.  She did calm down briefly, and then there was a short wait...and then it was TB test time.  That was an absolute nightmare.  For her, and for us  even more than her!  They have a policy that they take the kids away from the parents into a different room to do the poke.  They had to physically pry her away from Scott as she screamed and screamed.  It was horrible.  :(  After they brought her back, she wasn't even interested in a sucker to help her feel better.  I was so heartbroken for her, and so upset that they take the children away from the parents when they are afraid.  It was very hard.  Thankfully, she bounced back pretty quickly, poor baby!

 

 

At least we got that over with pretty quickly, and we could enjoy the rest of our time in Guangzhou.  I really love that city!

 

Pictures from the park in Nanchang

So sorry to have taken a hiatus just when I was on a roll on here.  Not only have I been exhausted every night, but my mom had open heart surgery last week, and I went to see her for a few days!  What a crazy few weeks it's been around here!  (My mom is doing well, by the way.)

I forgot to post pictures of the beautiful park in Nanchang last time...

 This man was practicing calligraphy, writing with water.  Pretty cool, huh?

 

 Ladies practicing for a fashion show :)

 

 This man was playing an interesting instrument. 

 

 Goldfish pond. :)  Corrie wasn't too interested in them, though.

 

 

 

One more little story about this day.  It was hot and humid, so we were tired of walking, and it was lunchtime.  There was a restaurant right next to the park.  We went in, and our guide was going to help us order.  Of course we couldn't read the menu, and there were no pictures.  I said "You know the Chinese restaurants in America that serve some rice, meat, veggies and sauce?"  She knew what I was talking about.  "If they have anything kind of like that, that's what I'll have," I said.   She looked at the whole menu and said, "No, they don't have anything like that."  So, there you have it.  The proof that American Chinese restaurants don't serve Chinese food!  lol   We weren't really that hungry, anyway.  :)