Day 11 and Day 12

Xu Hui is officially ours.  We went to the US Consulate yesterday and took the oath.  Now all we are waiting on is her Visa which our guide can pick up on Thursday so we can leave on Friday.  Once we enter San Francisco on Friday, Xu Hui will officially be a US citizen.  Then we can get her a US passport and start the readoption process.

She has been doing great.  She is full of energy and I have finally had to get on her a little bit, but other than that, she has been lots of fun.  We have only broken two glasses at the hotel so far.  The last day she has started me calling mommy and she says it with such gusto.  It is pretty funny.

We are off to do some sightseeing this morning so I'll write more later. 

Day 9 and 10

Yesterday we went to a Buddhist temple.  It was weird being there as a tourist while people were worshiping.  It seemed wrong taking pictures.  There were tables in front of Buddha with fresh flowers, fresh fruit, and peanuts which each had a special meaning.  The worshipers would leave three sticks of incense and bow three times.  I missed a lot of the explanation because Marissa was getting mobbed by people wanting pictures with her while the guide was giving the explanation.  Marissa was getting  irritated with the pictures because this group was obnoxious so I finally had to pull her away.  Even while I was trying to get her away they were pulling on her arm.  I told her we should have bought her a dark colored wig. 

Then we were off to a clan house from the Qing Dynasty.  It was pretty cool.  They had galleries there with artwork.  They had one that was all embroidery.  I wish I could have gotten pictures because they were amazing.  There was embroidery of landscapes, flowers, fish, and people.  You wouldn't know until you got up close that it was embroidery.  I have no idea how long it would take to finish one of those pieces because some of them were huge.  They also had artists there doing their work.  There was one guy doing finger painting that Xu Hui was fascinated with. 

Today we went shopping.  Nobody else in our group wanted to go so we got a personalized tour.  We started out at a place that had jade and porcelain pieces.  The guide taught us a bunch about picking out a quality piece of jade.  It sure isn't cheap.  We saw some awesome porcelain pieces.  The clerk said that it took the artist over two months to complete a plate that was probably 12-14 inches in diameter.  We then headed to what they call the pearl market.  It was full of all sorts of jewelry vendors where the walls were lined with whatever gemstone the store specialized in.   We walked into a pearl store where the walls were lined with bags and bags of pearls.  We picked out the strand of pearls we wanted and then they knotted them right in front of us.  We ended our trip at an embroidery store.   

When we got back to the hotel we went out looking for lunch.  We stopped at a store on the way to lunch that had artwork.  The artist was there who ends up being a teacher at an orphanage school.  He teaches the kids art.  Many of the pieces in the gallery were works of the kids.  You never would have known it.  His partner at this school is a guy from Oregon who came to China a few years ago to adopt a child, so this artist is coming to Oregon next year to drum up support for their foundation that supports their school.  It has been neat meeting and talking to the people here.

During lunch, Xu Hui was working with me on getting her name pronounced correctly with the correct tone.  I got several sighs but towards the end finally got some thumbs up. 

Not much on the agenda tomorrow.  We may be going to the American Consulate to take the swearing in ceremony in the afternoon.  If not, it will be on Wednesday.  Once that is done, Xu Hui will be officially ours. 

Pictures from Wuhan and Guangzhou

Day 7 and 8

We left Wuhan yesterday and arrived safely in Guangzhou.  Xu Hui traveled like she was an experienced traveler.  It was nice to leave Wuhan.  Our guide there wasn't very helpful so I don't think we really got to experience the area like we could have.  She also was always analyzing Xu Hui.  Yesterday she kept saying she doesn't seem very happy.  I finally told her that she was going through a bunch of changes and had a lot to process.  We have found that Xu Hui is very quiet out around people.  Even people who are speaking to her in Chinese.  However, you get her back to the room with a deck of cards and she turns in to this little Chinese chatterbox.  It is hilarious.  She is starting to pick up some English.  Today while playing cards, she told us good job several times in English and then I responded to her in Chinese and she responded with the English word. 

We had Xu Hui's medical appointment this morning and have just been hanging out this afternoon.  The hotel we are staying in is surrounded by lots of shops so we have been window shopping.  We went to this one little shop and got to talking to the clerk.  We wanted to get Chinese playing cards because that has been such an important part of our trip.  Forgetting that we were supposed to bargain, I paid $20 for two decks of Chinese cards.  Bargaining is just not my style so I felt really stupid when I did the conversion after we left the store.  I told Scott we really didn't pay $20 for two decks, she also threw in two pairs of magnets for the girls and a Chinese New Year knot I think it is called.  Oh well, hopefully we learned a lesson and made the lady's day.  I'm sure she is still laughing at those stupid Americans.  Then we went to 7 Eleven and I got a Chinese Mountain Dew.

Xu Hui just asked to play more cards so I have to go.  It has been an hour or so since a game so I guess it is time to play.   

Day 6

If we didn't know any better, we would have thought we were in South Dakota today.  It was about 35 and the wind was blowing like you wouldn't believe.  We went to a scenic area along the East Lake in Wuhan and we lasted for about 15 minutes.  It was pretty cold.  I have no idea what the actual temperature was with the windchill.  Then we went to the Hubei Provincial Museum which was pretty cool.  They had a set of bells that they used as a musical instrument that was amazing and the coffins they used to bury their rulers in were something else.

We are off to Guangzhou tomorrow evening.  We are definitely ready for a change.  This week has been a lot of sitting around in the hotel room.  The girls were getting pretty antsy before we went out this afternoon.  I'm hoping we will run into other families in Guangzhou to help pass the time.  The weather is supposed to be nicer as well which will be better for getting out and doing things. 

Xu Hui has been doing great.  She definitely has lots of spunk.  I think this one is going to be a papa's girl.  We went to McDonald's tonight and she wanted a certain sandwich so I got it for her.  It had some sort of spicy sauce on it she didn't like.  I tried to wipe it off the best I could but it was still too much for her.  Miss wanted more nuggets so I got a new sandwich for Xu Hui and when I got back to the table she got so excited.  For being so little, I don't know where she is putting all this food she is eating. 

Xu Hui and Marissa are getting along really well.  She copies most everything Marissa does.  If I ask her if she wants to play cards, she'll say no but if Marissa decides to play, she'll decide she wants to play as well.  Her and Marissa are almost always hand in hand.

Off to get my little ladies to bed.

 

Day 5

We had a fun day today.  The day started off with more cards, then shopping, a little sightseeing, and then more cards.  Scott said he has never seen someone get so much enjoyment out of playing the card game War before.  We have also been playing Memory with a full deck and that is a challenge.  Xu Hui's love of cards will make her a perfect match for both sides of the family. 

Our guide left us hanging on helping us shop to get clothes for Xu Hui, so we ventured out on our own today.  Between our little guide book and what Chinese Scott knows, we did pretty good.  Everyone was really helpful and patient, so that helped as well.  We wandered upon this department store that was the biggest department store I had ever been in.  Xu Hui seemed to enjoy shopping.  The store had so many cute things that I had to concentrate on getting just the essentials for now.  Xu Hui and Marissa walked in front of us hand in hand and were creating lots of buzz on the street.  People still admired Marissa's hair.  One clerk asked if that was her natural color.

We found a Pizza Hut for lunch which was something different than the same hotel food we have been eating for the last few days.  However, this Pizza Hut was a bit fancier than the ones we have in the states. 

On the way back from lunch we had a guy on the street ask us where we were from.  We said America and he responded with Obama.  It was pretty funny.

After lunch, we went to the Yellow Crane Pavillion.  It is the home to a 164 ft high Qing-style building.  It not only contains lots of art work to admire, but it can be climbed for views of the city from every direction.  We didn't linger long as it was pretty cold today and the higher we got the colder and stronger the wind became.

Today was a great day.  I am looking forward to tomorrow.  It sounds like our sightseeing plans may change because of the weather, so it may be another day filled with lots of War, Memory, Garbage, and Frustration. 






    

More Pictures from Wuhan