Views of Guangzhou
First plane ride
Explaination to follow!
A world of new discoveriesWe have arrived at the White Swan Hotel and are on our last leg of our journey! We left our hotel about 8:00 this morning for the airport. Departing Nanjing was a little bittersweet. We are happy to be heading home soon, but I couldn't help but feel a little sad as we left Wen's province and the only home he's ever known. We are grateful for the time we spent there and very grateful for our wonderful guide, Jin. She was wonderful!
Today's blog post may be a little boring since it was really just a travel day. So you'll have to settle for a little blurb about some of our experiences with the people here in China. We have been somewhat of a spectacle while here. Me having curly blonde hair (something not often seen in China!), and us being an American couple carrying around a Chinese boy. We have been stared at, pointed at, and I have been asked to take pictures with people---we'll I guess I wasn't actually asked just kind of coralled into the picture. Yesterday while waiting for our guide to purchase tickets to Dr. Sun's office we were really stared at and I even caught one guy taking pictures of us. Today at the airport was no different. We had our biggest audience ever. We were walking around the terminal killing time. When we arrived back at our gate we were welcomed by a mass of people just sitting and staring at us. Seriously--they were ALL staring. Brian joked that he wanted to get some paper and start giving out autographs! Some people smiled, some just stared, and some were very interested when they noticed Wen's hearingaid. One women was gaving us the thumbs up! Besides always being surrounded by the papparazzi, we have also been surrounded by women wanting to make sure we are taking good care of Wen. They check to make sure he has enough layers of cloths on (he never seems to have enough for them), and they always want to make sure he has something to eat. Feeding him seems to be every woman in China's concern. Everyday we needed to give our guide a report on what he ate for dinner the night before and what he had for breakfast that morning. Apparently every little complaint he had was because he was hungry, and she would (with every good intention) tell us to feed him! Today at the airport I came out of the bathroom and Brian told me to look at what he was eating. I looked down and he was eating a pickle!!! Confused, I looked at Brian and he told me that a women had come over and offered him pickles and peanuts. Despite every smiling attempt by my husband to tell her "no thank you", she still bent down opened the bag and let him take a pickle! Then, when were boarding the plane I was getting into our seats and turned around to find Wen holding two packets of some kind of Chinese snack! Again, confused, I looked at Brian and he told me that the lady sitting in the row next to us gave them to him. I am surprised that on adoption day when we promised and signed that we would take good care of him they didn't make us prepare a meal plan/schedule and hand it in! We don't seem to have any parental authority here. One women in the store today decided that he didn't want to be in the stroller any more and just took him out!! (What a blessing the stroller has been--he weighs 40lbs and totes around his backpack EVERYWHERE making him at least 45-47lbs!! He was getting a little heavy to carry around everywhere and his little legs tire quickly)
It was very interesting seeing the airport through Wen's eyes this morning. He was just absorbing everything. He watched the airplanes out the window, as well as the trucks that bring the luggage to the plane. He stared at the fish in the fish tank. He was especially interested in the mannequines in the shops. I can't imagine what he was thinking looking at those headless plastic people! His first airplane ride went pretty well. He did not like being seatbelted into the chair at all. I know this is new and lots of parents have the same struggle. He became quite cranky by the end of the two hour flight. I assured him that our trip home would only be an additional 11 hours! It should be fun!
As much as we will miss the beauty of Nanjing, we are happy to arrive in Guangzhou. We look forward to meeting up with our Beijing travel buddies and are happy we will have the company of a few other families from GW as well. The change of scenery is also nice. As I had mentioned in previous posts, with the exception of the two times we had dumplings out with our guide, we were basically eating all of our meals in the hotel restaurant. I was getting pretty bored and seriously counting down the number of times we still had to eat there! The food there was very spicy, much to Brian's liking, but I was having a hard time finding something I liked to eat. I finally found a steak sandwich that was really good and ate that three nights in a row!!
Until tomorrow!
*B, J, and El--there is much shopping to do in Guangzhou, we will be bringing you home lots of goodies!
Today's blog post may be a little boring since it was really just a travel day. So you'll have to settle for a little blurb about some of our experiences with the people here in China. We have been somewhat of a spectacle while here. Me having curly blonde hair (something not often seen in China!), and us being an American couple carrying around a Chinese boy. We have been stared at, pointed at, and I have been asked to take pictures with people---we'll I guess I wasn't actually asked just kind of coralled into the picture. Yesterday while waiting for our guide to purchase tickets to Dr. Sun's office we were really stared at and I even caught one guy taking pictures of us. Today at the airport was no different. We had our biggest audience ever. We were walking around the terminal killing time. When we arrived back at our gate we were welcomed by a mass of people just sitting and staring at us. Seriously--they were ALL staring. Brian joked that he wanted to get some paper and start giving out autographs! Some people smiled, some just stared, and some were very interested when they noticed Wen's hearingaid. One women was gaving us the thumbs up! Besides always being surrounded by the papparazzi, we have also been surrounded by women wanting to make sure we are taking good care of Wen. They check to make sure he has enough layers of cloths on (he never seems to have enough for them), and they always want to make sure he has something to eat. Feeding him seems to be every woman in China's concern. Everyday we needed to give our guide a report on what he ate for dinner the night before and what he had for breakfast that morning. Apparently every little complaint he had was because he was hungry, and she would (with every good intention) tell us to feed him! Today at the airport I came out of the bathroom and Brian told me to look at what he was eating. I looked down and he was eating a pickle!!! Confused, I looked at Brian and he told me that a women had come over and offered him pickles and peanuts. Despite every smiling attempt by my husband to tell her "no thank you", she still bent down opened the bag and let him take a pickle! Then, when were boarding the plane I was getting into our seats and turned around to find Wen holding two packets of some kind of Chinese snack! Again, confused, I looked at Brian and he told me that the lady sitting in the row next to us gave them to him. I am surprised that on adoption day when we promised and signed that we would take good care of him they didn't make us prepare a meal plan/schedule and hand it in! We don't seem to have any parental authority here. One women in the store today decided that he didn't want to be in the stroller any more and just took him out!! (What a blessing the stroller has been--he weighs 40lbs and totes around his backpack EVERYWHERE making him at least 45-47lbs!! He was getting a little heavy to carry around everywhere and his little legs tire quickly)
It was very interesting seeing the airport through Wen's eyes this morning. He was just absorbing everything. He watched the airplanes out the window, as well as the trucks that bring the luggage to the plane. He stared at the fish in the fish tank. He was especially interested in the mannequines in the shops. I can't imagine what he was thinking looking at those headless plastic people! His first airplane ride went pretty well. He did not like being seatbelted into the chair at all. I know this is new and lots of parents have the same struggle. He became quite cranky by the end of the two hour flight. I assured him that our trip home would only be an additional 11 hours! It should be fun!
As much as we will miss the beauty of Nanjing, we are happy to arrive in Guangzhou. We look forward to meeting up with our Beijing travel buddies and are happy we will have the company of a few other families from GW as well. The change of scenery is also nice. As I had mentioned in previous posts, with the exception of the two times we had dumplings out with our guide, we were basically eating all of our meals in the hotel restaurant. I was getting pretty bored and seriously counting down the number of times we still had to eat there! The food there was very spicy, much to Brian's liking, but I was having a hard time finding something I liked to eat. I finally found a steak sandwich that was really good and ate that three nights in a row!!
Until tomorrow!
*B, J, and El--there is much shopping to do in Guangzhou, we will be bringing you home lots of goodies!
4 comments:
Too funny about the food!! I remember the Chinese woman being annoyed that Mia sucked her thumb ~ they would run after us and pull it out of her mouth! Very pushy! It should be better in Guangzhou though...enjoy!
(Mia is still amazed by the headless mannequins ~ she points and says "head?"
I'm trying to keep skype on...ring me when you can!!
You are on your last leg!! I am just so happy everything is going so well. The little snippets each day into Owen's personality are wonderful -- we feel like know him so much already! Make sure to enjoy all of Guangzhou. I am sure the next few days will pass quickly. I look forward to your arrival home!
Melissa,
The pickle story is hysterical, some people just will not take "no, thank you" for an answer and Brian handled it very well. I laugh when I think of the whole scene. Well, enjoy your time as a supermodel and keep posting those wonderful pictures of Owen...he's a beautiful little boy! Don't worry, I will remember to bring B to school (and home) next week.
Love,
Angela
Melissa, that is so funny about Chinese women & food. I can totally relate! My mother-in-law is ALWAYS pushing food on us and cooks enough food to feed an army! BTW - when visiting my father's house with Artie and his brother, my father once commented that he never thought he'd be eaten out of house and home by 2 Chinese guys. For as slim as the Asian's are, they EAT! lol
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