We had to get up at 4:00 am this morning to pack and get all the kids in the van headed to the Beijing Airport by 5:30. We left our beloved Yurts and headed out. We caught our flight out to Wuhan at 7:30.
We were greeted at the airport by our Chinese friend I will call "G". G took us to the hotel and we checked in. We went up to our rooms to drop off our bags and headed back down to meet G in the lobby. We went across the street for lunch. We tried many new dishes that we had never had before... I tell you, Chinese menus at home seem so limiting now that we have had a few meals in China. We went back to our rooms after lunch for a wonderful rest.
After our naps we joined G again in the lobby and he took us to his home, which in China is a great honor... not many people have guests to their home, only their very close friends. We had a wonderful reunion with his family, his wife and son. We had enetrtained G and his son in our home last Summer but we had never met his wife. She made us a wonderful Chinese dinner. The girls were all very happy to drink their favorite Chinese drink, a very sweet yogurt type "milk". After dinner Mrs. G played her electric keyboard for us. She has been taking lessons for three months and was a little nervous to play for us but she did a good job. G explained the ways a traditional Chinese family would host guests in their home, some of which he could demonstrate, some of which he couldn't, like offering cigarettes. But he explained each thing and told us what typically would be done. Among some of the things that we tried that were new was Lotus root seeds. They were fun to eat.
G took us back to the hotel and Mr.H so graciously offered to watch all the children so that the three remaining parents could go with G and get a foot massage. Oh my goodness!! We had to wait awhile for an opening because as G said this was "rush hour"... 8:30 at night is "rush hour" for a massage in China... ok...
Anyway we waited and waited... we decided we couldn't wait anymore because it wasn't fair to Mr.H to leave him so long with all the children... G went into action... much conversing back and forth... I have no idea what h said but he got us in right after that. IT WAS GLORIOUS!!! (to quote my friend Susan) It was so worth the wait! I don't know why it's called a foot massage because most every part of my body was massaged. They are amazing. We asked questions through G to the massage people as we were all in the same room together getting our foot massage. We found out how little they are paid and that they work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day! Wow!
We came home at nearly midnight and had a great sleep.
We are leaving this morning for an over night trip to the Three Gorges Dam. We are not taking the computer so I will need to "catch up" again when we get back tomorrow or the next day. I'm sure there will be much to tell!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Continuation...
I am trying to catch up on my entries of each days activities, sorry for the confusion. And if I repeat myself it is due to the fact that I cannot view my blog to see what has been posted.
So I left off with Tuesdays activities... after the Great Wall adventure we headed to the foster home for older children. These children are 7-16 years old. We arrived before the children were home from school yet. We were greeted by some staff members who took us on a tour. The building formerly was an elementary school called the Great Wall Elementary School. It was in a typical courtyard type layout but it had two courtyards. The building was shaped like a two story capital "E". Forming the two courtyards. One courtyard was used for parking and the other courtyard had three ping pong tables. The middle section, downstairs was the kitchen/cafeteria where the children eat their meals. They showed us the classrooms etc. and the dorm rooms for older boys, younger boys, older girls and younger girls. Very nice and clean facilities.
We felt so welcome as soon as we arrived. There was a peace about the place. Soon the children arrived home from school... they were very cheerful and everyone of them greeted us hello. Quite a few of them were very eager to use their English and approached us to start conversations. These children were very intelligent and their English was very good. Our children were quite an attraction to all of them, especially little potato, who herself is Chinese and probably bewilders the children as to why she is with these American families. The children began to play with eachother in the courtyard. Our little one and one of the H girls were playing Ring Around The Rosie. The little Chinese girls were sitting watching them intently... I went over and joined our girls and invited the Chinese girls to join us... several did... and then more... and then more... and then we had so many little girls joining hands we did not have enough space... I took one of them by the hand, broke the circle and walked her around the ping pong table and joined her hand back up to the circle. Now we had a huge circle going around the ping pong table in the courtyard singing Ring Around The Rosie! It was a fantastic sight that I will always remember.
I said to Mrs. H, "What else can we play with them?" We thought and came up with Simon Says... yes! they had played Simon Says before! They were excited... Mrs. H was Simon and she began to call the commands... everyone was having so much fun... then one of the girls said, as her hands were still on her head from the last command, "It is time for us to go to dinner now". So we all went to the cafeteria and ate our delicious dinner on a stainless steel cafeteria tray. They graciously provided plastic spoons for each of the foreigners... but we used chopsticks :)
One little girl that sat with us was Patsy, she was so tiny I thought she was about 6 or 7 (a small 6 or 7) she said she was 10. She didn't speak alot of English but a little bit. She obviously did not like everything the cook had to offer that night, she had two items out of five... rice and a curried potatoe and beef dish. She was the last one to finish eating out of the 44 children and all of the guests as well. She was eating and talking a little bit with us and someone came along to encourage her to hurry up and after they left she looked at us and took her finger, placed it on her nose and pushed up while she snorted like a pig... we laughed so hard. We did not need language to understand that she was saying everyone else eats so fast, like little pigs... that began our "conversation" of farm animal sounds... she would make a mooooo and we would say, "cow"... she would bark and we would say, "dog" etc... it was great fun. (Esther... how about another sister?)
We played more with them after dinner things like Duck, Duck, Goose. It was a GREAT day and I am so glad we went along with the H's plans that day... nothing could have topped this experience!
We took our hired van back to the foster home we are staying in and arrived home quite late at night (now you know why I am having a hard time keeping up with my blog)
So I left off with Tuesdays activities... after the Great Wall adventure we headed to the foster home for older children. These children are 7-16 years old. We arrived before the children were home from school yet. We were greeted by some staff members who took us on a tour. The building formerly was an elementary school called the Great Wall Elementary School. It was in a typical courtyard type layout but it had two courtyards. The building was shaped like a two story capital "E". Forming the two courtyards. One courtyard was used for parking and the other courtyard had three ping pong tables. The middle section, downstairs was the kitchen/cafeteria where the children eat their meals. They showed us the classrooms etc. and the dorm rooms for older boys, younger boys, older girls and younger girls. Very nice and clean facilities.
We felt so welcome as soon as we arrived. There was a peace about the place. Soon the children arrived home from school... they were very cheerful and everyone of them greeted us hello. Quite a few of them were very eager to use their English and approached us to start conversations. These children were very intelligent and their English was very good. Our children were quite an attraction to all of them, especially little potato, who herself is Chinese and probably bewilders the children as to why she is with these American families. The children began to play with eachother in the courtyard. Our little one and one of the H girls were playing Ring Around The Rosie. The little Chinese girls were sitting watching them intently... I went over and joined our girls and invited the Chinese girls to join us... several did... and then more... and then more... and then we had so many little girls joining hands we did not have enough space... I took one of them by the hand, broke the circle and walked her around the ping pong table and joined her hand back up to the circle. Now we had a huge circle going around the ping pong table in the courtyard singing Ring Around The Rosie! It was a fantastic sight that I will always remember.
I said to Mrs. H, "What else can we play with them?" We thought and came up with Simon Says... yes! they had played Simon Says before! They were excited... Mrs. H was Simon and she began to call the commands... everyone was having so much fun... then one of the girls said, as her hands were still on her head from the last command, "It is time for us to go to dinner now". So we all went to the cafeteria and ate our delicious dinner on a stainless steel cafeteria tray. They graciously provided plastic spoons for each of the foreigners... but we used chopsticks :)
One little girl that sat with us was Patsy, she was so tiny I thought she was about 6 or 7 (a small 6 or 7) she said she was 10. She didn't speak alot of English but a little bit. She obviously did not like everything the cook had to offer that night, she had two items out of five... rice and a curried potatoe and beef dish. She was the last one to finish eating out of the 44 children and all of the guests as well. She was eating and talking a little bit with us and someone came along to encourage her to hurry up and after they left she looked at us and took her finger, placed it on her nose and pushed up while she snorted like a pig... we laughed so hard. We did not need language to understand that she was saying everyone else eats so fast, like little pigs... that began our "conversation" of farm animal sounds... she would make a mooooo and we would say, "cow"... she would bark and we would say, "dog" etc... it was great fun. (Esther... how about another sister?)
We played more with them after dinner things like Duck, Duck, Goose. It was a GREAT day and I am so glad we went along with the H's plans that day... nothing could have topped this experience!
We took our hired van back to the foster home we are staying in and arrived home quite late at night (now you know why I am having a hard time keeping up with my blog)
Back to the Great Wall...
We never anticipated returning to The Great Wall; we were there in March of 2006. But we are drawn to it again... This time we went to a different section of the Wall. We aproached it in a completely different way... we took a chair lift (the kind used at ski resorts) up to the top of the Great Wall. We walked around and as soon as we got off the chair lift I started filming and tripped on the stairs, fell and broke my camera. I'm ok, just a little scratched up toe is all, but now when I need to take a picture I have to squeeze my camera together with one hand and try and operate it with the remaining hand. Zooming is a little difficult. We are going to look for a new camera. We got a few shots, but boy what a time to have technical difficulties!
The best part was our return down the mountain, we rode little tobogans down a metal flume. It had a brake for slowing yourself down and it only went forward when you pushed the brake handle forward. I filmed it all the way down! Such excitement!!!It was GREAT fun!!! I REALLY wanted to do this but I didn't think we would get the chance. This trip was impromtu. The H's had a trip planned to another foster home for older children near the Great Wall and when we heard the were going to this place as well, we were all in!
I saw pictures on Steven Curtis Chapman's blog that he and his family went down this tobogan run and I wanted to do it ever since.
I spent my morning meeting with the director of the foster home we are staying in. I learned a lot about their ministry and discussed my involvement in the future and how to best help them. It was a very useful time for me. Our little one spent the morning helping with the toddlers in the preschool time. She loved it. The H girls spent time playing with the orphans helping the Nannies to care for the babies.
Have to go to dinner... more later...
The best part was our return down the mountain, we rode little tobogans down a metal flume. It had a brake for slowing yourself down and it only went forward when you pushed the brake handle forward. I filmed it all the way down! Such excitement!!!It was GREAT fun!!! I REALLY wanted to do this but I didn't think we would get the chance. This trip was impromtu. The H's had a trip planned to another foster home for older children near the Great Wall and when we heard the were going to this place as well, we were all in!
I saw pictures on Steven Curtis Chapman's blog that he and his family went down this tobogan run and I wanted to do it ever since.
I spent my morning meeting with the director of the foster home we are staying in. I learned a lot about their ministry and discussed my involvement in the future and how to best help them. It was a very useful time for me. Our little one spent the morning helping with the toddlers in the preschool time. She loved it. The H girls spent time playing with the orphans helping the Nannies to care for the babies.
Have to go to dinner... more later...
Monday, September 3, 2007
We are here!
We arrived, we are alive and in one piece!
We started out the first leg of our journey with mechanical problems, fuel leak to be exact. They put us on another plane about an hours delay, not bad. We wondered if we would make our connection in Tokyo... we made up time in the sky and got there just in time to make it to the departure gate of our connecting flight... alas, mechanical problems with plane number two. An announcement was made that the flight was cancelled and we would be put up in a hotel in Tokyo. Several hours later we layed our heads down at 10:00 pm Tokyo time for six hours of rest. The 4:00 am wake up call came mighty quick! We were shuttled back to the airport and we literally opened the airport, no one else was there, just those from NWA Flight 11. At 6:30 we took off for Beijing. We arrived this morning in Beijing and hooked up with our transport from the foster home we are staying at.
We got here rather early in the day which allowed us lots of time to play with the babies after unloading all the supplies we brought. By the way, for those of you who were praying, Security at the airport and Customs in Beijing was nothing, literally nothing. We breezed through without any problems whatsoever and everything arrived in great condition. I was so pleased. It was a great sense of accomplishment to finally turn over all those supplies after months of planning, gathering and packing. It was strange to load them in the van and not be "responsible" for them anymore, I felt rather "naked" without them. So instead of counting bags and children at every station along the way we were down to just counting children. (For those keeping score it was BAGS-15 CHILDREN-5) It still is children-5, thank goodness. But soon it will be CHILDREN-7!!!!!!!!!!! ADULTS-4 :)
We had lunch in the cafeteria where the children and staff eat. We toured the foster facility and saw the new wing which was under construction last year when we were here. Then we held babies and played with toddlers for a couple hours. We tried to take a rest in our Yurts but it was too warm. Then we went for a swim which was very refreshing. The director took us out to dinner at one of their favorite local restaurants. It was great!!!!! I will have to post a photo of the meal we had later. It was served traditional Chinese fashion on a huge lazy Susan of course. But my o my... he ordered item after item in Chinese... item after item came out. There were 11 of us we ate all we could, tried everything and there was still easily enough left to feed us another meal. It came to about about $15.00, amazing. I wish I could describe the restaurant's appearance, you really can't explain it... those of you who have been to China will know what I'm talking about. I would guess that most of us would have driven right by this place and NEVER even guessed it was a restaurant. Once we were taken inside we were led upstairs to a hall way of what looked like a very old apartment building. It was not very well lit. As we were led down the hall some of the doors were open and some were closed. The ones that had open doors we could see they were private dining rooms set for patrons. But no one was in the restaurant. We went into one of the rooms and sat at a large round table. I'm not sure why the empty downstairs was not chosen for us to have our meal we just went where we were led. It was such a wonderful experience. I love stuff like this!
Half-way through the meal our little one decided she needed to use the restroom, our host said it was down the hall and to the left. She went and returned within minutes, "Mommy, it's a squatty potty and I forgot how to use them", she said. So I went with her and gave instructions and attempted to help her "assume the position"... she changed her mind and decided she didn't have to go that badly afterall. Our first encounter. I imagine I may have a similar experience with Esther in a matter of days only with just the opposite plumbing fixture :)
We had a wonderful meal but the jet-lag took it's toll with the children one by one during our feast and the ride home they fell asleep. I think I am the last one up at this point, I am determined to post to the blog everyday I possibly can. Good Night from CHINA!!!
We started out the first leg of our journey with mechanical problems, fuel leak to be exact. They put us on another plane about an hours delay, not bad. We wondered if we would make our connection in Tokyo... we made up time in the sky and got there just in time to make it to the departure gate of our connecting flight... alas, mechanical problems with plane number two. An announcement was made that the flight was cancelled and we would be put up in a hotel in Tokyo. Several hours later we layed our heads down at 10:00 pm Tokyo time for six hours of rest. The 4:00 am wake up call came mighty quick! We were shuttled back to the airport and we literally opened the airport, no one else was there, just those from NWA Flight 11. At 6:30 we took off for Beijing. We arrived this morning in Beijing and hooked up with our transport from the foster home we are staying at.
We got here rather early in the day which allowed us lots of time to play with the babies after unloading all the supplies we brought. By the way, for those of you who were praying, Security at the airport and Customs in Beijing was nothing, literally nothing. We breezed through without any problems whatsoever and everything arrived in great condition. I was so pleased. It was a great sense of accomplishment to finally turn over all those supplies after months of planning, gathering and packing. It was strange to load them in the van and not be "responsible" for them anymore, I felt rather "naked" without them. So instead of counting bags and children at every station along the way we were down to just counting children. (For those keeping score it was BAGS-15 CHILDREN-5) It still is children-5, thank goodness. But soon it will be CHILDREN-7!!!!!!!!!!! ADULTS-4 :)
We had lunch in the cafeteria where the children and staff eat. We toured the foster facility and saw the new wing which was under construction last year when we were here. Then we held babies and played with toddlers for a couple hours. We tried to take a rest in our Yurts but it was too warm. Then we went for a swim which was very refreshing. The director took us out to dinner at one of their favorite local restaurants. It was great!!!!! I will have to post a photo of the meal we had later. It was served traditional Chinese fashion on a huge lazy Susan of course. But my o my... he ordered item after item in Chinese... item after item came out. There were 11 of us we ate all we could, tried everything and there was still easily enough left to feed us another meal. It came to about about $15.00, amazing. I wish I could describe the restaurant's appearance, you really can't explain it... those of you who have been to China will know what I'm talking about. I would guess that most of us would have driven right by this place and NEVER even guessed it was a restaurant. Once we were taken inside we were led upstairs to a hall way of what looked like a very old apartment building. It was not very well lit. As we were led down the hall some of the doors were open and some were closed. The ones that had open doors we could see they were private dining rooms set for patrons. But no one was in the restaurant. We went into one of the rooms and sat at a large round table. I'm not sure why the empty downstairs was not chosen for us to have our meal we just went where we were led. It was such a wonderful experience. I love stuff like this!
Half-way through the meal our little one decided she needed to use the restroom, our host said it was down the hall and to the left. She went and returned within minutes, "Mommy, it's a squatty potty and I forgot how to use them", she said. So I went with her and gave instructions and attempted to help her "assume the position"... she changed her mind and decided she didn't have to go that badly afterall. Our first encounter. I imagine I may have a similar experience with Esther in a matter of days only with just the opposite plumbing fixture :)
We had a wonderful meal but the jet-lag took it's toll with the children one by one during our feast and the ride home they fell asleep. I think I am the last one up at this point, I am determined to post to the blog everyday I possibly can. Good Night from CHINA!!!
Saturday, August 4, 2007
We are going to CHINA!!!!
It's official.... we know the dates.... Not that the waiting is over yet, but now we know when we will leave... how long we will be there.... and when we will meet and hold our daughter in our arms for the first time! The "waiting" has got to be the hardest part of this whole experience, but boy the things I am learning through this!!! It is amazing!
My brain seems to be on HOLD in some ways... hard to concentrate... my normally reliable memory is shot... my ability to focus is dim... much the way I felt through my pregnancies. It helps to have airline reservations and itineraries nailed down. "Helps" I said, not cures.
Here is what our entire trip looks like….
09/01 Leave SeaTac for China
09/02 Arrive Beijing, get picked up by H.F.H.
09/02 – 09/05 stay at HFH in their volunteer facilities, Yurts, they are so COOL!
09/05 Fly out to Wuhan, Hubei. Have dinner at our friend’s home.
09/06 Take a 5 hour bus trip to Yichang where the HUGE dam on the Yangtze is under construction. Take a boat cruise to see dam. Stay in Yichang over-night.
09/07 Return to Wuhan by bus. See more of Wuhan.
09/08 Go to train station around 10 am. Arrive in Changsha (Provincial Capital of Hunan)at 2 pm. BOIT takes us to Dolton Hotel.
09/09 My BIRTHDAY! Free day. We will explore and see what there is to see??? Get ready for ESTHER!!!!
09/10 GOTCHA DAY!!!!
09/11 “Country side” tour
09/12 Primary school tour, shopping for tomorrow’s visit to SWI (Esther's orphanage)
09/13 SWI visit.
09/14 Get Esther’s passport, fly out to GZ , transfer to Victory Hotel.
09/15 Medical exam for Esther.
09/16 Zoo visit.
09/17 Pearl River Cruise.
09/18 Pick up Esther's Visa from American Consulate.
09/19 Fly home!!
My brain seems to be on HOLD in some ways... hard to concentrate... my normally reliable memory is shot... my ability to focus is dim... much the way I felt through my pregnancies. It helps to have airline reservations and itineraries nailed down. "Helps" I said, not cures.
Here is what our entire trip looks like….
09/01 Leave SeaTac for China
09/02 Arrive Beijing, get picked up by H.F.H.
09/02 – 09/05 stay at HFH in their volunteer facilities, Yurts, they are so COOL!
09/05 Fly out to Wuhan, Hubei. Have dinner at our friend’s home.
09/06 Take a 5 hour bus trip to Yichang where the HUGE dam on the Yangtze is under construction. Take a boat cruise to see dam. Stay in Yichang over-night.
09/07 Return to Wuhan by bus. See more of Wuhan.
09/08 Go to train station around 10 am. Arrive in Changsha (Provincial Capital of Hunan)at 2 pm. BOIT takes us to Dolton Hotel.
09/09 My BIRTHDAY! Free day. We will explore and see what there is to see??? Get ready for ESTHER!!!!
09/10 GOTCHA DAY!!!!
09/11 “Country side” tour
09/12 Primary school tour, shopping for tomorrow’s visit to SWI (Esther's orphanage)
09/13 SWI visit.
09/14 Get Esther’s passport, fly out to GZ , transfer to Victory Hotel.
09/15 Medical exam for Esther.
09/16 Zoo visit.
09/17 Pearl River Cruise.
09/18 Pick up Esther's Visa from American Consulate.
09/19 Fly home!!
Friday, July 6, 2007
WHILE WE WAIT ...
Yes... we are still waiting for our official invitation to come to China and get our daughter. But we are making good use of our time. We are rounding up all the supplies that we have been gathering for months to take to an orphanage in Beijing, H.F.H. These babies in H.F.H. are helped so greatly by Dr. H and her husband and their team dedicating their lives to these children. On their wonderful Website for H.F.H. there is a "needs" tab and the needs are segregated by things that are difficult or impossible to get in China and things that can be purchased there. I try to focus on things they cannot get there.
A good friend of mine's wonderful daughter held a fund-raising garage sale for HFH this Spring and raised over $600.00 !! We are taking that money and purchasing prescription medications to take with us to deliver to HFH. Our family doctor is willing to write the prescriptions for us in the name of H. F. H. and a locally owned pharmacy is willing to sell us the meds at just over cost (HUGE SAVINGS!). I am so excited to get these much needed meds to them so they can focus on helping these children survive rather than seeking supplies.
We are also taking 19 baby quilts. I have quilting friends and they spread the word and we all made a few quilts each. Last trip I focused on premature baby clothes and pediatric colostomy bags. I am thrilled to say that through a friend in Canada that I shared the need for pediatric colostomy bags, he found a FREE, LIFE-TIME supply for HFH!!! This trip my focus is supplies needed to repair clubbed feet. I went to a couple local orthopedic factories here that specialize in corrective foot insoles, that type of thing. They use some of the same supplies that Dr. H needs. I asked them for donations and I received over 200 rools of casting tape!! Praise God!! I'm not sure how it's all going to fit or get in under the weight limit for the luggage but I know it will somehow!!
I am so excited to meet our daughter but I can't tell you how excited I get helping people to help Orphans!
One thing I have discovered is that it takes many wonderful people (some of you are reading this now), to be able to work together to richly bless these babies. I want to thank those of you who have helped me reach these goals. Some of you sponsored one of the medications needed, some of you used your talent to create blankets, some of you said "yes" to donating funds, some of you carried the supplies to China, some of you "knew someone" who " knew somone" to get the answers needed, some of you pray for safe arrival of the supplies, some of you spread the word about HFH and their needs, some of you said "yes" when you were in a position to donate, some of you donated your time to organize the collection of supplies. Indeed it takes many of us, but it is so worth it. It just spreads the blessings farther! God bless you for building up your treasure in heaven.
Consider finding an orphanage you can connect with and help on an on-going basis. We may not all be able to quit our jobs and move to another country but we can help from right where we are!
A good friend of mine's wonderful daughter held a fund-raising garage sale for HFH this Spring and raised over $600.00 !! We are taking that money and purchasing prescription medications to take with us to deliver to HFH. Our family doctor is willing to write the prescriptions for us in the name of H. F. H. and a locally owned pharmacy is willing to sell us the meds at just over cost (HUGE SAVINGS!). I am so excited to get these much needed meds to them so they can focus on helping these children survive rather than seeking supplies.
We are also taking 19 baby quilts. I have quilting friends and they spread the word and we all made a few quilts each. Last trip I focused on premature baby clothes and pediatric colostomy bags. I am thrilled to say that through a friend in Canada that I shared the need for pediatric colostomy bags, he found a FREE, LIFE-TIME supply for HFH!!! This trip my focus is supplies needed to repair clubbed feet. I went to a couple local orthopedic factories here that specialize in corrective foot insoles, that type of thing. They use some of the same supplies that Dr. H needs. I asked them for donations and I received over 200 rools of casting tape!! Praise God!! I'm not sure how it's all going to fit or get in under the weight limit for the luggage but I know it will somehow!!
I am so excited to meet our daughter but I can't tell you how excited I get helping people to help Orphans!
One thing I have discovered is that it takes many wonderful people (some of you are reading this now), to be able to work together to richly bless these babies. I want to thank those of you who have helped me reach these goals. Some of you sponsored one of the medications needed, some of you used your talent to create blankets, some of you said "yes" to donating funds, some of you carried the supplies to China, some of you "knew someone" who " knew somone" to get the answers needed, some of you pray for safe arrival of the supplies, some of you spread the word about HFH and their needs, some of you said "yes" when you were in a position to donate, some of you donated your time to organize the collection of supplies. Indeed it takes many of us, but it is so worth it. It just spreads the blessings farther! God bless you for building up your treasure in heaven.
Consider finding an orphanage you can connect with and help on an on-going basis. We may not all be able to quit our jobs and move to another country but we can help from right where we are!
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