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We arrived home on xmas eve after a 24 hour odyssey that included 2 hours in hong kong airport, 14 hours from Hong Kong to Chicago, 2 hours in chicago, 2 hours from chicago to DC and then a car ride home after filing a report one lost bag in DC. The kids did just amazing despite each only getting about 3.5 hours of sleep.

I slept poorly tonight, Shelley seems to have slept well and the kids both seem to have slept well so we can't argue with that.

Guang Jin is terrified of the cat, will almost certainly be more terrified of the dog and otherwise seemed to enjoy the house other than when going to bed in his new room which caused much crying. 

Life begins again, here.

Merry Xmas and Happy Channukah to all.

Peter

Just Another Monday in Guangzhou

Today our paperwork for the U.S. Consulate appeared to be accepted without problem so tomorrow we will go through a very short and perfunctory ceremony and receive Wade's visa and then head to the train station for Hong Kong and what Wade undoubtedly thinks is his third home in 8 days. 

The temperature dropped to a frigid 62 degrees today.  Real bummer.

Merry upcoming Xmas and Happy Hannukah to everyone. Wierdly there are tons of Xmas decorations in China as it is apparently celebrated as a secular holiday. I have yet to see a Menorah which is highly disturbing. How do they celebrate the festival lights in this country?

Shelley May Have Completely Lost It

Guang-Zoo

Today was spent at the Guangzhou zoo - fun and yet depressing like most zoo's. We accompanied the Fraschetti family from Marin County, California (pictured below) who are seriously good folks and have the previously mentioned 6 year old daughter Sarah who has become quick friends with Clara June.

Today also marked some great progress with Guang Jin where he is becoming closer to me (Peter) and just more comfortable in general with change and adversity. I was the recipient of a couple of big and lovely hugs from him which is a first for me. He has of course become very attached Shelley (who wouldn't?) and loves to follow Clara June around. In general, if he realizes he is not where Shelley is he becomes worried, whiny and/or panicky. Clara June has been a dream on this trip, amazingly patient for a six year old and seems to be enjoying her brother despite the obvious challenges of sharing parental attention and toys, and his occassional emotional outbursts.

Sore throat started for me today which other than Dan's bout with the run for the border is the first illness we have been subject to. Hopefully it will be short lived.

I warn you that the last picture below ( of CJ And GJ) will break your heart.

Peter

Guangzhou

Losing a little steam on the blog but will post some pictures tomorrow. We arrived in Guangzhou last night around 8pm with two overtired kids. We are thrilled to be here as Shamian Island is a really wonderful place (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamian_Island) and the temperature here today (Saturday) and tomorrow is 78-80 degrees for highs. Quite amazing.

Wade Guangjin had his physical exam today. To say that he enjoyed the exam would be similar to saying that George W. Bush has enjoyed high approval ratings over the last few years. We discovered he is quite strong as he cried and threw one helluva of a fit on just about everything including (but not limited to) the heart check, feet check, hands check, privates check, ears check, eyes check, nose check, weight check, height check, hair check and coat check. 

We purchased a cheap stroller for him today and he very much enjoys riding around like a prince surveying his lands, serfs and other subjects. We also enjoyed one heckuva tasty meal at La Dolce Vita, a surprisingly tasty italian restaurant.

We met a great couple from Marin county California adopting a 16 month old (Leila) and with a beatiful 6 year old daughter named  Sarah who Clara June has become fast friends with.

We handed off all of our paperwork and fees to our guide today and thus await the arrival of WGJ's visa on Tuesday. We then take a train to Hong Kong for yet another hotel and fly out on Wednesday morning for the trip home from hell.

Our son is very active, funny and learning some English. He is quite alert and knows what he wants for sure. Getting an active toddler to bed in strange hotel rooms is becoming an interesting lesson in the battle of wills,  yikes.  Tommorrow we are off to the zoo, which will either delight or terrify Wade, stay tuned.

Last Full Day In Nanjing

Some sightseeing, some shoe shopping (prices for things made in china but not shipped overseas - incredibly cheap).  We are awaiting notarized documents for our adoption, ones that certify Wade Guang Jin's abandonment, etc. etc. Wade is so enthralled with Clara June that he always gives/offers her part of his snack when ever he has it. Peter bought 2 chocolates and asked him to take it to her which he did and then bowed!  Hilarious. He is now running and walking much better now that we got him sneakers which light up....good for Shelley since this means less carrying and for Peter since when he got carried, CJ wanted to be carried too.

Overall, Wade Guang Jin is a lovely boy and doing very well for having his whole world turned upside down.

We visited a confucian temple and a beautiful park in central Nanjing where you can see that Clara June is standing with a 600 year old Wisteria!! (Only 350 years older than our country!)

I forgot to write down all the breakfast items in our hotel buffet but I will leave you with only this one:

• Steamed Chicken Feet (Don't fill up on them because you will just be hungry an hour later.)
  

Just Another Day In Nanjing

Sorry - no pictures today other than two of CJ and WGJ eating fruit rollups. Forgot the camera in the hotel although we did have a lovley day of sightseeing at the Mausoleum of Sun Yat San. Amazingly beautiful and here is a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen_Mausoleum.  It is situated in the mountains that surround Nanjing. At this tourist site, we had a most unusual experience of having army men asking us to pose for pictures with them. Very fun and interesting.

We also made a visit to the Nanjing Museum which had some amazing brocade and jade. It also included a lesson on how to determine what Jade is high quality with frequent pop quizzes adminstered in rapid fire and without mercy. That, thankfully, was followed by a great chinese lunch and some hanging out in the hotel.

Standby for a list tomorrow of buffet items from our hotel breakfast buffet. You will not be dissappointed.

Tonight we eat at German restaurant called Paulaner. Stay tuned for gastroestinal updates as the situation warrants. 

Adoption is Official

So, yesterday, we basically checked Guang Jin out of the orphanage library for a 24 hour test period. Rather than return him, we decided to go ahead and make it official as it is clear he is a keeper.

We brought big sweaty wads of Yuan to the Civil Affairs office for the orphanage donation, notary fee and passport fee.

We also had the great fortune of spending some time with Mama Zhang (pictured below) who is director of and the force behind Guang Jin's orpahanage. She is a powerhouse and really friendly. She brought us more pictures of Guang Jin, a brochure of the orphanage (quite impressive) and a framed chinese opera mask for Guang Jin's room.

We then spent a couple of hours at a beautiful park in Nanjing. Guang Jin appears to be taking to us very well although he clearly has a mind of his own and opinions about many things. Among them is a very strong attachment to his spiderman backpack which he stuffs everything he owns (and some things he doesn't) into. He carries it around despite the fact that he teeters when he walks even without it. With it on, he lurches from side to side.

Our nephew Dan had an unfortunate bought of Mao's Revenge for which a remarkably stern-faced doctor gave him antibiotics, rehydration salts, etc.  From the look on the doctors face, you would assume that Danny either (1) was near dying or (2) smelled bad. Fortunately, neither was even close to true. He is now making a full recovery and just had his first meal in a day and a half.

The Acquisition of Wade Guang Jin Gross

Today was a great day, albeit stressful and wild. We arrive at the Civil Affairs Office in Nanjing at 9:45 and Guang Jin was waiting for us with a caretaker from the orphanage. In addition, there were two other families adopting, one adopting a toddler and the other what appeared to be a 7 year old.

As for us, the opening moments were tearful and joyful. Shelley and I cried the second we saw him. Despite a bubble on his lip that is more prominent than we imagined, he is a beautiful boy and he instantly was playing with some of the toys that Clara June brought for him. As the orphanage worked left the room, however, this was quickly replaced by crying and trying to get out the door to follow her.

Over the course of the day, there has been some crying, but now much eating, smiling, laughing and playing. He has been pronouncing english words such as "car" "elephant" and many others. He appears to have been well cared for and is bright-eyed, quick-to-learn and quite amazing. He has an almost unnaturally close affinity to clara june in being self-possessed and well-organized. 

Physically, he appears to be healthy although his cleft lip and palate are definitely worse than we had thought (at least to our untrained eyes). The doctors say such things are definitely fixable through surgery which we will hopefully get him soon. In addition, he appears to be missing his four front teeth that got knocked out, according to the orphanage director.  Poor fellow!

Clara June has been completely amazing with him and he wants to do everything she does. 

Clara June says to ROOM 11 friends:

I love my brother and I wish you were in China.

Love Clara June!

On To Nanjing

Today, we spent the morning packing and then going to Shanghai Aquarium with Shelley's friends Ed and Jen from business school - and their two adorable kids Mia and Ian. After a romp around the aquarium we enjoyed "american-style" food at ElementFresh - a must visit forAmericans seeking salads, smoothies and other healthy items.

We then loaded up our rather large contingent of suitcases and headed for the train station via the assistance of our temporary guide "Joe" who bore both a physical and emotional resemblence to the Chinese version of the Bad News Bears. 

In Waiting Room 8 (which is about the size of the Meadowlands) we spent an hour where Dan, Shelley and Peter were literally the only non-chinese looking folks in a room of what seemed like 500 folks.  (pictures attached). We took a highly efficient train ride of about 2 hours from Shanghai to Nanjing. Strangely there was a British or Australian pair sitting right behind us. 

Upon arrival in Nanjing (quite a lovely city), we met our guide Lily and checked into the Nanjing Grand Hotel. We tried to order Shelley a glass of wine via room service and after first getting vodka and then rum, we determined that to the good folks in room service "American Wine" is actually hard liquor. She settled for a beer. This is actually a similar story to one that involved a visit to a pharmacy in Shanghai which I won't share here...

Tomorrow is the big day where we get Guang Jin (10am Nanjing Time, 9pm Washington, DC time). We are all excited but no one more than Clara June who is literally jumping up and down about it. 

Quite amazing that we are 1/2 a day away from getting child #2 - after a very long odyssey indeed.

Day 2 in Shanghai - Tower and Museum

Overall, we had a great day in China despite some unpleasant jet lag. We went up to the observation deck of the Shanghai TV tower and to the Shanghai museum. The view from the tower (pictures below) make it clear just how big a city this is. It has 23 million people in a very large land mass and makes Manhattan look like Albany (no offense).

The Shanghai Museum has the most amazing collection of paintings, silk, jade, pottery, etc. Some of the pottery dates back to 3500 BC - which is really quite a long time. Clara June had a really good time running all over the place looking at things and listening to the handheld audio tour.

At night, we succumbed to the Ritz Carlton's buffet to injest some salad and other western style delectibles.

First Full Day In Shanghai

We flew into Shanghai yesterday via a 14 hour flight from Chicago. There is really no way to describe a 14 hour flight as being good, yet it was as good as to be expected. After dinner in Shanghai, we actually managed to sleep through the night, waking up at 1am, taking some much appreciated sleep aids and then sleeping until 7pm.

We spent today with our guide 'Alex' and had a great day visiting Buddist temples, doing some shopping (paintings, tea and a t-shirt) and eating some of the tastiest food ever created - most importantly "soup dumplings" which Clara June (as Vanna White) is featuring below. Yes, you drink the "soup" out of the straw first and then eat the dumpling.

Also below is a picture of some of the 20 buddhist masters (don't mess with these guys) as well as a picture of Shelley and Clara June at a beautiful garden (Yu Yuan) we visited. 

China Departure - Day -1

Nephew / Cousin Dan arrived safely and the Fellowship of Guang Jin is now fully prepared to depart. Naturally, Clara June and Dan are bulking up for the trip sharing some fries from the Good Stuff Eatery.

Trip Itinerary

Probably way more detail than is really necessary but here is the trip.

December 9^th – Dan Gross Flies from Albany to DC to meet us for the Trip.

December 10^th – Fly from DC to Chicago and Chicago to Shanghai on United Airlines.

December 11^th – Arrive in Shanghai around 4pm and staying The Bund Hotel –

December 12^th – Sightseeing

December 13^th – Sightseeing

December 14^th – Take afternoon train to Nanjing – check in to the Nanjing Grand Hotel

December 15^th – Take Guang Jin into our family. (Various people in the party will be freaking out and/or crying – mostly Peter.)

December 16^th – Various adoption registration procedures per the provincial authorities.

December 17^th and 18th – Hanging out – sightseeing

December 19^th – Receive Guang Jin’s passport andfly from Nanjing to Guangzhou. Staying at the famous White Swan Hotel in all its loveliness.

December 20^th – Guang Jin physical exam and various other things

December 21^st – Sightseeing

December 22^nd – Apply for visa – sightseeing, hanging out

December 23^rd – Pick up his visa. Take train to Hong Kong. Hotel still TBD

December 24^th – Fly Home. Hong Kong to Chicago, Chicago to Washington National (please don’t call it Reagan) and arrive in the mid-afternoon. Please ensure that someone is at the airport with mop and shovel to get me out of my seat.

December 25^th – we will figure everything else out later.

Travel Approval Has Arrived

We recieved notice of our travel approval today!!! We are quite excited and deciding on what our departure date will be but almost certainly will be next week some time.

Letter of Approval

We officially received our Letter of Approval on November 3, 2008. Guang Jin (pronounced Goo-ahng Jean) has a beautiful translation. It means, light coming forward into your home. Since we got our final approvals the day before the presidential elections, I think it meant light coming forward to our nation as well. What a week!


These are the most recent photos of him, sent by the orphanage in November. He looks great! We are sending him a photos of our family and a small care package since we'll be seeing him in about a month. Can you imagine such a Christmas present???

Waiting for Gary?

His name is Yang Guang Jin. The orphanage gave it to him. On his file for adoption, his name is "Gary" although one presumes he has never heard that name. He is three and a half years old, has had a cleft lip and cleft palate repaired. For the last three and a half years he has been in an orphanage in Zhenjiang City in the province of Jiangsu in the eastern part of China.

Hopefully when he is four years old or a little older we will meet him for the first time because earlier today we stated our intentions (before our caseworker, the government of China and god him/herself) to become his parents. 

We are Peter Gross, Shelley Churchill, Clara June, Buck the Wonder Dog and Watson the Drooling Cat.