Mom's words:
Today is a "free" day to spend as we please. Tomorrow is an appointment at the US Consolate for a Visa and swearing in ceremony. Thomas receives his Visa Friday afternoon, and we leave Saturday evening, with a late checkout from the hotel. We leave Guangzhou on Dragon Airlines on Saturday, 9/24 here, and arrive less than an hour later on Sunday 9/24 in Hong Kong. When we arrive at 10:00 pm in San Francisco, we will be back to Saturday the 24th again. Confusing? Yes, but it means many more hours of hanging out in the hotel room. Luckily, Thomas can entertain himself for long periods of time. He's very imaginative and creative about creating play for himself. He likes to play with us, too. He has a twinkle in his eye, and can be a tease.
Amber and John left him with me while they walked across the street to Starbucks. Thomas fussed for a minute after they left, but soon got to playing after I gave him a favorite toy, John got him one of those small drums on a stick, with two beads on a short string. Thomas likes to have something in his hands to hold on to, it seems. He also plays "52 card pick-up". He tosses the alphabet flashcards all over the place, then picks them up and puts them back in their box, on or two or three at a time. He plays with the empty water bottles, and the other day he was stacking the soda cans from the mini-bar four-high until John and Amber decided they didn't want to risk broken soda cans spraying all over the place.
It's a pleasure to see Thomas spread his wings after living the first two years of his life in the orphanage. I realized that he has had very little, if any experience of men in his life. The orphanage workers and caretakers are all women, young women. When Amber, Mom and I took Thomas to the small playroom in the hotel, we had to take the elevator. When the elevator door opened, two or three hotel workers in uniform were getting off. That cause Thomas to become apprehensive, it balked at getting on that elevator. When the doors opened on an empty elevator, he to on without hesitation. He clearly fears being returned to the orphanage. He goes freely to me and to Mom as well as to Amber and John. He recognizes us, and is very excited whenever we show up at the door to their hotel room.
Yesterday we went to a beautiful landscaped park and garden which is part of a larger preserved forest and mountain area with lakes and streams. The area we visited had a large, enclosed glass conservatory with plants from all around the world. I was surprised to see cacti garden among the orchids, ferns, and palms. There were long, sloping paths and many shallow steps. Little side paths wound around and through the plantings. Thomas could have climbed the steps and stayed there all day. he love the flowers and just being outdoors. We saw birds and enjoyed hearing them calling and chirping after spending so much time in the midst of the city. The city of skyscrapers and apartment buildings and shops and streets and roads seems to just go on and on. Guangzhou is the third largest city in China, and therefore one of the largest in the world. I couldn't image such a huge city, and still find it hard to take in, but standing on a hill in the gardens, we could look out over the landscape to see the skyscrapers in the distance to the south, with the park and the forested mountains in the foreground and going on into the distance to the north. Our guide has pointed out to us how this is an area of very good feng shui, with the mountains to the north protecting the city with the Pearl river flowing through it to bring prosperity and trade with the world. I'm glad that I have had the good fortune to study Feng Shui, and to have an elementary understanding of principles which are very fundamental here. Everywhere we go, we see the pair of lion sculptures at the entrances to the major buildings.
Yesterday we also went to a whole sale market for jade, pearls, and jewelry. There were several stories of store after store with beads, silver findings, gold findings, amber, camphor wood, jade and crystals in huge bags. Large, flour sack sized bags of pearls in every color. Our guide find a spot for Mom to sit and wait in the airconditioned building while she buzzed us through the first two floors--and that didn't even include the side-aisles of those two floors. I was the lucky recipient of a pair of pearl earrings that Amber wanted me to have. They are my memento of this trip.
The people we meet have been wonderfully warm and friendly. We are beginning to see more families with adopted children arriving at the hotel. Families who received children from the other provinces must come to Guangzhou to get the child's visa from the US Consolate here. I have noticed many families with two, or even three adopted children. Some of the families also have non-Chinese children with them, whether natural or adopted, it isn't possible to know for sure. The family from Finland that we met the first day that we received Thomas has daughter about 10 or 11ish in age with them. They are the family that has adopted the little girl that shared a crib with Thomas and is close to the same age.
Amber and John are back now. Amber says the weather is pleasant, not so hot outside. Later we will venture out and go over to the Friendship Store. This is a goverment run department store. According to our guide, Helen, the prices are set and there would be no bargaining there. The prices are also higher there. I think the department store is there prmarily to service the travelers and tourists who come to this area. We are in the heart of the banking and financial district of the city. The US dollar isn't doing very well here. No one wants to take American money. We have to exchange it for Chinese yuan. When I first exchanged $$, it was at 632 yuan for $100 US. The other day it was at 619. I wonder what it is today?
We get a lot of channels on the television, including CNN news, but edited for the local region.
Ok, I'm beginning to ramble more than I was when I first started this message. Thanks for all of your responses and replies and support for this journey everyone.
Love,
Sunny
Amber and John left him with me while they walked across the street to Starbucks. Thomas fussed for a minute after they left, but soon got to playing after I gave him a favorite toy, John got him one of those small drums on a stick, with two beads on a short string. Thomas likes to have something in his hands to hold on to, it seems. He also plays "52 card pick-up". He tosses the alphabet flashcards all over the place, then picks them up and puts them back in their box, on or two or three at a time. He plays with the empty water bottles, and the other day he was stacking the soda cans from the mini-bar four-high until John and Amber decided they didn't want to risk broken soda cans spraying all over the place.
It's a pleasure to see Thomas spread his wings after living the first two years of his life in the orphanage. I realized that he has had very little, if any experience of men in his life. The orphanage workers and caretakers are all women, young women. When Amber, Mom and I took Thomas to the small playroom in the hotel, we had to take the elevator. When the elevator door opened, two or three hotel workers in uniform were getting off. That cause Thomas to become apprehensive, it balked at getting on that elevator. When the doors opened on an empty elevator, he to on without hesitation. He clearly fears being returned to the orphanage. He goes freely to me and to Mom as well as to Amber and John. He recognizes us, and is very excited whenever we show up at the door to their hotel room.
Yesterday we went to a beautiful landscaped park and garden which is part of a larger preserved forest and mountain area with lakes and streams. The area we visited had a large, enclosed glass conservatory with plants from all around the world. I was surprised to see cacti garden among the orchids, ferns, and palms. There were long, sloping paths and many shallow steps. Little side paths wound around and through the plantings. Thomas could have climbed the steps and stayed there all day. he love the flowers and just being outdoors. We saw birds and enjoyed hearing them calling and chirping after spending so much time in the midst of the city. The city of skyscrapers and apartment buildings and shops and streets and roads seems to just go on and on. Guangzhou is the third largest city in China, and therefore one of the largest in the world. I couldn't image such a huge city, and still find it hard to take in, but standing on a hill in the gardens, we could look out over the landscape to see the skyscrapers in the distance to the south, with the park and the forested mountains in the foreground and going on into the distance to the north. Our guide has pointed out to us how this is an area of very good feng shui, with the mountains to the north protecting the city with the Pearl river flowing through it to bring prosperity and trade with the world. I'm glad that I have had the good fortune to study Feng Shui, and to have an elementary understanding of principles which are very fundamental here. Everywhere we go, we see the pair of lion sculptures at the entrances to the major buildings.
Yesterday we also went to a whole sale market for jade, pearls, and jewelry. There were several stories of store after store with beads, silver findings, gold findings, amber, camphor wood, jade and crystals in huge bags. Large, flour sack sized bags of pearls in every color. Our guide find a spot for Mom to sit and wait in the airconditioned building while she buzzed us through the first two floors--and that didn't even include the side-aisles of those two floors. I was the lucky recipient of a pair of pearl earrings that Amber wanted me to have. They are my memento of this trip.
The people we meet have been wonderfully warm and friendly. We are beginning to see more families with adopted children arriving at the hotel. Families who received children from the other provinces must come to Guangzhou to get the child's visa from the US Consolate here. I have noticed many families with two, or even three adopted children. Some of the families also have non-Chinese children with them, whether natural or adopted, it isn't possible to know for sure. The family from Finland that we met the first day that we received Thomas has daughter about 10 or 11ish in age with them. They are the family that has adopted the little girl that shared a crib with Thomas and is close to the same age.
Amber and John are back now. Amber says the weather is pleasant, not so hot outside. Later we will venture out and go over to the Friendship Store. This is a goverment run department store. According to our guide, Helen, the prices are set and there would be no bargaining there. The prices are also higher there. I think the department store is there prmarily to service the travelers and tourists who come to this area. We are in the heart of the banking and financial district of the city. The US dollar isn't doing very well here. No one wants to take American money. We have to exchange it for Chinese yuan. When I first exchanged $$, it was at 632 yuan for $100 US. The other day it was at 619. I wonder what it is today?
We get a lot of channels on the television, including CNN news, but edited for the local region.
Ok, I'm beginning to ramble more than I was when I first started this message. Thanks for all of your responses and replies and support for this journey everyone.
Love,
Sunny
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