Zhengzhou

Well, it is now late, late on Saturday the 20^th of August. This trip is exhausting, and I don’t mean to say that in any sort of complain-y kind of way; but rather to say that we have been so constantly on the move that by the end of each day, though I want to and mean to blog about what we did and saw, I usually get distracted while weeding through the day’s pictures and then crash and fall asleep. Then again, I typically am a “spurty” blogger, posting entries in batches. So, if I can get a few done tonight, it won’t be all that out of the ordinary, will it? With that in mind, I will now attempt to condense an entire week in Zhengzhou into one post. Settle in for a long ride, kids!

So: Zhengzhou. Firstly, for those reading along at home, a pronunciation guide. In Mandarin, the “zh” sound is usually pronounced like a [j]. Zhengzhou is pronounced like “jungle” without the “gle” and “joe”. [Jung-joe]. Got it? Now we can move on.

Welcome to Henan Province!

We flew to Zhengzhou last Sunday after our lightning-paced sightseeing tour of Beijing.

Upon arrival we were met by Yisha (pronounced [Eee-sha]), who was our guide back in December as well. She actually recognized me (I am always surprised when people remember me)! We got settled in to the Crowne Plaza hotel, and were assigned to the Prado suite (not a suite. Just said that to mention that we were in the room that our friends Paul & Robin were in back for our December trip). Once we settled in, Deb had to go to the bank with Yisha and one other parent from each family in the group. I chose to spend that time avoiding blog responsibilities and hanging out with Janet, a first-time mom-to-be in the group. I chatted with her while she unpacked. As we chatted, housekeeping knocked on her door to deliver the crib for the little guy who would be joining them the next day. This was a big deal! Their crib! For their new baby (toddler)! First time parents! Did Janet cry at the sight of the crib being wheeled in? Nope. Who did? ME! There I was, unexpectedly tearing up from the joy of knowing what was to come. Who’d a-thunk it? I got over the emotion and soon thereafter, the bank people returned. Deb and I were on the verge of falling asleep by that point, and were scheduled to skype back home hours later. So, we decided to get up and walk over to the 7-eleven (or 4-something-or-other as stated on the sign that I forgot to take a picture of) and buy snacks and water. By the time we completed that task and also managed to provide entertainment for the employees of said small-but-fine establishment, we decided to continue on in our journey and walk several blocks in the other direction to get dinner at the KFC. The only reason I tell you all of this is to lead into the fact that on our way there, we passed a nightclub bearing posters which continually make me laugh! Look at this guy:

Does he not look incredibly worried?! He’s the main act lounge singer guy (or at least I assume he is. I can’t read Chinese), but he doesn’t look thrilled to be performing. He looks distressed… worried… colicky? I think it’s because, if you’ll notice in this picture

The nightclub is clearly the home planet of an evil alien queen who will eat his brains if he gives a bad performance. That is a stressful lack of job security for sure!

… Anyway…KFC… yes. We got KFC for dinner. We did fairly well for two people pointing and gesturing at menus on the wall. We trekked the food back to the hotel and arrived, drenched in sweat (it was really hot & humid) and happily ate our surprisingly spicy chicken sandwiches before skyping and crashing for the night.

Monday was Gotcha Day. After my baby bed-induced tears of the day before, I had tissues in my pocket. I also had a camera with new batteries, fully prepared to document this important day on “film” for all the families. Surprisingly, however, I only really teared up once, and that was when a beautiful ten-year-old girl met her new mother for the first time. That one got to me. The rest of the time, I was pretty much all business. Overall, I took over 800 pictures of the eight families that day. I will not make you sit through all of them… a lot were completely blurry anyway… but here’s a few snippets and highlights:

It was amazing to see all of these families be united, and to reflect back to our own Gotcha Day. Ever since our trip, I have said I wanted to be a fly on the wall to observe it all as it unfolded, and this time I really did get to do that! I am so grateful for the opportunity!

As the families headed back to the hotel with their new additions, some went peacefully while others had a more difficult time. Jack was quiet, but seemed completely content to come along with Deb and me (me? I? I think that grammatically “me” is the correct word here, but it sounds wrong… oh well… I’m in China!). He has done very well overall. Every day we see a little more of a smile. Every day we see a little more silliness and hear more giggles. We also are learning daily of his dislikes and have watched him regress a little bit back into behavior that wouldn’t normally be employed by a four-year-old, but this is very typical for the situation, and can be used to foster bonding. He is tiny. Deb brought three-year-old clothes, most of which are falling off him. I keep saying, however, that I can’t wait to see pictures of him two months from now: once he’s home and nourished and has “come alive” fully… that sparkle is starting to show in his eyes… he will thrive, and it’s a beautiful thing!

The rest of Gotcha Day was spent with paperwork for a couple hours (for Deb), and general bonding time for the families. Tuesday we headed back to the Registration Office to finalize the adoptions and then on to the Notary Office to… well… get paperwork notarized, what else? That afternoon we went shopping at the Lotus Center (kind of like a WalMart).

Wednesday we boarded a bus, along with two other families, and drove to Luoyang to visit Maria’s Big House of Hope. You know that I can’t possibly be short about that. So, that day will have its own post if ever I finish this one.

Thursday was a day to hang out and chill. We wandered down to Pizza Hut and ate lunch with Scott and Janet (over whose crib I cried) and their new little Zachary.

We laughed and pointed profusely at the menu items that were humorous to us… not because we are horrible and culturally insensitive, but because we have a sense of humor and very little sleep!

Deb, Jack, and I spent the next couple hours wandering pretty much every aisle of the WalMart, picking up essentials, fun non-essentials, and continuing the pointing, giggling, and taking pictures of things we found amusing.

It was a great, low-key day! We managed to purchase some really nifty children’s Chinese/English dictionaries for about $3 each, which have actually come in very handy with Jack!

Friday was the day we would head out to Guangzhou. We decided to squeeze in one more WalMart trip before checking out, and then headed for the airport. The flight to Guangzhou (you guessed it: [Gwan(barely pronounce the second [g])-joe] also merited its own blog post, thanks to the assortment of in-flight entertainment choices and food “choices”. We did, however, make it to Guangzhou, which is where we currently are, for the final leg of the process, and that means I can draw this post to a close.

Before I close It out though, I would like to offer up a comparison of this Zhengzhou stay and our previous one. Even though our December trip was priceless and special because it’s when Asher joined our family, on the whole I found Zhengzhou to be gloomy in an almost oppressive kind of way. It was bitterly cold outside. The sky was always hazy and dingy and smoggy, and the hotel kind of creeped me out. This time, the sky was just as smoggy and hazy. The hotel was the same, but the lack of cold weather presented an increased ability to get out and explore the area more. I think this was the catalyst that made Zhengzhou as a whole much more enjoyable to me this time around. The first two full days we were there were disgustingly hot and humid, but I didn’t mind because it meant I could walk a mile away to something interesting and then come back. Even the noodle restaurant next door tasted better this time, as Jack, Deb, and I ordered the exact same meal of fried rice and Jiaozi (dumplings) pretty much every day. Once Wednesday rolled around, a cool front came through, and the weather was overcast but beautifully comfortable in temperature for the rest of the week. So, although summer in Beijing may be more hectic and less desirable than winter there, I think I prefer the freedom that warmer weather afforded us in Zhengzhou. Ok, I’m done. The end. Thanks for sticking it out! As a bonus, here are a few more pictures from the Zhengzhou leg of the trip:

Deb, Jack, & Yisha

The chef at our daily noodle stop, making the noodles by hand

Yes, I realize the pictures are blurry. These are serious action shots. I apologize!

Jack decided to take my individually wrapped antibacterial hand wipes and use them for individual toy car parking spaces.

I love the name of this shopping center: "Manhattan Beauty of Street"

Jack's spiffy new light-up shoes!

Skyping with Daddy!

Doing the traditional Asian peace-sign infused pose

Moon cake displays at the Lotus Center

Watching "Uncle Steve" sing on Katie's iPod

On the day that Jack's adoption was finalized, as soon as the Registration Official announced that the adoption was official, Deb received an unsolicited kiss from her son!

If you haven't already seen it, you can look through the album of "Things In China That Make Me Laugh" by clicking on the link.