Some serious religion

For many families, including ours, the adoption trip can't be completed without a stop by the Six Banyan temple in Guangzhou to have the Buddhist Monks bless your child. The Six Banyan temple is quite beautiful, and rather grand for a temple in the middle of urban Guangzhou. It is named for the Banyan trees that adorn the grounds.

As most of you know, Kris and I are not particularly religious, but it is quite easy to become very religious when standing at the foot of a 30 foot tall Golden Buddha, smelling the incense that permeates the temple, and watching the locals come and pray. There is also a strong sense of duty that comes with taking a child away from his country of birth. We felt the same way with Libby who was similarly blessed at the Six Banyan Temple.

The pictures below show the monk giving us a blessing and anointing us with oil. Libby and I lit some incense (she REALLY enjoyed carrying the lighted incense to the large censer in front of the temple) and placed it in the pot. The Buddhists believe that the smoke carries your prayers to the god. I don't believe prayers are like birthday wishes, where they must remain secret to come true. I prayed for love and happiness for dear Owen and his big sister Libby. I prayed that in America they would blossom and reach their full potential. Heavy, I know, but Buddhist temples are like that.

On the mend and enjoying domestic bliss at the White Swan

There's just something you got to love about the White Swan Hotel. The sound of babies crying permeates the halls along with the persistent squeak of Chinese squeaky shoes. It sounds like a sad circus here at the White Swan Hotel. The breakfast buffet is terrific, but I can assure you that after 7 days it loses a bit of it's charm.

As we begin our recovery, fevers gone and subsided to simple sniffles and coughing, not enough to slow us down any more, we just travel with tissues. Lots and lots of tissues. The last day or two we spent laying low White Swan Style, which means playing in the Mattel playroom, and eating ice cream in bed. The main reason we eat the ice cream in bed isn't because we are bedridden, it's because there is really no place else in the smallish hotel room to eat teh ice cream. Plus, it's fun. The picture series below describes a typical middle class American Family enjoying domestic bliss in a major 5 star hotel.

Another MUST have in China. Neil Med sinus rinse bottles and enough salt mix for a couple rinses a day. Some of you may have heard that China is a bit polluted, plus the air travel. I believe I would have been much sicker much longer without my trusty NeilMed.

Criminal Justice Researchers use the term "reintegration" to describe the adjustment problems that prisoners have readjusting to society after long periods in prison. I'm afraid we'll have to borrow this term for adoptive families. The problem, you see, is that after 3 weeks staying in 5 star hotels, I am becoming terrified of returning home where there is no staff to attend to my needs 24 hours a day. Who will come and change my sheets for me everytime someone spits up in my bed? Who will clean the bathrooms and do my laundry every day. Who will come to my house every night at 5 PM, fluff my pillow, straighten up my bed, and give me a small piece of chocolate? Honestly, I don't think I can cope with reintegration into normal middle class life and I'm just not sure what to do.

First Morning in Guangzhou. Owen’s Doctor’s Appt.

Every child adopted in China must receive a medical check from the doctor’s clinic on Shamian Island a couple blocks from the White Swan. It’s impossible to describe the mob scene at this medical clinic where literally every child adopted from China must pass through. This is a perfunctory exam, to be honest I don’t even know what exactly they are looking for. They weigh and measure, look in the eyes, ears, and throat, and take their temperature. Of course since Owen had a fever they offered us some Chinese antibiotics which we graciously refused. We got to the hotel and had an international conference call with our stateside pediatrician with Grandpa Ken hosting from Oregon (Thanks Dad!) and started Owen on the children’s Zithromax that we brought with us….Thanks Big Pharma! He passed his exam fever and all, and we finished up all our adoption paperwork in the medical clinic. We spent the rest of the day canceling sightseeing tours, taking ibuprofen for the fever, forcing liquids for the mild dehydration, and mixing up powdered antibiotics for the kids.

Good times at the White Swan.

Goodbye Chongqing. Hello Guangzhou.

The day after the orphanage we visited Dazu, the site of a mountainside in Chongqing that is covered with Buddhist carvings. It was stunningly beautiful and not to be missed, unless of course you are traveling to China to adopt a baby and you are already doing too much, sleeping too little, and getting used to a whole new family configuration. If that’s the case, the long trip more than 2 and ½ hours, the cold and wet and pollution just might be the straw that breaks your immune system’s back. Just maybe. Here are a few picks. The next day, we cancelled our tours, stayed in bed most of the day with the fevers and the sickness, and then at 3PM we dressed our sick children, grabbed our luggage, and headed out the door for a quick lunch of Chinese Teppanaki (the Benihana style of restaurant where the food is cooked in front of you and served hot off the grill). This was the only non-traditional Chinese food that matt ate so far and let me tell you the Chinese twist on Japanese teppanaki is absolutely delicious and in China eating food off the grill is always a good idea. The big lantern in the picture is part of the CNY decorations that were featured in earlier blog posts about the Chongqing decorations. It is right in front of the hotel and we took this shot on our way to the airport. Immediately following this photo was the terrifying high fever jaunt through the Chongqing airport, the Guangzhou airport, and into the White swan hotel were we dumped a violently shivering and feverish Libby into the hotel bed at about 11:00PM. We awoke the next morning to sick children and Daddy, fortunately Kris was well enough to take care of us all, which she did.

For 40 RMB, we got to write the kids names on a slip of paper that was placed in a lighted slot on the blessing cone, and then the monk banged the gong a couple of times. You can never have too many blessings.

A visit to the Fuling Children’s Welfare Institution of Chongqing

I apologize for the long delay in blogging. After 2 very grueling days of travel from early morning to late evening visiting the orphanage and the Buddhist carvings at Dazu, both kids and your favorite blogger became quite ill and have been recovering for several days. One of my most terrifying parental moments ever was carrying a very sick Libby who had a 103 temp from the hotel in Chongching through the airport, onto the plane, off the plane in Guangzhou and into the white swan hotel all between 7 and 11 PM while she alternately was burning up and shivering with fever. It was horrifying. After sleeping it off for a couple of days she seems to have recovered and we have basically been sitting around the white swan hotel sneezing, coughing, and blowing our noses in harmony like a barber shop quartet of snot. All of this makes me feel a little like dispensing some advice for our adoptive parent friends (or any parent) who plans to travel with kids.

First, Take it easy. Your friends, spouse and/or agency may encourage you to do a lot of touring. Ours did, for some reason they want you to see everything in the province in the 5 or 6 days you are visiting. And as you are sitting at home it is easy to get caught up in the touring aspect of the adoption trip. We were busy in Beijing, and it was okay because we were basically waiting for gotcha day, and the touring was a very pleasant distraction. After getting Owen, however, the continued breakneck pace of travel I believe contributed to our kids (and me) getting very sick. If I had to do it over again, I would have taken it a bit more easy. Also, don’t be afraid to cancel on your guides. We have, and it’s been wonderful to simply sleep in and enjoy some quite hotel time with the family, well, wonderful in a coughy, sneezy, snotty sort of way.

Some indispensable items we brought…the headlamp and the Starbucks instant coffee have been a godsend. I have started just about every morning by strapping on the headlamp and making myself a cup of coffee in the quiet early morning as I sit and write this blog free of distraction. As soon as the kids are up its by by blogging.

Okay enough of that. It’s been too long since checking in with all of you and as you can see I was a little backed up. Before I start with the orphanage tour that we took last week, let me just say that Owen continues to be an absolutely amazing boy, full of smiles and giggles, and he and his sister continue to get along very well. Our hotel quarantine has forced the family togetherness, but it has really worked out well. Now that we are in Guangzhou until Friday (I think it’s Tuesday, but honestly I’m not exactly sure). I am ready to come home now. I am honestly rather tired of trying to make formula in the bathroom sink with water that you can’t drink and living with 4 people in a tiny hotel room is actually way less fun than I thought it would be. Okay. Enough again. My apologies.

The day after family day we were lucky enough to visit the Fuling Children’s Welfare Institution of Chongqing. It was a wonderful experience. First of all it’s a very nice place. Libby’s orphanage was very nice by Chinese standards, Owen’s orphanage is very nice by American Standards. After being cooped up in a bus for 2 hours, Libby jumped off the bus and ran toward the play area and played with a couple of the orphanage kids for a while. When we went inside, the nannies that greeted us snatched Owen away from Kristin…no easy feat let me tell you, and it was very clear that he recognized them and that they shared an emotional bond. We got to visit the room where little Lejun spent the first year of his life, with about 30 other kids swaddled in cribs tightly packed together in a room just big enough for the kids. There was nice and new play equipment, and the kids all seemed healthy and happy. There were 3 or 4 nannies on shift and all seemed sweet and attentive. Based on little Owen’s pleasant disposition, I would say that Fuling is as about as good as it gets. The pictures here are of the outside of the building and the children’s play area outside the orphanage. The large building with the gate in the first picture is actually the long term care facility for the elderly. They share a campus, but the buildings are separate. The orphanage sits high on the hill, and would have a lovely view if it weren’t for the thick smog which permeates all of Chongqing.

Family Day

Today we all became a family. We all walked over to the Adoption registration office across the street from the hotel, swore an oath to take care of him, and put our fingerprints on top of our signatures. Own seemed pretty happy about the whole thing except right before our official family photo for the chinese adoption certificate. He cried unconsolably until the picture was over, then he went back to his happy self. The picture below is the lobby of our hotel just after the ceremony. The Hotel, as everyplace else, is decorated for Chinese New Year.

We thought the best way to celebrate becoming a family would be to visit the Panda's in the Chongqing zoo. they seemed very excited about the whole thing.

Little Owen is a very happy engaged and active little boy. His sister is enjoying her new role as big sister, although she has insisted on being carried every moment now, and for a 40 b kid it doesn't take long before the back starts to hurt. That's okay, we have a lot of ibuprofen, we'll be fine. See you tomorrow.

And now, a young man who needs no introduction!

The pictures of Owen with his new family pretty much speak for themselves. These are in chronological order from gotcha to playing in the hotel room with his new Jie Jie. So far he is very amused by her silly antics. He slept all night (till 4AM bottle) the first night, does not appear to be sick, and smiles alot. More tomorrow. Sigh.