It was last year when we were here for Ryan’s trip, but in some ways it seems like yesterday. We also stayed here for Ashley’s trip, but I can’t say that we remember it very much as Lisa, Rita and I shuttled back & forth to the hospital. But still, there is comfort in a place that is familiar when we’re so far from home. The Lobby, the Breakfast Buffet, the surrounding neighborhood…
This is the last stop in China for many families since the US Consulate appointments are one of final steps in the endless process of bringing home children. As a result, it’s a great place to meet other families who have come through other provinces on their trips. We enjoy hearing about their experiences, and can identify with many of their struggles and triumphs in those critical first few days. We definitely have mixed emotions about these few days in GZ as this will be our last “official” trip on the adoption express. (…never say never…if we could, we would!). We’ve gone from our first trip as wide-eyed newbies with Kyle at the White Swan, to road warrior experts this trip with Tyler. The one constant is the indescribable excitement that comes with helping to change a life – forever.
We’ve never regretted our decisions to bring our whole family on each trip. We’re convinced that the immediate sense of family and belonging experienced from the first moments of “Gotcha Day” has made a huge impact for each of our children (for both our new children and our other children, as well). It may be a bit overwhelming at first for the new children, but after things settle down a bit, things start to come together as if hey we’re always meant to be. It may be difficult or seem impossible for some families, but our $0.02 would be that it is worth the sacrifice.
We’ve seen this with Tyler already, as he begins to form relationships with a high of his new siblings. Even the simple few hours of downtime in the room bring opportunities to play together with new geges and jiejies. We knew the biggest challenge would be he language with Tyler, but the constant chatter in English among his siblings is allowing him to learn new words and phrases quickly and also learn critical elements related to context, tone of voice, and other non-verbal cues and clues.
The views out the windows of one of our rooms is also familiar to us as it surveys the front of the hotel and the main road. Sure, the oversized video advertising screen on the building across the street takes a bit of getting used to, but it can also be helpful when searching for phones or pens or socks when the kids are sleeping! It is all so familiar, and will be missed when we check out for he last time later this week.
Yesterday, after our usual big breakfast, we made a trip to the pearl market for some shopping. We decided to try using a stroller for Tyler, and he seems to enjoy riding around. As there is so much demand for he role of “pusher”, we’ve had to lay down some ground rules and institute time constraints and rotation schedules for the siblings! We picked up a few small items at the market. The big winner seemed to be Dylan! He has a knack for finding loose change on the floor, regardless of where he is…but at the pearl market, his prey was loose pearls and stones. We shopped for about 45 minutes, through a maze of hallways and shops, and he was able to pocket about a dozen little treasures! There were times we had to be a bit crafty in picking them up, but he wasn’t deterred! Now his biggest challenge is what project to make with his newfound loot!
After the pearl market, Kelly gave the families in our group the option of going to a park or back to the hotel (as the humidity was nearing 100% and the temperature was rising). We were the only family to opt for the park! So we had a really nice chance to stroll the park with Kelly and catch her up a bit on our gang – she was our guide just last year with Ryan. It was the same park we’d toured last year with Aunt Rita, but that didn’t matter to us, we still had a lot of fun!
We survived the walk in the steamy park air, and capped it off with an ice cream treat. We made our way back to the bus and spent the afternoon at the rooftop pool at the hotel. The water was a bit cool but refreshing. Tyler wore a life vest and didn’t take to the water as well as his siblings – the boy does NOT like water in his ears!
Dinner was Pizza Hut, with steaks and pizza. The menu was almost identical to the Pizza Hut menu in Taiyuan. Everyone seemed to finish their meals and we had a nice time. Lights out was earlier than usual, but no one complained – least of all Lisa and me. Tyler is setting new records for getting to sleep after hitting the pillow!!
This morning began with a big breakfast and a bus trip to Shamian Island. This is another place that we’ll miss… When we stayed at the White Swan Hotel for both Dylan and Kyle, Shamian Island was adoption central. The clinic was there and up until just before we got Kyle, the Consulate was there as well. During the last 2 trips the feel of the Island has changed. It is still a quaint, historically significant treasure for the country of China, but it just feels different. The White Swan has been remodeled and it’s changed dramatically from how we remembered it. It is still a very nice Hotel, but now caters to business travelers rather than adoption trips.
We still had a nice morning touring the Island, visiting many of the spots we had previously – hoping to capture the “after” pictures for the “then-and-now” portfolio. It was very hot and humid again today, but at least we didn’t need to take refuge at Starbucks for a few hours during the torrential downpours lik,e we did last year.
We got back to the hotel in time for a few more hours of pool time this afternoon. Dinner was Oggi’s again for good Italian fare. Tyler made 6 trips to the rest room during the meal! Next stop was 7-11 for ice cream that melted too quickly! Once the kids were settled, I ran to Starbucks across the street for a Cafe Mocha and Hot Chocolate (Mom). As I crossed the street, I had to jog a bit so as not to be run over by a taxi. I made it up onto the curb and hit the crowded sidewalk just behind two large black gents. The smaller of the two looked back at me and said “Hi, how are you doin’ ” in a sort of French accent. “Doin’ OK” , I replied in a friendly way. He turned again and said “Doin’ alright tonight?”, to which I responded, “Feeling a bit tired, but otherwise OK.” Then he turns again, lowers his voice a bit and asks “Need some shoot?” Remaining cordial, I answered, “No Thanks, not tonight.” !! I laughed to myself all the way back, thinking I must look like hell if that fella thought I needed some of what he was selling!
I’m gonna miss Guangzhou…