Our Last Full Day in Changsha

Hello,

This is our last post from Changsha. We leave early in the morning for Guangzhou. Our flight takes off at 9:30 am. We will spend the rest of our time in China in Guangzhou where we will have Ruthie's visa processed so that she can enter the United States.

The more we eat together, I am learning what Ruthie likes and dislikes - especially at the breakfast buffet. She went along with me and chose what she wanted to eat. She likes bacon, sausage, carrots, Chinese noodles & eggs. She also loves corn; they serve it on the cob and in true Chinese style, she picks out the individual kernels with her hand and eats them. She also likes sweets.

Yesterday evening, we went bowling. Our hotel has a bowling alley and we had so much fun. Ruthie loved bowling and Todd was great teaching her how. Well did you expect? We are all great bowlers! Okay, not really. My score was 42, Ruthie's was 23, Gracie's was 6 & Kai's was 3 - (Todd is much better than the rest of us, but I can't remember his score). But, it was fun. The attendants gave Gracie & Kai bowling pin keychains and they gave Ruthie a bowling ball keychain. While we were playing, the kids had so much fun bowling using their keychains, that they did not want to finish the real bowling game.

Today, we went on a trip to the Hunan Embroidery Factory to see them create beautiful works of art. They use extremely fine strands of silk to create beautiful pictures, they look like they were painted. While we were there, Ruthie was talking to our guide, Daphne, about our trip to Guangzhou tomorrow. Daphne was telling her about it, and then discovered that Ruthie assumed that Daphne was going with us to Guangzhou. She was upset when she found out that Daphne would not be with us. She would not talk to us or Daphne, even when asked questions. She did not want anyone to hold her hand or touch her, she just withdrew into herself. I felt so badly for her. Although, Ruthie has been bonding with us, Daphne is very important to her and is her link to all that she is leaving behind. Ruthie obviously was scared.

We had been prepared for something like this, but it was still hard to see her upset. When we got back to the hotel, Daphne came up to our room and asked Ruthie if she wanted her to translate some letters for her. These letters were emailed to us from her friends from the orphanage that had already been adopted and are now living in the US. They really helped a lot and some described how happy her friends were with their new parents living in the US. Thank you so much Sofie, Yu Mei, Bo Bo & Xiaolan!!! Your letters made such a difference.

Daphne also talked to her about what to expect when flying, Ruthie has never been in a plane before, only a train. Daphne also spent time talking to her about other things. She explained that we will have a very nice guide in Guangzhou (Jason), who also speaks Mandarin. Ruthie was happy to hear that Jason also helped with the adoption of some of her other friends.

Later, we asked Ruthie what she wanted to do for the rest of the day and she said that she wanted to help pack her things and hang out with us. After Daphne left, we looked up photos online from our Yahoo Group that has photos of her friends in their new families that have been adopted from her orphanage. She loved it. Then we showed her photos from our oldest daughter's wedding earlier this month. She recognized many of the people from other photos we had sent her in the orphanage; her two older sisters, her brother-in-law, her grandparents, aunts & uncles. She really liked looking at those as well. Later, she asked to watch "Frosty the Snowman" as she ate her noodle soup, below.



Todd went to go to the playroom with the younger kids and asked Ruthie if she wanted to go (she loves going there), but she said she wanted to stay with me and pack. She helped me pack Kai & Gracie as well. She has been very happy & affectionate all afternoon. We worked on her English dictionary for a little while and she seems to enjoy doing it. Right now, she is in the hotel room next door playing with the daughter of the other family traveling with us. Their daughter is 8 years old and was adopted from China 5 years ago. Although, they don't speak each other's language, they are having a lot of fun.

Below, is a photo of Kai at the embroidery factory next to a beautiful embroidered piece.


Well, I had better get going, our pizza just arrived. We have it very good here - the concierge orders your pizza from Pizza Hut, then sends a bellman in a taxi to go pick it up and bring it to your room. All of that for a total of $13 including tip. *Pizza Hut does not deliver here in Changsha.

Below, is a photo of us with the happiest doorman you will find anywhere. Many of you who have been here before will surely recognize him :)

"Talk" to you soon from Guangzhou.

Noelle