First Day in Guangzhou

Hello Everyone,

Well, we finally made it to Guangzhou. We left our hotel in Changsha at 7:30 this morning. Ruthie seemed just fine and did not seem sad to leave. In fact, she was rather happy. She was so excited when she saw the airplanes at the airport. We said our goodbyes to our guide, Daphne and then got on our plane to Guangzhou. Ruthie was fine saying goodbye to Daphne. She actually seemed ready to go on to the next stage in our adoption adventure.

We gave her a full dose of Dramamine this time and it really knocked her out. She tried sleeping, but got really frustrated with the fact that she could not really stretch out to sleep. She ended up sleeping on my shoulder.

We were met by our guide, Jason, at the Guangzhou airport. Jason was our guide when we adopted Gracie, back in 2003. He was very nice to Ruthie and made sure she was doing okay. She held on tightly to my hand through the airport, but did not seem nervous. During our ride to our hotel, I was reminded of how beautiful this part of China is. It stays quite warm, even in winter and there is tropical vegetation all over.

We are staying at the Victory Hotel on Shaiman Island in Guangzhou. We chose the Victory over the White Swan Hotel, because we could get a suite for the same price as a regular room at the White Swan.




Coming to Guangzhou came at a good time for us because Kai & Gracie have been getting homesick. China is so different; the sights, sounds & food. They have had a really nice time here, but are starting to yearn for things that are more familiar. The area of Guangzhou that we are in is kind of a slightly Americanized China. There are many adoptive families here and there are many stores and businesses that cater to these families. It is also a beautiful area that you can walk about freely and do not need a guide to help you get around.

Best of all, there is a Starbucks next to our hotel. It is so weird, because as soon as you walk inside of it, you could be anywhere in the US - you would have not idea you were in China. We will probably come here frequently. We ate lunch at Lucy's, which is a restaurant that serves good American food along with Chinese food. We ordered Ruthie stir-fried noodles, which is a favorite of hers, but she also tried Gracie's Quesadilla, french fries, Kai's pizza and Todd's onion rings. She liked them all, but the onion rings.


The weather here is great. It is warm and you can wear short-sleeves in the afternoon. We met up with the other two families that we had started out our trip with in Beijing. It was fun comparing notes from the past week apart and meeting their new children. Gracie & Kai had so much fun seeing the other kids again. All of the parents in our group are amazed at how quickly our kids have bonded with other, but we figure it is because they are all in a foreign country and it is so much easier to bond with kids who speak the same cultural background and speak the same language. When the other families met Ruthie, they both kept commenting on how beautiful she is. Of course, I agree.

Ruthie has been such a joy. She is so happy and really loves being with Todd and I. She is really bonding with Gracie & Kai and has been quite helpful with them. She also decided to help me to unpack everyone's suitcase today. She always shares her dessert with us. She is really starting to use English a lot now. She is repeating sentences now and is gaining some simple comprehension.

Tomorrow, we meet with our guide to fill out the US paperwork to apply for a immigrant's visa. I am meeting with a personal shopper who will take me around Guangzhou and will negotiate for me and take me to the right places to shop where you can find high-quality goods. What a wonderful way to do Christmas shopping :)

Well, that is all for now. We will write more tomorrow.

Noelle