Friday-Saturday Train Ride

I know that many are wondering if MinMin changed clothes for the consulate appointment on Friday. Well....she did and she didn't. I laid out nice clothes for her, and both Richard and I put on nicer clothes. She folded up the clothes, put them in her suitcase, and got out the regulars. We got the others back out and laid them back on the bed. Since she had been sullen all morning, we decided that we weren't going to win on the nice clothes, so I pulled out a different shirt and jacket than the normal and gave her a choice. Of course, she picked the pants and jacket. So, not the nice clothes, but at least not the same ones as all the other days.

Friday at 4:00 we arriveed at the US Consulate to pick up MinMin's passport with her US visa inside. That was a very quick process, as there were so few families here during the trade fair, and we were out of there by 4:30. The train station was just a block up the street, so we headed that way. Our train left at 6:00. We had a soft sleeper, which is a room, about 6' by 7', with four beds, two upper and two lower. We got settled in, and fortunately for us, no one else joined us.

Let me tell you, 21 hours for 3 people in a 6' by 7' room is a great bonding experience! We got out the UNO cards, and played game after game, after game. MinMin LOVES to win at UNO, and she especially LOVES to beat Richard! She kept track of who won all the games, and loved it when she was ahead. Three hours of UNO later, we crawled in our bunks for the night. Sleeping on a gently moving train under a nice comforter is not a bad way to spend the night.

The next morning we took our time moving around, but once we were up and had some coffee (instant that we took with us) and breakfast, out came the UNO cards again. This girl would not let us stop playing UNO until we arrived in Beijing that afternoon. If we weren't playing UNO, then she was taking silly pictures with the camera.

We arrived in our hotel, made sure that there was internet before we checked in, and headed out to the street to eat. We went to the same restaurant that we went to three years ago when we came for LiAnne. It is three stories underground, and a huge bunch of restaurants together, where you can find any Chinese food you want. It was quite good. Back in our room, we got out the computer, only to not be able to connect. Seems like, yes, they do have internet, but you have to pay--and quite expensive. Richard headed back out to check out another hotel, and made reservations for tonight, since we had already paid for one night at the first one.

More Thursday News

We just returned from dinner with our friend, Ping. Richard met Ping online before we came for LiAnne, and we then were able to meet him here in Guangzhou. This is the third time now that we have been able to visit with him, and we chat with him online throughout the year. He invited us to dinner tonight, and then to his home, where he lives with his aunt.

Ping is an only child, but he would have made a good big brother. He talked with MinMin quite a bit, asking her why she looked so glum. At one point she took the album of pictures of the family that I brought along, and went through it with him, showing him each family member. She was surprised that he already knew everyone by name. He also explained to her that our meeting tomorrow is a special one, and that we will all dress nicely for it. She seemed to agree with him that that was ok, so hopefully tomorrow we will have a picture or two of her in pretty clothes. He also talked to her about our upcoming trip to Beijing, and found that she is excited about going there.

We had some attitude problems today....something that we will have to start working on. Of course, MinMin doesn't really know how to live in a family, and has no idea about having to respect ones parents. I guess I'm used to being able to tell my kids what I need them to do, and knowing that they will obey. With MinMin, I can ask her to do something, and if she doesn't want to she just waves me off and shakes her head. Sometime soon she is going to have to learn that a mom has to be listened to. It's so hard to just be patient and to remember what she has gone through this week, and give her some slack. Hard to know how much to give and where to draw the line so that she doesn't think that she is always going to get her way. Tonight when we went out Richard reminded her to put her glasses on. Afterall, we didn't get them for me to carry around in the backpack. She said no, he said yes. She put them on until we were in the taxi, then took them off. I asked her to put them back on, she said no. When we got out of the taxi she dropped them in the street, because they were in her lap, not on her face. So, back in the backpack they went for now, but I think that she will have to cooperate by wearing them before she gets the electronic translator back.

MinMin's orphanage is know to be a cold, unfriendly place. When I think about this, and all of the years that she spent there, I can be patient, and be willing to wait a while for her to take in all of the changes that she is experiencing. Actually, we are pretty amazed at how well she is doing.

Thursday--Back in Guangzhou

We had an uneventful train ride through the night and are back in Guangzhou. We are staying in a hotel just across the river from the White Swan. We waited in our room this morning while Connie was at our consulate appointment. She called at 11:15 to let us know that there were no questions, and that our paperwork passed. That was good news.

It is weird walking around Shaiman Island---almost no adopters around. Plenty of business types, though. Lunch was at Lucy's, again, no adopters. It is a place that is usually full of babies with new families. While Richard and MinMin took the metro across town to buy train tickets for tomorrow night to Beijing, I took Shelli's and others' advise and sat in Starbucks with my Carmel Frap. And yes, Shelli, it was a nice, quiet, restful place. I'm glad I went. I look forward to being home and having the coffee pot going all morning!

Tomorrow we'll check out of the hotel at noon, and haul our luggage across to the island. At 2:30 we take a bus over to the US consulate to pick up MinMin's visa. From there it is just a short trip over to the train station, where we board the train for the trip north.

A Quiet Wednesday

We did very little today. It was a nice change from the busy days we have had.

I can tell that a few things will have to change when we get home. :) MinMin has taken a liking to my new laptop. I let her watch a DVD on it today, but then she didn't want to give it back to me to use. She has just been chatting with our friend, Ping, who wrote to her in Chinese. She thought that was fun. It was good for her, but again, she wasn't too happy that I wanted my laptop back. She's going to have to learn once we get home that I don't share it much.

We will be heading out in just bit to have some dinner. We are all packed up, and will come back after dinner, pick up our suitcases, and head down to the train station. Our train heads out just before 10:00pm, arriving in Guangzhou around 9:00 tomorrow morning. We will then head to our hotel, and have to wait around during our consulate appointment. Our guide, Connie, actually is the only one who attends the consulate appointment. Please be praying that there are no problems with our paper work---there shouldn't be any, but one never knows. Some of you will remember that with LiAnne, the consulate had no record of our fingerprints, and we did some frantic faxing and emailing back and forth to the Mexico City consulate to get the fingerprint records sent over here.

We will then have the rest of the day, and until Friday at 2:30pm to spend in Guangzhou. We take a bus over to the US consulate at 2:30 for our swearing in ceremony. It actually isn't much---just saying that we told the truth on our documents. We will then receive MinMin's passport with her US visa in it and we are free to go.

Right after that we will take the train north to Beijing. We had planned to fly, but decided to go ahead and take the train, since we will get in at the same time as the plane would on Saturday afternoon. MinMin will be able to see a lot of China as we fly by on the train. From there we will spend a couple of days seeing the sights.

No pictures today. I'll try to do better tomorrow. You'll notice in the pictures that I have on here that MinMin is pretty well dressed the same in all of them. She wears one outfit, washes it out, and wears it again when it is dry. She has a suitcase of nice clothes that I could have left behind. I am hoping that we can talk her into wearing something prettier for the consulate appointment on Friday. If I do we'll be sure to get a picture...but I have my doubts.

And more....

More Pictures

I've been trying to post pictures for hours, but Blogger is not cooperating! I'll try again for those who have written and asked where the pics are!