Brent's Journey to China for Angie

We started the adoption process to adopt Angie in 2004. We asked for a healthy little girl from China as young as possible. We were matched with Angie and first saw her little picture in October 2005 and traveled in Decemeber 2005 to bring her home. This is the trip to China and back. I've taken these posts off our old blog and put them here in one long entry. Enjoy.

Sunday December 4, 2005 - 09:11pm (CST)

We're Here!

Late Sunday night (early Sunday morning for most of you), I (Brent) finally arrived in Nanchang with my aunt, Marilyn Mullen, to get Angie. Unfortunately, Karin is at home with Karianne instead of being here. We'll be getting Angie around 5:00 p.m. on Monday (3:00 a.m. on Monday in the US).

Here's an excerpt from my first email to Karin:

"Not much to say about the flights except that it was very long and very uncomfortable. I’m really not looking forward to doing it with a baby. The longest flight was 12 hours. I got up and walked around during hour 6 or so, but by hour 10, my knees were killing me and the left side of my waste was numb and tingly. It still tingles a bit. There was absolutely no need to bring any food. They kept us very well fed, and it was all pretty good. On the first flight, we had video screens that came down in front of us, but on the international flight, we had to watch either a 10 inch screen that was 20 feet away or a projection screen that was too dim to see unless the lights were out, which they weren't most of the time.

"I sat next to a young Chinese man who had a Ph.D. in computer programming. He writes software for medical imaging machines. He asked me where I worked. He didn’t speak English very well, but even after some explanation, he seemed to have no concept of what a pastor or church were. I’m sure he had an even harder time trying to figure out what I actually do 40 hours a week.

"I learned a valuable lesson at the Beijing airport: stay away from helpful people in the men’s bathroom. One ‘bellhop’ looking young man was there to point the way from the toilet to the sink, push the soap dispenser for me, and hand me a paper towel that was more like a wad of Kleenex tissue (try drying your hands with that). When I was done he started tapping his thumb to his fingers and saying “Tip? Tip?” I went ahead and paid a dollar (I hadn’t changed my money yet) for my lesson learned, and he started doing it again saying “Two! Two!” I said no and left quickly.

"Marilyn had an interesting bathroom experience in Beijing also. Apparently, you have to get your toilet paper from a dispenser before you go in the stall. It’s rather difficult to know how much you’d need ahead of time! Then she had to wait in line for a stall. It’s not just one line—she actually had to pick a stall to wait in front of and hope the person in there would be out soon. Apparently she wound up waiting a while!"

I'm so glad to be here and I can't wait to tell you that we've got Angie! Check back tomorrow for pictures!

Monday December 5, 2005 - 09:00am (CST)

Very soon!

I (Brent) just got back from filling out the last paperwork before getting Angie. We go get her in one hour! There was a new picture of her in the application that we hadn't seen before. I almost cried. She's so cute and has so much hair. I can't wait to show you her newest pictures.

This morning we had a meeting for the families to turn in some of our paperwork that we brought with us. I was late. Afterwards we met in the lobby to go to a nearby grocery store. I was late again. Oh well.

Marilyn and I went out later to eat, shop, and take pictures. The restaurant was a funny experience since nobody spoke English. The menu had no pictures. It had English translations, but I don't think the translator knows any English. I'm still not sure what "loosen benevolent corn" is, and I didn't order it to find out. We selected a couple random menu items and wound up with a pretty good meal, but I think we were being laughed at most of the time for not knowing how to eat properly.

As we walked down the street, we saw lots of clothes hanging out to dry on the balconies above us. We wondered what it would feel like to put on a pair of pants that have been drying in 40 degree weather. They also used their balconies as refrigerators for their meat. Anybody want socks with their chicken?

We walked into a clothing store to look for a jacket for me. The sizes in China must be very different from the USA. I was trying on some XL's and XXL's and they were all way to small. Some employees started to help me find a jacket my size. After about 10 minutes, at least 5 people were pulling out jackets from everywhere trying to find one for me. They finally handed me a XXXXXL! It fit great; just $20.

The people in China seem very content, pleasant, and polite. You get wonderful service everywhere you go, and very few places even expect a tip, not even restaurants. I think it will be a disappointment to get home and have to deal with the kind of service we get in America at stores and restaurants.

Gotta get ready to go get Angie!

Monday December 5, 2005 - 02:33am (CST)

on the homefront

Here's some of how Karianne and I passed the day on saturday after Brent left:

We went to Huntsville and went to the community Christmas events on the square. Singing on the pavilion. A petting zoo, crafts, food. Kinda a much smaller, local version of Fair on the square. Karianne loved the petting zoo. There was a baby calf, little chickens, geese, puppies, baby pigs, on and on. I think her favorite were the pigs. There were 2 of them about as big as Dinky our dog and Karianne kept trying to pull their noses off, because it just didn’t seem that they looked just right.

There was a Chinese grandmother there with 2 sweet little boys. One was Karianne’s age in a stroller and the other boy was about 7. She couldn’t speak any English. I thought it was so strange to meet someone like that in Huntsville, let alone at a Christmas festival? Today as Brent is heading to China?? Anyway, She was very nice but she let me know though pantomine and finger pointing that I needed to get some more clothes on my daughter! It was pretty warm and I had her in short sleeves. Her poor baby was wearing long sleeves a sweater and a jacket! How funny! I get a taste of what Brent will be experiencing for the next 2 weeks, I guess it is like a right of passage for old ladies to tell everyone to put more clothes on their babies.

Gotcha!

It's late, and I'm tired, but I'll make a quick post about the best part of our day. At 5:00 pm we got on a bus with 10 other families and went to a government office building where we found a room full of beautiful Chinese children all bundled in red coats. After spending a few moments filming the wrong child, we finally figured out which one was Angie and filmed her while her caregiver held her and we waited to hear our name called.

When I finally got her, she was very quiet and tightly holding an ID badge with her picture on it. She was only quiet for about 30 seconds, and then cried for the next couple hours :-) We finally found something she liked to eat, and she really liked her small musical Christmas bear. She's now sleeping soundly, and we hope she'll do so until we have to get ready for an 8:00 am appointment tomorrow.

The highlights of our first evening with Angie: She loves the bath! She splashed and splashed and splashed! She bounced a bit while we were on the phone with Momma. She looked around and smiled at us and laughed shortly before bedtime. She likes her little sweet potato finger foods. I might remember and write more when I’m not so tired.

Thanks to everyone who prayed and gave to get us here and to get Angie home! We can’t wait to introduce her to you all!

Wednesday December 7, 2005 - 08:08am (CST)

It's Official!

Today I completed two different interviews with Chinese officials and received our official adoption certificate. As far as China is concerned, Angie is now ours. After the meetings, we went to the Wal-Mart Super Center in Nanchang. There were a lot of similarities to an American Wal-Mart, but a lot of differences also. The biggest differences were in the produce and meat sections—a lot more of both, and some very interesting and odd looking items. Just about everything except electronics was much cheaper. During the meetings and shopping trip, Angie was very pleasant and happy.

When we got back from Wal-Mart, Angie went down for a nap. She woke, however, in a very different mood. Except for when I took her for a walk down the street to the bakery for some treats, she’s been very grumpy and difficult to pacify. Marilyn’s been holding her and playing with her while I upload pictures and make this entry. In a little while, our entire group is going out to dinner to the same restaurant that Marilyn and I went to yesterday. I think I’ll still stay away from the ‘loosen benevolent corn’.

We've got more pictures uploaded in the albums to the right. Select the China Adoption Trip album and click on 'view photos'.

Wednesday December 7, 2005 - 07:11pm (CST)

A Busy Day

We had a busy day today. This morning, we went to visit a palace that was built about 1,400 years ago by a Chinese prince. Marilyn was sick in bed, so I had to bundle Angie up in the front pack and choose between the regular camera and the video camera. The video camera would have been nice because we got to see a traditional Chinese dance and concert at the palace, but I’m glad I had the digital camera to get some really great pictures. I like the one of Angie and I sitting on the throne in the palace. There were gift shops on every floor (six floors in all). At one, they were selling lots of butterfly items. Since Angie’s Chinese name means ‘butterfly’, I scooped several of them up to give to her as birthday gifts in the future. There was some beautiful artwork make entirely out of butterfly wings and a clock with a rotating butterfly marking the seconds. I also bought her a Chinese tea set and other traditional knickknacks.

Angie and I went out to lunch at the European Coffee Shop down the street. It was an eclectic looking shop—a Chinese place trying to look European with stuffed animals and pillows in the windows. I tried the Black Forest tea and an ice cream sundae. Angie ate the bananas. While we were out, the self-appointed clothing police scolded me several times for not dressing Angie warm enough. I think I’ve decided that they’ll leave us alone only if they don’t see any skin and if the baby is so bundled up that you don’t notice any arms or legs.

Our group went out to dinner at a different restaurant tonight. Angie really opened up. She sat in my lap the whole time and pounded the table, made all sorts of cute noises, and smiled and laughed at the other people at the table. Unfortunately, her pleasant demeanor disappeared when we got back to the room. She cried for almost an hour while I gave her a bath and got her ready for bed. She finally took a bottle and fell asleep. Overall, she really has changed a lot since we first got her. It’s nice to see her finally smiling at me and playing with me.

Tomorrow, we go to see her orphanage.

Thursday December 8, 2005 - 08:22pm (CST)

Thursday Morning

Sorry, folks. I was wrong about the orphanage trip. That's tomorrow. Today--more shopping and sight-seeing. I wish we could just get out of here; I want to get home so badly, but we can't go to the American Consulate in Guangzho until we get Angie's passport back. We head to the consulate next Monday.

Angie just gets more and more well-adjusted all the time. This morning was the first time she didn't cry during a diaper change. At breakfast she ate well and smiled at me quite a bit. Right now she's laying in her crip and playing on her own. It's the first time she's done that for any length of time. -I take that back, she's starting to cry a bit.

It's Wednesday night for you; Thursday morning here. I'll post again tonight.

Saturday December 10, 2005 - 05:59am (CST)

Brent's day- by Karin

Brent is sick now as well. He said he had some coke with ice and apparently the ice made him sick, you know what they say- "don't drink the water". Yesterday in the morning he went to a city park and took lots of pictures of the people there. He said in the middle of the park there was a huge brick surface where hundreds of people were there, just doing their own thing. Some old ladies knitting, men playing some sort of checkers, a lot of people doing Ti Chi. He got his daily scolding from old ladies for not dressing Angie warm enough. One old lady told him how to "fix" Angie's flat nose. He just needs to pinch it at least once a day. :-)

In the afternoon the tour guide/translator took the group to a department store where they had an hour to shop and eat lunch. He had lunch at Pizza Hut, sorry nothing more exotic than that, and that is where he got sick. That's about it because he hasn't done anything since. Today he is supposed to get Angie's passport and tour the countryside, so he really hopes he'll be feeling better by then. He feels he is already on the mend just very weak from being sick all night. He visits the orphanage on saturday.
Here at home Karianne and I have pretty much just stayed home all week, it has been very cold for us here and haven't really been motivated to get out. Today, here at our house, the temp did not get above 30 degrees!

The Orphanage Visit

Getting sick from the water in China is no fun! I was starting to feel better yesterday, so I went with the group to pick up Angie’s passport from the government office. The ten minute bus ride about made me pass out. I made it back to the hotel and slept for the rest of the day.

This morning (Saturday), I awoke feeling much better. We left for the orphanage at 8:30 a.m. It took over two hours to get there. It was quite a cultural experience. I realize that we are very fortunate to live in America, but it’s still an eye-opener to see how little so many people live on. Many of the buildings that people were living in looked like nothing more than incomplete construction projects. The orphanage, however, seemed a bit nicer than the area around it. I suppose it doesn’t hurt that each family who adopts is asked to give a $3,000 gift to the orphanage.

We were taken to a room in the orphanage where all the families were able to meet with the director, his assistant, and the foster mothers. It was an odd experience, I think because there was little emotion from the foster mothers. Angie’s foster mother held her for a long time, but didn’t seem emotionally attached to her. Angie had spent three months with her. The orphanage director and his assistant,

We were given permission to go through the building where the babies had stayed. There are no babies there right now. I recognized the main room from the pictures of Angie that we had received from a family who had gone there recently. It was a very sparse facility. Afterwards, the orphanage director took all of us out too lunch. I just ate some rice and a piece of cake. I wasn’t feeling up to much else after being so sick.

With all due respect to those who live in China (whether by choice or not), I’m so glad to be taking Angie away from here. It’s sad that a country with as many resources as this one has can’t provide a higher standard of living for those here. I will say, though, that everyone seems content in spite of their poverty.

Monday December 12, 2005 - 07:25am (CST)

Leaving Nanchang

Today was just a dull day of paperwork and packing. We spent two hours this morning in a conference room going over page after page. I had a bit of a scare when we realized that Karin hadn’t signed a critical form, but I took care of it ;-) I spent the afternoon chatting online with Karin. I did squeeze in a foot massage and pedicure before beginning to pack. Rough day!

Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou to take care of Angie’s immigration papers and visa. We’ll finish that up on Thursday and fly home Friday. I can’t wait!

Since it’s our last night in Nanchang, I decided to go out and get a few night time pictures. Hope you like them

Tuesday December 13, 2005 - 06:17am (CST)

Guangzhou

Today was uneventful, but pleasant, simply because we were finally leaving Nanchang and flying into Guangzhou, a much more modern city. Angie did wonderful on the flight. The White Swan hotel is simply wonderful. The shops around the hotel are quaint, and more people seem to be able to speak better English. There’s even a 7-Eleven across the street. We dropped off our laundry at a shop down the street, and we were offered their free internet service—a desktop computer with a dial-up connection in the back office. I’ll stick with the high-speed connection in my hotel room. They also loaned us a stroller for the week and tried to sell us some souvenirs. So much in one place!

Tomorrow, Angie gets her medical exam as part of her immigration process. Wednesday we go to the Consulate, and Thursday we get her visa so that we can leave on Friday.

(Some of today's pix aren't as high quality because I took them with my PDA.)

Tuesday December 13, 2005 - 10:44pm (CST)

Medical Exam Day

Today was a fairly easy day. Angie had her medical exam this morning, which she passed with no problems.

We went to lunch at a place called Lucy’s, which features some pretty good American dishes. We liked it so much we went back there for dinner. In between, we spent the afternoon walking around Shamian Island, where our hotel is. It’s like a self-contained city, and it’s very beautiful. Apparently, it’s also the only area considered to be safe in all of Guangzhou, a city of over 10 million people. Because the island is a great attraction for international travelers, there is a lot of police presence to keep it safe. There are shops everywhere, featuring some very nice items and great prices. The owners of the shops walk the sidewalks near their shop striking up conversations with tourists. Once they’ve got you sucked into a conversation, they tell you about their shop and offer to take you in. One owner got us in the door and promptly walked back out again to trap another tourist.

This part of China is very beautiful, and the people are very kind. I wish we could have started our trip in a place like this. But now, I just want to get home so bad that I really can’t enjoy it as much. It feels like I’ve been gone a month. Karin has been filling me in on all of Karianne’s new accomplishments that I wish I could have been home for. I can’t wait for Friday!

Thursday December 15, 2005 - 08:22am (CST)

The Red Couch Pictures

Before many adoption groups leave the White Swan hotel, they gather on the second floor for the famous ‘Red Couch Picture.’ You can look at ours in the China Trip album now. Angie definitely had more hair and personality than any other baby there!

Coming Home!

It's Thursday, 8:00 am back home, but it's 10:00 pm Thursday here in China. Tomorrow morning we finally begin our trip back home! I'm so anxious to get home and have my whole family together for the first time. We leave Hong Kong around noon Friday and arrive in San Francisco at 8:00 am Friday (That's kinda cool). We'll be back in Houston at 4:30 pm, but it will feel like Saturday morning to us. At least we'll get back just in time to recover from jet lag in bed.

Today we finished the last official business before leaving. Technically, each adoptive family has to sign their paperwork in front of a US consular, but since there are so many families, we all have to go to the consulate together and all at one time take an oath that what we have submitted is accurate and true. Then we wait around until the baby's visa is ready. After that, we came back to the hotel, went out to dinner, and came back to pack, which is just about done.

P.S. I know some of you who are reading this are families who will be coming to China soon to get your daughters. One bit of advice about Guangzhou--you can get all your gift shopping, caligraphy, engraving, glass bottle painting, tailoring, AND laundry, AND a free stroller rental from the Chinese Life shop just across from the White Swan. We wasted a lot of time shopping around and listening to shop owners trying to lure us into their stores, but we discovered that you can't beat Chinese Life, and the people working there are extremely gracious and helpful. And don't waste your time and money at the 7-Eleven across from the hotel; just go down the street in front of the hotel and do your baby food shopping at the grocery store down on the right.

Tuesday December 20, 2005 - 06:17pm (CST)

We're Home!

After almost 24 hours of traveling with almost no real sleep, we've finally made it back home! Angie is already adjusting very well to life in our home.

She and Karianne have gotten along very well. They both get excited being around each other. Karianne seems to think she's just been given the best toy ever. Angie lit right up when we got home.

She really loved watching the Christmas tree. Now she also loves watching TV. Unfortunately, she's afraid of dogs, but seems to be getting over it. We slept for 16 hours before Karin decided to wake us up so we could sleep tonight.

We're so glad to all be home together! We'll keep posting new pictures of our entire family, so keep checking back here.