Grace Finds a Home
This is our story of traveling to China to bring home our daughter Grace.Thursday, November 13, 2008
Shopping Day
Helen is our Chinese guide and facilitator for our time in Guangzhou. She works for a travel agency that contracts with Living Hope Adoption Agency to take care of adopting families. She is working with us and two other families. We go as a group on various excursions. Helen also understands each document we need to have completed and when. She keeps them all for us and makes sure they are filled out--and then she just tells us where to sign. This frees us up to concentrate on parenting and bonding. It's a great service...and she is such a gentle, patient, smiling person. Having her around makes us feel that everything is going to be OK.
Today she took us shopping. We went to a store with traditional Chinese arts and crafts and dishes etc. We bought a little Chinese tea set for Grace. Next we went to a large pedestrian mall with stall after stall of shops that sold nothing but pearls. In another part of the mall we found kids DVD's with both English and Mandarin soundtracks. They sell for only $2 apiece. Bradley wanted to look at the Ipods in the electronic shop. We found what looked like the Ipod Nano (8GB) selling for 100 RMB (about $15). We bought a couple of them--even though we are sure they are knockoffs.
Shopping here is an adventure in negotiation. If you are in a large mall or supermarket type store, the prices are fixed. But in the small shops and stalls you can try to get your best price. If something is selling for 300RMB (about $45), you ought to be able to get it for 100 to 150 RMB. It all depends how much skill and energy you have for haggling.
We have been having fun reading signs that have been translated from Mandarin Chinese to English. Almost always there is twisted grammar and stilted syntax. Here are some examples:
Some friendly tips on a sign in our hotel:
- Please kindly note that gun, explosions and any other lawless or dangerous items are forbidden to be taken here for the safe reason.
- We recommend you to use the latch to avoid the disturbance.
- Please do not let stranger into your room to avoid the accident or unpleasant situation may be possibly occurred.
- Please beware the fire and do not smoke in bed and dry your clothes on lamps.
Grace is still a joy. Sunny and cheerful almost all the time. Today however, she showed us that she has a strong little will of her own. When naptime came, it was definitely not on her agenda. She pitched a category three tantrum that lasted long enough to wear her out so that she slept for two hours. She thought she could win out...but in this case she found out Mom and Dad are not easy to pushover. In her new environment and new schedule she is just pushing the limits to find out where the boundaries are. I guess she is just like any kid out there.
We finished the day at an Italian restaurant where Grace had her first pizza. I think she liked it...but the mushrooms?--not so much!
More later...
Rick, Kathy, Bradley, and Grace.
posted by Rick & Kathy # 3:41 AM 
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Good evening to you! I love waking up and reading your blog. I remember being there, yet your experiences make it fresh and new. It is so good to see the pictures and that you are enjoying each other. God in His wisdom is so amazing! He knows exactly what we need. We can't wait to see you all back home again.
Blessings,
Ken, Mystina, Micah and Olivia
Blessings,
Ken, Mystina, Micah and Olivia
Looks like you had fun shopping. It is so different from over here! We got a couple of the "ipods" too. It was a 50/50 deal..One worked great...the other didn't! Still..not a bad deal! Grace looks so much fun! Glad the bonding is going well...Katie had an adversion to naps as well...and still does....I think that is a normal kid reaction! I'm glad you're enjoying your time there. It is fun to soak up the culture!
We're praying for you,
Ruth
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We're praying for you,
Ruth
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