Saturday update - With VIDEO!

We got up bright and early this morning to get Lily to her physical. We met up with the six other families from All God's Children and walked over to the clinic. Lily got a clean bill of health, and weighed in at a very healthy 28 pounds. She was also very well-behaved during the exam, not even coming close to crying. That made her very different from the other kids. Boy was it loud in there.

After the exam we went to Starbucks so everyone could get a fix of western culture (and air conditioning). Then we did a little shopping. Lily got a couple of dresses and a couple of pairs of squeaky shoes (don't worry, I removed the squeakers...). As usual I took plenty of pictures.

After all that we went to lunch at an American-friendly restaurant. Mom had a hankering for a cheeseburger and fries. Here's some video, taken with my digital camera, so the quality's not great, but we forgot the cable to connect the camcorder to the computer, so y'all will just have to deal with it :) Let me know if it doesn't work. Apparently you can upload videos to Google from China, but you can't view them, so I have no idea if it actually works :)

Safe & Sound in Guangzhou

We landed safe & sound in Guangzhou this afternoon. All in all Lily handled the flight pretty well. She did decide she needed to go potty right before takeoff, and that led to a bit of a tantrum, but after that she just slept.

In general flying in China is much more pleasant than in the US. Security isn't as tight, so you don't have to take your shoes off. The flight attendants are all very polite and friendly. They serve you drinks (twice on our short flight) AND a snack box (which had a roll, a small salad, pickles, and a muffin). Plus our checked baggage was on the baggage return moments after we got there. I think the folks back home could learn a thing or two over here.

We checked in to the White Swan hotel this evening and had an EXCELLENT meal at one of the restaurants here. I finally got a taste of the very spicy food I had been waiting for (Sliced beef in fiery oil). Mmmmmmm. Also took a quick trip to the local convenience store around the corner from the hotel. The place was great! I hope we get them back home at some point. The name was just a bunch of numbers. What was it? Oh yeah, 7-11 :)

Tomorrow morning we have Lily's physical bright and early, then a free day. Should be a good chance for Mom to do the shopping she's been itching for.

Ok, here are a few goodies to keep y'all occupied for a while. First, some more random pictures. Next, two recordings of Lily singing herself to sleep in her crib.

First recording
Second recording

She's well on her way to being the American Idol in 2022!

We'll be back tomorrow with lots of pictures of Guangzhou I'm sure (or at least the shopping districts...)

Oh, and one more thing. Squeaky shoes are the worst invention ever. If you know what I'm talking about I hope you agree. If you don't have any idea what I mean, consider yourself lucky.

That's all for tonight,

Sean

Thursday Afternoon: Fuzi Maio

Quick update: I'm a little under the weather, so this is going to be quick. We went to the Fuzi Maio this afternoon. It's a temple to Confucious that's been the seat of Confucious study for something like a thousand years. Pretty crazy. Here are all of the pictures.

Also had a snack at a Haagen Dazs. You could say they're a little different here. It's an actual sit-down restaurant. With waitresses and menus and everything. The ice cream was still good though. It was a nice little taste of home.

We leave for Guangzhou tomorrow, so probably no more updates until we get there and get settled.

Sean

Wednesday Afternoon Update - The Zhonghua Gate

Lots of pics of the Zhonghua Gate. It was very interesting to see something made in the 1300's that's still standing. Let me tell you it was fun getting Lily's stroller up the giant ramps to the top. They go on forever, and the stones aren't exactly even. Big fun!

After the gate we walked to a little restaurant for lunch. The food was very good, but Lily was very tired and not in the mood to be there, so we boxed most of it up and took it back to the hotel. So far all the food here has been insanely cheap. A giant crock of soup, large fried rice, huge bowl of noodles, and 6 big dumplings for 67 yuan, or about $7. I love this place!

Last night we ate at the Sichuan restaurant at the hotel. It was extremely hot in there, the tables and chairs were uncomfortable, and Lily had a tantrum. But the food...Oh was the food good. Really good. Fantastic. Amazing. Ridiculous even. The total bill? $8.

Here are some more assorted pictures of Lily hanging out in the hotel room. For ambiance sake, imagine that little cell phone saying "Hi, I'm Ariel, you're the first human friend I've ever had, RIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!" Lots o' fun. It may find it's way out the window at some point...Unfortunately it's her favorite toy right now. Oy.

That's all for now. Time for naps.

Sean

Tuesday Afternoon Update

First of all, here are this afternoon's pictures

It's been a busy afternoon. Had lunch, then play time. Then Lily took a nap while mom and I rested. Waking her up from her nap proved to be an adventure. She seems to be the type of person that really values her sleep. Meaning trying to wake her up was a 45 minute experiment in crying and dead weight.

Once we finally got her going we headed to Xuanwu Lake Park for a little sunshine and fresh air. Very pretty place, and a good time. On the way back we stopped for some supplies (tea for mom's throat and nasal spray for me). The nasal spray's box and directions were all in Chinese, so I didn't realize it was menthol until it was rocketing up my nose. And it burns, burns, burns, the spray of fire.

Mom also wanted me to point out that Lily had her first M&Ms. So she's well on her way to being an American.

Off to dinner for us. More later.

Sean

Real quick: Got everything done at Civil Affairs, had breakfast, and now play time until (hopefully) a nap. This afternoon we're going to go to Zhonghua Gate, a 700-year-old castle.

Here are some pictures of last night, and here are some pictures of this morning.

Afternoon Update

Here are the pictures from this afternoon.

Lily screamed, then cried, then took a nap, now she's fine. She seems very smart. Mom brought her little stacking cups, and she's able to figure out what order they go in. She LOVES bubbles. She's running around swatting at them and stomping on them. And mom brought her a My Little Pony, which she won't let go of. She taught me the Chinese word for "horse" is "ma".

Let me tell you, we're getting strange looks everywhere we go. Haven't seen any other Americans in this city. Or fat people. So two fat Americans with a Chinese baby are causing some stares :) Took another trip to Wal-Mart to buy a stroller. Then on to a department store to get Lily some new shoes. She's kicking some fancy silver slippers now. Fitting for the new little princess.

So basically everything's going well so far. We have to go back to Civil Affairs in the morning to sign some more paperwork (apparently they give you 24 hours with the kid to decide if you want to keep them - kind of a Lemon Law for kids). We're a little worried that she'll start crying again because her orphanage caretaker will be there. Hopefully she'll be ok.

We're off to dinner soon. I'm hoping for a Sichhuan Hot Pot: basically a Chinese fondue, but the oil is infused with these hot peppers that make your mouth numb. Cant' wait!

Sean

Say "Ni Hao" to Lily

We just got back from picking up Lily at the Civil Affairs office. You can see all the pictures here. There were smiles and tears, and right now Lily is taking a nap. She has quite the fiery personality! We'll post more later in the day, so stay tuned.

Some Sights from Nanjing

We spent much of the day getting acclimated to the time change and the sights, sounds, and smells of Nanjing. After breakfast at the hotel we met up with our guide Jane and ventured to the ancient Chinese shopping center: Wal-Mart.





Wal-Mart was quite the experience. Packed with about 45,000 people, pigs feet and whole chickens behind the meat counter, and an approximate temperature of 475 degrees (centigrade), it wasn't much like an American Wal-Mart. They did have a cool escalator though. It was a flat ramp, so you could take your cart on it. And the ramp had grooves that matched the carts' wheels, so they didn't roll away. By the way, all of the carts' wheels worked, and even moved 360 degrees, so they were very maneuverable. Just another way the Chinese are ahead of us.

After Wal-Mart it was time for a nap. Then off to dinner. Jane found us a place off the beaten path frequented by the locals. They're not used to seeing Americans. How not used to seeing Americans are they? They only had one fork. Luckily we're pretty good with chopsticks and didn't have any major problems. We DID get a whole duck though. Not a whole duck like you'd see in the States. Literally a WHOLE duck. Head, beak, feet, bones, guts, etc. Just hack it up with a cleaver, throw it in a wok with some sauce, add cilantro, and you're good to go. Very tasty, but very difficult to eat, especially with chopsticks.



That's all for tonight. Plenty more tomorrow, since we pick up Lily. I'm sure there will be one or two photos :)

From the Future,

Terry and Sean

A Technical Note

Due to the strange behavior of The Great Firewall of China, we can update this blog, but we can't see it. Very strange. So please bear with us if anything looks a little strange. Also, we appreciate any comments, but we can't actually read them right now :)

If you need to get in touch with us you can email us both:
Terry - terrystansell@aol.com
Sean - seanstansell@gmail.com

We'll post pics as we take them.

Zai jian!

We're Here!

After almost 29 hours of planes, trains, and automobiles we've finally arrived at the hotel in Nanjing. We've also confirmed we will get Lily on Monday. More updates once we've slept :)