Hi All,
It is Thursday night at 9:09 and I am at the computer once again blogging. Recently I have had a friend and fellow blogger ask about China and I realized that I haven't written about it on our blog.
How do I start? Well, the first thing that David and I tell people is that we loved China. It really is a wonderful country in many ways. There are many social habits that Americans could benefit from, such as saving before buying and less TV watching and more physical activity. Also, we must make dumplings and dim sum a staple on every American table. After a week begin home I craved dumplings, but no one seemed to have them. I was grumpy all day. Withdrawl from dumplings was not a pretty thing.
We arrived in Beijing on November 27 and for the next few days we hit all of the hot spots of the Capitol. We walked on the Great Wall, which was "so real". We went to the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square and David ate snake at the Night Market.
One thing that I thought was interesting was that China tries to present itself as this up and coming county that encourages its people to be open minded and to embrace Western Culture. In all of this modern thinking, our guide was forbidden by law to even mention the riot that happened in 1989 at Tienanmen Square.
On the 30th we flew to Nanchang and received our little Jonathan. I would like to take this moment to voice an opinion about the experience of receiving adopted children. In the past year we heard more than one person say how wonderful the receiving process was and how there was this instant bond. My response, "This is not the norm." This experience is the very slim minority. When most children are received, especially those over one year, there are many tears by children and parents and this is followed by days and weeks of the bonding process. David and I still continue to work on this, but it is getting a little better everyday.
Nanchang was wonderful and our guide was fantastic. She kept us busy everyday with trips to the city park, trips to Walmart, restaurants and a trip to her daughter elementary school. This was my favorite part. Even though we were on the other side of the world and everything was different, the environment in the school was much the same. One difference that we noticed quickly was that the school embraces the arts. Extras such as dance, piano lessons and art classes were programmed into their day.
After Nanchang we went to Guanhzou for four days to get Jonathan's visa. By this time David and I wanted to be home so bad that in all honesty I don't remember much, but I did meet a Christian. Around our hotel there were many, many shops that sold adoption and Chinese merchandise. In walking around one day I went into a store where the keeper wrote Jonathan's name in calligraphy. When I told him our son's name he said, "Oh, Jonathan like in the Bible. I am a Christian." His faced beamed as I told him that I was a Christian too. In speaking to him I learned that China will allow people to build Christian churches and even to attend on Sunday, but it is illegal to take a child under 18 to church, to evangelize and to own a Bible.
Finally four days came and went and we were on our way home.
Jonathan did great and still continues to amaze us everyday at how much he is learning and eating. I think he likes American food.
Have a great day
Love to you all,
Jennifer
