Or: Waiting for Paperwork, Buying More of China's Treasures In case any of you are wondering why we are languishing in Nanjing rather than moving on to the next step in Guangzhou, we are waiting for the Chinese end of the paperwork to be completed. While we have the certificate attesting to Luke's adoption there apparently are a lot more documents that need to be created and/or prepared. So we wait and while the time away doing touristy stuff. Due to the loss of both of the Tu-Sekine's cameras (more on that in a separate blog by Becky and Pam). there [View Full Entry]

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Or: CSI Nanjing Hi all. Sorry for the lateness of this post, but we’re getting pooped. Pam and Becky are the bloggers this time. We apologize for the lack of pictures, but then, as you will see, that is the whole point of this post! I think the gods were mildly displeased that we decided not to visit Changzhou on Wednesday. Changzhou is the city where Lucas was found in a fourth floor maternity ward when he was about 1 year old. In our defense, the drive is about 2 hours long, and since the Changzhou orphanage is currently a temporary [View Full Entry]

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Or: None of this writing stuff, here are some pictures While Becky is in the shower crumpling and bubbling (see our post March 29 on signage), I am posting a few pictures for all of you who want to see pictures of your new grandchild/nephew/son or brother of a friend. I just hope Becky's hair will not be too dry--Becky and Pam have decided that unfortunately they are not eligible to use the conditioner based on its instructions: "Include and protect the wet factor inside. Many kinds of nutritional labeling, such as purpose-built silk softener, etc., with after can make by [View Full Entry]

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Or: Lest suddenness happens On our last day in Beijing, we were supposed to visit the Summer Palace and the Pandas. To our credit, we realize exhaustion when we see it and we decided to indulge ourselves with a few extra hours of rest. So we cancelled the Summer Palace in favor of the pandas, ostensibly for Ian’s benefit but who can resist the furry little guys? For anyone who has endured the long lines at the Washington zoo in the summer at the panda exhibit, may I suggest the Beijing zoo? Oodles of pandas, no waiting. It was interesting to [View Full Entry]

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Or: We think there is a pattern here, but can’t quite put our finger on it (or, if you would like a more classical theme, On Shopping). After the Great Wall, we went on our scheduled tour of the government-owned cloisonné factory and lunch. Becky, Pam and I had already begun to suspect that there was some kind of arrangement between the tour company and the government. Our first bit of evidence was that our van would always drop us off beyond the barriers that held out the plebs—a few words from our driver and guards would let us through. Then, [View Full Entry]

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Dear all, I know I owe you all blogs for the last few days--they are in the works. But we wanted to let you know that as of this morning, Nanjing time, we have been united with Luke. We will return to the adoption office tomorrow to make things official (we have 24 hour custody right now). After two years of waiting, we have finally met the fourth member of our little family. Hooray! [View Full Entry]

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Or: Sleeping is for the weak - we're climbing the Great Wall of China! Just a note about the sleeping: Ian is not doing it at the right time. Yesterday’s 3 p.m. nap and 7 p.m. bedtime led to a 3:36 a.m. wakeup call for mom, and a 4:00 am trip to the lobby for dominoes and hot chocolate for Ian and dad. We decided Auntie Pam should join the fun, and Ian started delivering coffee packets and sugar packets to her door at 5:00 am, with a gentle ring on the doorbell (they really have them at each room door) [View Full Entry]

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Or: The delicate balance between giving in to exhaustion and sightseeing some more. During our few days in the Capital of the North (that be Beijing, "bei" indicating north. Like the US, China had different cities as its capital at points in its history. The two most important ones are the Capital of the North and Nanjing, the Capital of the South. I will let you figure out yourself what "nan" means), we are scheduled to see the "largest urban square in the world" (LUSINTW), the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the Pandas--one [View Full Entry]

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Or: Without doubt, things are big here Today, we sightsaw. Our ambitious schedule included Tian'Anmen Square in the morning, then the Forbidden City, then the City Planning Museum, then the Temple of Heaven. Lunch at the Wahaha restaurant and a Peking Duck (err, Beijing Duck) dinner. We killed the visit to the freshwater pearl factory (?). If you think that sounds ambitious, you should try it with a five year old whose body clock is off by 12 hours. I would say that I would never do something like this again, but tomorrow we are going to see the Great Wall, [View Full Entry]

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Or: Before you can begin, you must abuse your body by staying in something like the fetal position for 14 hours and eat really bad food. Hi everyone, Finally arrived in China. All I can tell you about the flight is that it was 14 hours long and definitely something to be avoided. When we checked in at Dulles Airport in DC, the airline offered us upgrades to Business Class for $640 a person and to Economy Plus for $120 a person--and although Becky and I both agree it was a good idea to not spend the money, by hour 6 [View Full Entry]

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