Blogs from Nanchang, Jiangxi, China, Asia - page 10

China 2004-5 Entry #1 China 2004-05 I soon found that travel in China alone, (away from the tour groups), was a lot harder than India. It was bloody hard at first, with virtually no English and no Tourist information, even in Shanghai, where I arrived. Even when I did get help, a lot of it was out of date because the place is changing so fast! MY HOME TOWN FOR TEN MONTHS. The city where I was to teach was Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province; a fairly unknown place off the tourist track, of about 4 million people. It is considered a little behind the other bigger cities, but more like the ‘real’ old China, so I thought it should be more interesting. It was changing fast, back in 2005 and I probably would not ... read more

Hi Jonathan and Nathan (and friends), It’s Mama. Yesterday was quite a day! We went to a government office where Abby’s adoption became official! We then went to Wal Mart. What an adventure. It was more crowded than anything I have ever experienced. People were shoulder to shoulder, bumping into each other. They were mostly Chinese, of course, and were very interested in these Americans with a Chinese baby. Many would stop and stare at us. Several times there would be a crowd of people standing around us and staring. Abby was very, very fussy. She was unhappy most of the afternoon. I think the crowd bothered her and she was hungry. She has cried quite a bit since we got her. At first I think she was sad about leaving the people / family she ... read more

GOTCHA!!! Oh how beautiful is the one given to us! Monday started full of anticipation. Everyone was all excited beyond anything I have ever seen. The group boarded the plane for Nanchang and landed there (or here) at about 2 PM and collected our luggage. Once on the bus to the hotel, our guide (Lenekar) informed us that our babies would be in the conference room at our hotel at 4. The suspense went off the charts! Upon arriving at the hotel, Sandy got our room and some toys ready for Abby while I paid out mega bucks in fees and turned over some paperwork. At 3:53, the Spitler family arrived at the conference room. We were the first of our 15 adopting families but not the first people there. In the room were 15 Chinese ... read more