Getting to Know Each Other

There's good news and there's bad news. First, the bad news: this city is NOT a place to spend 8 days. So if any of you are thinking about vacationing for a week or two in Changsha, think twice. Have you ever noticed that none of the major game shows offer all expenses paid vacations to Changsha as a prize? There's a good reason for this and I commend the folks at each show for their sound judgement in prize giving. Now the good news: all this time in one place has allowed us all to get to know Josie with very few distractions.

The last two days have actually been pretty uneventful overall. The biggest challenge has been keeping busy in a city where finding things to do isn't all that easy. We've made a few trips to Walmart (that ought to put things in perspective for my readers). And, while we were there we were a source of great curiosity for the locals. In fact, no matter where we go in Changsha we are stared at unceasingly by the locals. We must be a real sight, though: three Caucasian adults with three Asian kids. As they stare at us in stores, in restaurants, and on the streets, I wonder what they're thinking. Are they happy to see three of their children in good hands, or do they somehow resent us for taking their kids away? Do they reflect on the situation their country faces with population issues? Are they concerned, or is this not a real issue to the average guy on the street?

We have grown SO tired of the hotel's boring buffet that any excuse to eat out interests us. McDonald's was our lunch destination yesterday, and a cab ride brought us to Pizza Hut today for lunch. We also did some shopping at what appeared to be a very upscale shopping mall afterward and the girls (especially Josie) got some clothes. Josie's having fun picking out her own clothing for the first time in her life, and it's a blast watching her. And, of course, there's the hotel swimming pool...which is good for killing about an hour each day. Danielle even got in the water today, which must say something about how eager she was to stay busy!

We also finally found a GREAT place for dinner. It's right across the street from our hotel. It's a very sophisticated Chinese food restaurant three floors high. Last night, our group went there and had a DELICIOUS meal with first class service. We liked the experience so much, in fact, that we talked our friends the Russells and our guide Linda into going back tonight. Linda, of course, called ahead and got us a private dining room with an enormous round table for 12 in the center and two or three personal servers. Now THIS is the way to eat! And, it didn't cost us anything extra. We all ate heartily and, by the end of the meal, the kids were going nuts with fatigue so we had to get them back to the hotel and to bed. It's funny: our kids are getting 9-10 hours of sleep per night now, but they are wiped out by 6:00 each night. Annie will take any opportunity to sleep during the day and it's become a struggle to keep her awake during the day so she'll sleep soundly at night. Josie gets tired too, and yesterday she literally fell asleep on her feet in Colleen's room (see pic)! I think the Emm and Annie are both getting tired of being away from home and living out of hotel rooms. For that matter, so am I. It is impossible to express how anxious we all are to get back to Naples...our homes, our towns, our friends and family, our lives. Of the three trips we've now made to China to adopt, this has been by far the toughest psychologically. One week from today, though, we'll be on our way home.

Josie is really doing well. She loves playing with her new sisters, and one of her favorite activities is/are arts and crafts. She's a little like Emma in this respect. The two of them spend a lot of time drawing, cutting and taping papers, gluing things together, etc. Josie and Annie also play well together, even thought one is almost twice as old as the other. Having spent so much time in an orphanage (4 years), and a considerable amount of time with foster parents (2.5 years), Josie is not quite as mature as the average 6 1/2 year old, psychologically and emotionally. This will absolutely change in the coming months, but for now she identifies well with Annie. Even though Josie is almost a year older than Emma, it's extremely easy to still see Emma as the senior member of the trio who has two younger sisters.

Josie is incredibly goofy. It will take some work getting her to learn how to behave properly in different situations (at dinner, while out shopping or at a restaurant, etc.). She is prone to really goofy behavior, which can be hysterical. But it can also be annoying at times. We always keep in mind, though, her background. She's a product of her upbringing (such that it's been). It also makes things more difficult that we cannot really communicate with each other verbally. This isn;t a big deal. She's a wonderful, happy, energetic, and DECENT little girl. In fact, a funny thing happened today. Josie asked me yesterday to buy her some Oreo cookie bars while we were at Walmart. Today, all the kids were in my room and she saw the package. In her way, she asked me if she could have one and I gave her one. The first thing she did, though, was to hand it right to Annie. I reached in and grabbed another one for Josie and she handed this one right to Emma! Finally, she took her own. But she was very careful to make sure her sisters had their cookies before she took her own. I think that says a lot.

Let's see, what else have we done? The girls watched movies on Danielle's computer (see pic), and they looked like the three cute sisters they are. We went to a really lame park near the hotel today, which had some playground equipment left over from the Ming Dynasty (see pic). But the girls had fun running around and burning off energy until the drizzle forced us back inside. We were also invited to visit the actual orphanage that Josie called home for 4 years. Colleen, went, but I couldn't bring myself to go...it would just be too hard, emotionally, to see the place and the kids inside who have essentially been passed over. See included pix of the outside and the inside of the orphanage taken by Colleen. She was not allowed to photograph the kids or the individual rooms. Sad.

Soooooo...tomorrow we are scheduled to go to a major local park and to the Changsha zoo. At least these are activities that will give us something concrete to do. On Sunday we're scheduled to go to Changsha's embroidery museum (hold me back!). But again, at least it's something to do. Apparently, they've embroidered the crap out of everything for centuries here in Changsha and as a result have developed a knack for it. To all you pro-embroidery types out there: I hold no anti-embroidery biases and, if pressed, could probably find something I own that's been embroidered. But a museum? If anyone wants a t-shirt or a shot glass from the museum, let me know. All right, I'll stop. Colleen's gonna kill me when she reads this.

It's off to bed now. All our love to everyone back home. And again, thanks to all for the comments you've submitted. We love them!