Day 14 Guangzhou/Hong Kong

What a day! We had the swearing in ceremony at the US consulate today with about 30 other families. The gentleman who led the ceremony did a nice job and gave a little talk about the wide range of families who were there to adopt. California and Colorado had the most families today. Gage did not seem to have any idea what was going on and he really wanted to play his Gameboy, but I coaxed it away from him for the meeting. We were asked to raise our right hands to promise that everything we had put in our documents was correct - as if there is any way at all you can cheat this system! We were lucky that it went fairly quickly because we were hoping to catch the 5:05 train to Hong Kong. We made it in plenty of time thanks to our efficients guides.

Hong Kong is really indescribable. We got out onto the walkway along Victoria Harbor in time to see the multimedia show which includes individual buildings doing light shows at various times. There is music and an announcer and it is all quite marvelous. There are so many beautiful buildings all around the harbor and they are lit up like daylight. There are also boats crusing around the harbor with decorative lights. We did a little walking in the shopping areas and ate in a food court.

The business center is closing and we don't have internet in our room so I need to make this brief. We will be up at 4:45 to catch the airport bus at 5:30 and will fly into LAX via Tokyo. Gage is really looking forward to getting to the United States and hasn't showed any remorse about leaving China. Our flight gets in to LAX at about 9:30 Friday morning the 31st. When Gage places his foot on American soil, he will become an American Citizen! What an incredible day tomorrow will be!

Thanks for all of your good wishes and prayers. We will post when we get home and will share the Hong Kong pictures with you.

Day 13 Guangzhou

Lucky day 13! We didn't have to do an official thing today. One of our guides Bob took our documents to the US Consulate and handled everything for us at a 10:00 meeting. He called at 11:00 to say that it had all gone through just fine. I had no idea we weren't required to attend any of these things, but we will go to the swearing in tomorrow. One bit of really good news - I now have NO more envelopes of money to hand over to officials! I started out with 7 and it was very intimidating to carry all of that cash around for the better part of two weeks. I wore a satchel thing that went around my neck and nobody was going to wrestle that thing away from me! I feel that I am traveling light right now, although we are very close to going home.

Today was relaxing and fun. We got up and ate breakfast at the fabulous White Swan breakfast buffet which was a treat. We met our guide Linda at 9:30 and she and the driver took us to Six Banyan temple which was quite extraordinary. Today is the first day of some lunar thing so there were tons of people bringing flowers and burning incense in worship. There is a large courtyard inside the temple with several buildings with Buddhas. The main one has 3 huge Buddhas - we will try to upload a picture - and there was a monk chanting. The worshippers rock back and forth with their hands in a prayer like form, moving their hands up and down. It was especially interesting to me because I have always had a hard time picturing the people in the Old Testament worshipping graven images and this was the real thing.

After that we went to a beautiful park with flowers and statuary. There were some incredibly cool things there, especially trees with unusual shapes. The ambience was enhanced by a darling bride and groom posing for photographs among the flowers. Next, Linda took us to a place that sold very inexpensive dvds that were mostly American movies translated into Mandarin or with Mandarin subtitles. Since they were just about $2 each, we let Gage pick out a lot of them, perhaps 20 or so. I picked out the Simpsons movie for him - he had never heard of it, but said it was fine if Mommy thinks so - bad Mommy! He also got a couple more Game Boy games which he was excited about.

We came back to the hotel and had a great swim in the pool. It was hot today, at least 85, and we could really feel and see the humidity. We had talked to our daughter Christine earlier today and she asked if we could find a knock off of a certain Luis Vuitton purse and, wouldn't you know, Jake found it in a shop by the hotel. While we were there, we got into shopping mode and I got a really fabulous traditional Chinese dress for my niece Rachel's wedding November 8. It is gold silk with hand embroidered flowers, full length. The shop didn't have a dressing room so I tried it on back at the hotel - Gage took one look and yelled "good!" You can imagine how happy that made me feel. I must tell you though, this dress is so tight in the hips! All I can say is that a medium size Chinese woman must have a very tiny butt! 

Gage is doing just beautifully, we are truly amazed and  thankful to God for blessing us so profoundly. He is quite easy going and really goes with the flow. His smile is something to behold! He seems to be happy with us and we haven't seen any signs of fear or regret. I brought a book on attachment in adoption in case we had to deal with initial lack of attachment, but I haven't had to open the book. He accepts hugs and kisses at least as well as any 12 year old boy. One morning when I had to wake him up, his arms automatically went around me and he said "mommy." What a thrill!

Thank you, dear ones, for blessing us with your love and support. This journey is much better for being shared with you and we are grateful for your loving presence. 

Day 12 Guangzhou

It feels strange that we are getting so near the end of this trip, but we are so looking forward to starting" "real life" with Gage back in Irvine. Certain details of the trip are starting to run together in our minds and we can't remember exactly where we did a certain thing or ate a certain thing. I have noticed that many Chinese restaurants don't offer wine so tonight I was happy to be handed a wine list at dinner. I really just wanted a glass so I ordered the only wine that was offered as a glass. It was listed under the category "Plain Chinese Wine" which didn't seem like a bad thing so I ordered it. It arrived as a perfectly clear liquid in a small glass with a pull top lid - very odd looking. A couple of staff members had a tough time opening it so when the guy finally pulled it open, it kind of sprayed around the table. The fragrance of it gave me the first clue that this was a nasty beverage. I took a tiny taste and it was some type of straight alcohol, certainly a cheap drunk at about $1 American, but nothing I could stomach. I won't risk boring you by providing details of yet another menu, but suffice it to say this menu featured "heads" of a lot of different species. 

Our local guide Linda and I took Gage for his physical at 7:45 this morning. I felt bad waking him up so early since we were up until about 1 AM with the long flight etc. I also felt bad waking him because he is so cute when he sleeps! He did fine with all aspects of the physical, but it turned out he needed 4 immunizations. I was really anxious about it because he has been through so much, but Linda told me she had already told him about it (in Mandarin) and he was perfectly composed. The nurse made a big production of the preparation of the syringes, medicines and all. (I much prefer it when they bring it in on a tray all ready to go.) He watched without any apparent nervousness and actually smiled through some of it. The first 3 shots were fine and he did make a bit of a face on the fourth one telling Linda it hurt. This was amazing to me because certain of my older children (and you know who you are) have resorted to hiding under the doctor's desk or even running into the parking lot wearing a hospital gown when an injection was mentioned.

Tonight at dinner, I was practicing pronouncing some Mandarin phrases with Gage and he was in hysterics. Kathy had made up a list for us of common phrases so we could survive without her (we can't) and the staff in the restaurant was having a good old time looking at it and enjoying Gage's laugher. When we first tried to study Mandarin, I thought it might not be too hard since there are no verb tenses, but the tonal part of it is a killer. Speaking of Kathy, she called tonight to check on us and we miss her all the more. We are very lucky that she has two sisters living in LA and will surely visit us in California some time. She took a special liking to Gage as all of you will!

Dave and the boys are down in the game room of the hotel. It has pool and some arcade games I think. Gage was blown away when he saw it this afternoon and kept reminding us it opened at 5:30. He didn't know what to call it, just kept saying "5:30." We went to the pool today - yes, the fabulous pool with the waterfall at the White Swan - and bought Gage some water wings. He is timid in the water, but very interested in learning so we will arrange lessons for him when we get home. There are so many things he has never had a chance to do or to learn. Jake has noticed that he changes his mind a lot and we are assuming that is because he has had so few choices in his life that decisions can be hard to make. On the other hand, he really knows his way around Dalian which is a very sophisticated city so he has had some nice experiences outside of the orphanage too. It seems that philanthropic groups in Dalian provide some great outings for the children.

We did lots of walking in the markets today which was awesome. I especially loved the pearl market and Linda had a certain vendor to recommend. There were many pets for sale in the markets and Jake tried to hatch a scheme related to turtles and the indoor ponds at the White Swan. He seemed to think he would be doing something benevolent for the turtles, but we weren't buying it. 

Tomorrow will be a sightseeing day and our guide will go to the US consulate and get Gage's visa. I'm amazed that we don't have to do some of these things ourselves, but I'm not complaining! Love to blessings to all.

Day 11 Shenyang and Guangzhou

We are now in Guangzhou where we will do the US Consulate part of the process. We had a successful day with yet one more meal at the wonderful dumpling place and then a van ride to the Shenyang airport. The flight here took about 4 hours and it was so much fun to experience AiJun's first airplane ride with him. He was making all kinds of motor sounds and was thrilled with the whole thing. I am happy to report he had no motion sickness in either the airport vans or the plane. 

We are at the White Swan Hotel which those of you have adopted from China know well. We just arrived and it is midnight so we won't be able to explore much until tomorrow. All we have scheduled tomorrow is Gage's physical which should just take about 30 minutes. The bad news is that we have to meet our new guide Lynda at 7:45 AM to go to the physical. I will probably take him and let Dave and Jake sleep a little since we are up so late. Plus I slept 13 hours last night since I was kind of wiped out with a cold.  We will also have the photo taken for his visa tomorrow. I am down to just two envelopes of cash to disperse for adoption related fees and I will be happy to part with those.

We got Gage's Chinese passport today and his picture is so cute! I can't believe he is ours. Our guide explained that China doesn't allow dual citizenship so when Gage becomes an American citizen on Friday, his Chinese passport will become invalid. It is a sobering thought for him to make such a huge decision at such a young age, and we don't make that decision for him lightly. We are pleased to know that he really wants to be adopted, really wants to come to the US and really likes us! We know he will have a wonderful life with us and are happy that it has finally begun.

Day 10 Dalian and Shenyang

Today was a long day and we are ready to turn in early. We had a 9:00 appointment with Kathy our guide and the driver to take a trip to Tiger Beach in Dalian. It was probably not the best idea to take a van trip on the same day as the bus trip but that was our itinerary so we went with it. Those of you who prayed for Gage to avoid sickness on the bus found favor, but he didn't fare so well with the van. The twists and turns leading to Tiger Beach had him feeling poorly and even our walk around the area wasn't enough to help. We drove back and the poor little guy managed to leap out of the van just in time to throw up in front of the Ramada Inn as we returned. I felt horrible that we had to put him on the bus for the 4 hour ride back to Shenyang, but he did fine and slept most of the way. Dave and I have colds and were sniffling and blowing on the bus ride. Jake began to feel queasy a few miles out of Shenyang and jumped off the bus at the first opportunity without realizing he had left his laptop on the seat. The bus driver said he had never in his entire career seen as much luggage as we had so we managed to get off the bus without noticing the laptop on the seat. Luckily, Jake noticed it as soon as we reached the hotel and Kathy, who is certainly an angel, took a cab back to the bus station and picked it up. We have just returned from our favorite restaurant in China so far - the dumpling place just behind the hotel. We had a feast including two huge beers for about $15 American.

Tiger Beach was spectacular, but we forgot our camera so we have no pictures to post today. We didn't even consider taking pictures on the bus. We are happy to have seen so many places that are a part of Gage's history and culture. He told Kathy tonight that he was not sad to leave Dalian which is a great sign that he is ready for his new life as a Bauer. We are certainly ready to have him as a Bauer! Kathy told me today that twice Gage has told her that Mommy is pretty! It just doesn't get much better than that for a Mom who is feeling not particularly young and pretty these days - especially with a head cold!

Just a couple of quick anecdotes about our feeble attempts to order food without Kathy in China. Last night the boys and I went to a food court in a huge and gorgeous shopping mall. The bottom line is that you are supposed to purchase card for 100 RMB and then give it to each food vendor as you buy food. Then if you haven't spend the whole 100 when you are done, you get a refund from the cashier. This seems like a user friendly system, but we absolutely could not figure it out. We stood by the cashier for at least 20 minutes asking the crowd at large if anyone spoke English. Of course, it doesn't help that Jake looks like he should speak Mandarin so people were very puzzled. Gage does speak Mandarin but couldn't explain anything to us in English. In fact, I'm not sure he ever knew what the problem was. We finally figured it out on our own and the cashier was overjoyed! Tonight Kathy had very kindly returned to the bus station to get the laptop so she wrote out in Mandarin the order for us to give to the dumpling restaurant and said she would meet us there later. We sat down and handed the paper with the order on it to the waitress. She kept handing us menus and pointing to them and we finally realized she no longer had the piece of paper with the order on it. I was trying to pantomime the piece of paper to no avail. I finally spotted the bartender with it so I raced over and showed it to her. The two of them had a very long and serious discussion after which the waitress returned with the menus. I finally called Kathy on my cell phone. She talked to the waitress and sorted it out in no time.

Tomorrow we have basically a free day during which Kathy will pick up Gage's passport and some notary paper. Tomorrow night we will fly from Shenyang to Guangzhou which is about a 4 hour flight. Gage is really excited about the flight so please pray that it is smooth with no need for barf bags. The very sad news is that we will part with Kathy tomorrow night and she has been an absolute treasure. We will be joining a group of adoptive families in Guangzhou and will have two guides there. Since all Chinese adoptions end in Guangzhou with the US Consulate part of the process, there will be many other families there. 

Gage is stretched out on the bed in his very cute pajamas watching a Chinese cartoon on tv. I still can't believe it when I look at him! Love to all of you!

Day 9 Dalian

Another fun day! This is our last day of no work, travel or paperwork. Tomorrow we will meet Kathy and the driver at 9:00 to go to Tiger Beach and then will check out of the hotel in time to catch the 11:40 bus back to Shenyang. Poor AiJun is not looking forward to that bus again since he had motion sickness last time. I brought Bonine and he took it before the last bus ride, but it did not seem to help. We'll try it again tomorrow and he will eat a lighter breakfast. We will arrive in Shenyang at about 4:00 and will have the evening free. I think the dumpling restaurant will be on our agenda again. That was the best meal we have had in China. We have to go back to Shenyang to pick up his passport and some other document. These things have to be done in the city that is the capital of the province whereas other things have to be done in the city in which the child was abandoned which is Dalian for us. On Monday Kathy will pick up the documents and passports for us and we will fly in the evening to Guangzhou.

Today we visited another city park which was absolutely beautiful. It had lovely gardens, a fishing pond, and all kinds of boats and water actitivites. There were many statues and a huge "happy buddha" which seemed to be made of brass. This park also had rides so AiJun has his first roller coaster ride which Jake coaxed him into. We were a little worried because of the motion sickness, but he was fine. This was also his first experience fishing and he caught a fish right away! That is something he definitely wants to do in California. It has been nice to do kid friendly activities the last two days because there is a lot of sitting around with paperwork times too. AiJun has been very proud to show us his city of Dalian and it truly is a superb place. Last night we ate at a revolving restaurant on top of a new hotel across the street. We had such great views of the city and the lights were awesome.

We have so many beautiful photographs to share with you, but we are having a hard time getting them on the blog on our laptop in this hotel. Tomorrow we will be back at the Intercontinental in Shenyang and we know it works fine there. Our guide told us that blogs are basically not allowed in China so perhaps this is why we are struggling. We will upload what we can today and then more tomorrow.

Dave and I both have slight colds - no big deal and not surprising since we have been in so many different places and climates in just a week. It was really cold here yesterday - felt like a Chicago wind, but today is mild again. It will be in the 50's in Shenyang tomorrow and then back to the mid 80's in Guangzhou the next day.

Kathy (our wonderful guide) came up to our room this afternoon and went through all of AiJun's school books etc. that he brought with him. It seems that he has been an excellent student and it is nice to have some of his work to show the staff at his new school. We encountered a book table at the park today and we bought two books that he wanted and he loves reading them. We will buy some more Mandarin books in Guangzhou and we are fortunate that our community library at home has Mandarin books. Kathy also translated for us a conversation with AiJun about his American name being Gage and it is fine with him. We were happy about that because we really like the name but, of course, would have allowed him to choose something else if he did not like it.

I had another fit of giggles at the restaurant where we had lunch today. There were so many horrible sounding things on the menu, I was sorry they gave us one that was translated to English. Some examples: duck jaw, sliced bullfrog, braised fungus and jellyfish pee. I am sensitive to the fact that it may be insulting to laugh at these things, but sometimes I just lose it. I know it is going to be a challenge at home to fix things that Gage will like and that we are comfortable eating. He really likes hot things so I will have to season some of his foods separately.

Thanks for following our journey. It means so much to us to have this connection with the precious people in our lives. Your love and prayers have helped so very much. We love this boy and look forward to forever with him. We'll be in touch tomorrow from Shenyang.

Day 8 'Dalian

Today was all fun - no paperwork! Our driver and Kathy picked us up at 9:30 and we went to a seaside park that begins with an "S." I can't remember, much less spell, the names of any places around here. The park was on the waterfront of the Yellow Sea and it had beautiful sculptures all around. There was a marina with tons of boats and the area was surrounded by mountains. The favorite for the boys was a snack shack thing that sold food for pigeons among other things. The pigeons would climb right on top of the people, even those those who did not have pigeon food, much to my dismay. The pigeons that sat on me very cleverly sat on either my head or my back so I couldn't exactly see them, but could feel their feet. I was a little freaked out by it, but the guys loved it! Truly, it was a highlight for them.

At one end of the park is an oceanarium that has sea lion shows and dolphin shows which we happily viewed. Actually, Gage seemed to like the mermaid lady better than he liked the critters! We also went through the part that had polar bears, white wolves and white foxes - so cool! When you exit the dolphin show, you go through this tunnel on a moving sidewalk where there are fish swimming above and around you. Outside of the oceanarium is an amusement park where we enjoyed a few rides. All four of us did bumper cars while Kathy snapped pictures. I noticed a bungee jumping place which I mistakenly pointed out to Jake who signed right up. He was strapped on to the bungee harness which was on top of a trampoline thing. The guy running it, hung from Jake and bounced up and down to get him going. When the guy jumped off, Jake went really, really high! Each time he returned to earth, he would yell, "Can I do a flip?" and I would yell "No." This happened about 100 times because for some reason Jake was given 4 turns. I think the guy was pleased he was drawing a crowd. Anyway, Jake eventually did a flip which he claimed was a complete accident and his father defended him!

The driver picked us up and took us to Pizza Hut which was momentous because Gage had never had pizza before. Not only that, he had never had cheese before! He ate two slices which he first saturated with tabasco sauce - I had a hard time watching that. When Kathy asked him if he liked it, he said not really. Apparently he didn't care for the cheesy part which made me realize I will have to rethink a lot of my recipes. After all, in America what isn't better with a little melted cheese on top? The other interesting thing is that Pizza Hut is somewhat of an upscale place in China and is a special occasion destination. The decor is sophisticated although the menu and prices are similar to the US.

We did a little shopping after lunch and bought AiJun a Gameboy and a few games and he is thrilled with them! He is so sweet and thankful for everything. We went up to an internet cafe above the Pizza Hut because Gage wanted to play some games on Chinese sites that we can't get on our laptop, but the minimum age was 18. I have been in internet cafes before, but this one had hundreds of computers - really something. The lighting reminded me of a Las Vegas casino.

Gage is such a dear and is connecting so well with us. We are so very thrilled to have him in our family. His favorite English saying as of now is, "let's go." Jake has often said this to him and the two of them run off, but now Gage says it first sometimes. His voice is so cute - a little on the husky side - and when he calls me Mommy, I just melt. I still can't get used to looking at his face in real life after looking at his picture for 18 months. I try not to get caught staring at him! We are so blessesd

Day 7 Dalian

Today was so special! It started out with a more mundane activity which was going to the Dalian police station to apply for AiJun's passport. We had to be interviewed by a police officer and I had a scary feeling it wasn't going too well, but then he just smiled and said he hoped we would all be happy. Whew! I'm not sure what he could have done about anything because the adoption has been finalized, but it was a little intimidating nonetheless.

After the police station visit, we went to the orphanage. It was really a highlight because it was clear that everyone there loved AiJun and they all had such nice things to say about him. He was really excited to be there and was completely hanging out of the window of the van as we approached . This was great on a number of levels, one being we were pleased that he has such happy feelings about the place he spent all of his early years. (At age 8, he was transferred to the orphan boarding school as is typical.) The orphanage is a very nice building, clean and bright with nice furniture, wall paintings and lots of pictures everywhere. Ai Jun found some pictures of himself on the bulletin board and we photographed those so we will have some more pictures of him. He wanted pictures of several staff members, especially his three favorites. (We were happy to learn he has 3 favorites!) The people at the orphanage were truly the nicest people I have met in China, and they were obviously delighted to see him and to know he is adopted. He very proudly introduced as his "Mama" and "Baba", it was a thrilling moment. We were able to see the bed that was his (#4), where he ate, played etc. I was afraid he would be sad to say goodbye, but he was happy to jump back in the van and move on when the time came.

We had an early dinner at our guide Kathy's hotel which is just down the street. We had a nice variety of Chinese food which we all shared and it was nice to get to know the kinds of things AiJun likes. So far, I think I can fix all of them, but I can promise you I will never cook an octapus. Dave and the boys went to an electronics shop after dinner and I came back here to rest. I am emotionally drained tonight. Everything is going very well, but it is a lot to take in and to process. AiJun is a darling boy - so sweet and always trying to help with any little thing. It is adorable how he follows Jake around and is learning English expressions. My favorite is when he says, "let's go." His voice is just a little husky and so cute. I just keep staring at him and can't believe we finally have him. God is so faithful and good.

Day 6 Shenyang and Dalian

Today was a hard day. We had to be up at 6 and have our luggage outside of the room at 7, into the van by 8:30 and then to the Civil Affairs office. I have never liked the legalistic part of adoption and we spent several hours this morning signing papers with signatures and thumbprints, waiting for absent officials and passing envelopes of cash around a huge table. There were 3 other families involved and they were all snapping pictures, but I just don't like this part of the process. Gage and I both had tummy aches during the endless sign-fest. I blame the hot pot, especially the stuff Gage was feasting on last night. One look at an octapus should tell you that it is not meant to be eaten.

After Civil Affairs, we were back into the van. AiJun (Gage) has a history of car sickness and the van ride just about finished him off. The bad news was that the van was taking us to an even longer trip which was the 4 hour bus ride to Dalian. Sure enough, poor AiJun was green just a few minutes into the trip and got very, very sick into the smallest motion sickness bag I  have ever seen. He actually felt better after that and slept most of the way to Dalian. I was especially sad since he is so thin and I was thrilled that he had eaten so much food yesterday and this morning. It was all too much for his poor little tummy.

We arrived in Dalian at about 4:30 and checked right in to the Ramada Inn. This is a very nice hotel, not at all like a US Ramada Inn. We decided to take it easy tonight and just eat in the hotel, but that turned out to be an adventure as well. The restaurant off the lobby offered both buffet and menu ordering so we decided to order off the menu. Our guide Kathy had gone back to her hotel so we asked the waitress to explain to AiJun in Chinese the difference between buffet and menu ordering. She didn't know what we were talking about and became increasingly alarmed as we talked. We gave up and handed AiJun a menu that was in both English and Chinese. Before we realized what was happening, he had ordered 4 items! We asked the waitress to tell us what they were, but she just couldn't. We thought, what the heck, he has probably never had the chance to order off the menu so let's just see what shows up. Jake has now had 24 hours of being an older sibling so he began the refrain that has become so familiar with his older sisters, "Why does HE get to do that!" By this time I was slap happy and tried to hide my serious fit of hysterical giggles behind my napkin. I think the thing that finally set me off was flipping through the menu and seeing "Jellyfish Head Salad." This was more than I could bear after juggling tiny barf bags on a bus all afternoon. AiJun ended up with a nice sampling of international cuisine and as we walked out, the maitre 'd followed us out and asked what country we were from!

That's all for now folks! We have very few pictures today. We are grateful that AiJun is feeling fine tonight and yet very sorry that we have to take the bus back to Shenyang on Sunday! Tomorrow is an easier day - applying for his passport in the morning and then the orphanage visit. I almost forgot the best news of all - the adoption is final and AiJun is 100% ours now!

Later on Gotcha Day

Just had to post again. He is such a sweetie and has laughed and smiled a lot today. AiJun, Jake and Dave are downstairs playing ping pong. We were supposed to give him a quiet day and that SO didn't happen! We have all had a lot of fun though and following the rules has never been a strength of mine. We are trying to have lights out at 9:00 because we have to be up early for a 9:00 meeting at Civil Affairs during which the adoption will be finalized. Then we will take a bus to Dalian which takes about 4 hours. We will be staying at the Ramada Inn which is apparently just across the street from the bus station. The following day we will tour the orphanage which will cause me to return to the States and try to interest all of you in adoption.

We shopped for shoes (black Nikes) and pants tonight which was a grand success. Kathy our guide asked AiJun what he wanted for dinner and he said hot pot. This is something unique to northern China and involves a table with built in flat burners on which the staff places pots of chicken stock. These rapidly come to a boil and there are tons of little dishes of seafood, meat, vegetables etc. that you place in your pot to cook. It is a bit like fondue. Then there are dipping sauces to add to the treat. AiJun had never had hot pot before and he was thrilled with it. He ate so much including octapus, crab and shrimp, things I wouldn't think he had before. He has very nice table manners and enjoyed himself so much. I don't think he is going to stay thin for long!

Day 5 Gotcha Day

Ai Jun (Gage) is just the cutest, sweetest guy! We are overjoyed and I can't even describe how it felt when the elevator doors opened and there he was! He was very shy and reserved at first, but he has really warmed up to us fast. He is crazy about Jake! They bonded instantly and Jake has been so great with him - truly taking Gage under his wing. After paperwork at the Civil Affairs office, our driver and guide brought us back to the hotel. Our guide Kathy (the best) brought us up to the room and made sure we were settled. She said Ai Jun is accustomed to napping after lunch, but he had zero interest in doing so after we went to McDonalds where he ate two chicken sandwiches, fries and a coke. He insisted on cleaning up the table and he has been so sweet to open doors for me and carry my briefcase.  

We went in a few stores and we bought him a battery controlled car that he admired and a sweatshirt. The clothes I brought for him are too big, at least the pants are. We are going to go clothes shopping when Kathy comes back to get us at 4:00. He also needs shoes. He was wearing long underwear even though it is in the 70's here.

Those of you who are coming over here to adopt older kids, be sure to ask for their current school work (Thanks to Lisa for that idea.) We did ask and he brought a ton of school books and things in a back pack. The middle school in California had asked for anything that would indicate at what levels he has been working, and I'm sure this will be very helpful to them. He told us he is in 5th grade although he is 12 and I don't know what the grade equivalents are.

Jake and Gage have gone to the play room in the hotel. It helps so much to have Jake interacting with him because he might find us a little boring. They are on the go every minute.

Tomorrow we will go back to Civil Affairs for more paper work at 9:00 and then take the 11:40 bus to Dalian. Ms. Pan said Gage was feeling car sick on the bus in from Dalian this morning so I am glad I brought bonine for the journey tomorrow. I'm sure he was more than a little nervous this morning as I know we were.

God has had such a mighty hand in our journey to Gage. Ms. Pan (orphanage director) told us this morning that he had been matched with another family in 2006, but the woman got cancer and couldn't go through with it. We are so very blessed to have him! 

I'll post more pictures as soon as I can get Jake to do it for me!

Day 4 Shenyang, China

Shenyang is a fascinating city! It belonged to Russia at one time so the architecture reflects that influence. There is a roundabout just down from our hotel (Intercontinental) that has a huge statue of Chairman Mao in the center of the road surrounded by a grassy area. We are staying in the downtown area, but there are small, very simple shops wedged in between glittering high rise buildings. There are lots of piles of vegetables, mainly lettuce and onions on the sidewalks. Our guide told us that since it gets very cold in the winter here, the people are preparing the vegetables to store for the winter. The thing that is really hard to get used to is the driving habits of the residents. There are very few traffic signals and pedestrians are supposed to just walk out in traffic, avoiding eye contact with drivers who are hurtling towards them. The pedestrians expect that the drivers will avoid them, but it is far from a certainty. Also, when cars do come near pedestrians, the object seems to be to get as close as possible without actually making contact. It seems that motorcycles are allowed on the sidewalks and bicycles are absolutely everywhere. My favorite are the bicycles that have huge carts attached in front of them; we actually saw one that had a couch on the cart in front. 

We met our wonderful guide Kathy today and she is making our lives much more simple and more secure. We spent quite a bit of time together this evening during which she helped us exchange money, took us to a photo shop for yet more adoption photos, took our laundry to a cleaner, briefed us on tomorrow's events and accompanied us to a dumpling restaurant for a superb dinner. We had huge portions of several items and two large beers - the total tab was $15 American!

Saving the best for last, tomorrow is Gotcha Day! We will meet Gage at 10:00 at the Civil Affairs office. We are getting used to calling him AiJun, his Chinese name, which we have been encouraged to use for the first week or so. Kathy hasn't met him, but she did have more information than we previously had. Apparently, he has really wanted to be adopted which is so wonderful! He is nervous, but excited. Sounds like us! She said he is a very good student and physically very strong. He has spent the last couple of days back at the orphanage in Dalian being prepared for this big change in his life. He and the orphanage director will drive up tomorrow from Dalian to Shenyang.

Thank you to all of our precious family and friends who have journeyed with us to this point. This is the day we have been anticipating for 18 months and we couldn't have made it without your love and support. Please pray that God will gently knit Gage into the fabric of our family.

 Nandaemun Market
Lunch on top of Shinsegae
Jake with a lady in traditional Korean han bok in hotel lobby
Jake at dinner in the hotel
Korean artwork in Renaissance Hotel lobby

Day 3 Seoul

Tomorrow we will leave Korea in the morning and fly to Shenyang, the city where Gage lives! He was initially in the orphanage in Dalian, but relocated to the orphan boarding school in Shenyang about 3 years ago which is typical for kids in the Liaoning province. It will be an amazing feeling to fly into Shenyang tomorrow knowing Gage is there. I don't think any of us will sleep much tomorrow night as we anticipate welcoming him into our family.

We feel sad to be leaving Korea tomorrow as it has been such an incredible experience for all of us to live a few days in Jake's homeland. It is a beautiful country with fascinating people. We will always treasure the memories of these days and hope that we will be able to return someday.

Today was mainly a shopping day as Jake wanted to have a few clothing items from Korea to take home. As I mentioned before, the people here are very stylish which gives an added pleasure to people watching. We went back to two of the huge markets, Dongdaemun and Namdaemun. The open air market at Namdaemun is enormous with about 10,000 shops, many of which are small stalls. The shops are punctuated now and then by stalls cooking all kinds of things in the open air. It was not unusual to come across a huge pile of green onions between shops with people sitting on the ground peeling and chopping. We had lunch in a garden on top of the Shinsegai department store. There were numbered displays of food items which you could look over and then select. The food was great and it was a perfect day to sit outside. It has been pretty hot here, but today is overcast so it is much more comfortable.

We are going to take it easy this evening with the guys going to the driving range in the hotel and Barb doing some laps in the pool before dinner. We have to get up really early since we need to be on the airport shuttle busy at 5:45 AM as we depart for Incheon Airport.

Thanks to all of you who have posted comments on the blog. It is wonderful to hear from you and to feel that connection with home. When we write tomorrow we'll be in China and just a day away from meeting Gage. 

Day 2 Seoul

We have had some real adventures here with our lack of ability to communicate. Last night we got into a taxi and asked the driver to take us to Dongdaemun Market which is considered the center of fashion shopping here. It was hard to tell whether the cab driver didn't know where it was, didn't think we would like it or refused to take us there for reasons of his own, but his remarks and gestures seemed to imply refusal. The comedy was amplified because everyone here, including this cab driver, expects Jake to speak Korean. The man went on and on while talking only to Jake. We quickly gave up and offered an alternate destination of COEX where we had been earlier in the day.  Unfortunately, I wrote it down as COET instead of COEX which made it completely unrecognizable to our driver who finally hailed a pedestrian who was bilingual and we sorted it all out. Even when Jake says he only speaks English, people continue to talk away directly to him in Korean.

Today we went on a bus tour, the kind which allows you to get off and on at any of the stops. We figured this would be a good idea since it didn't require us to communicate with anyone at all. We did make it to Dongdaemun this time and enjoyed the experience of shopping in a completely different way than  we are used to. The entrances are called gates and this entire, huge shopping area has tons of individual vendors selling absolutely everything. Even the underground passage that allows you to cross the incredibly  busy street is crammed full of merchandise for sale. Every so often you encounter a booth wedged in where people are cooking things that look pretty interesting, but we weren't quite that brave. The most intriguing one to me was what looked like a mound of french fries stuck together on a stick.

After shopping, if you can call it that because we only bought one shirt, we got back on the bus and went to Changdeokgung Palace.  Now I thought we were going there to watch the changing of the guard at 2:00, but it turned out the changing of the guard was actually at Deoksugung Palace. If you remove the "Chang" don't those words look about the same? I thought "Chang" might be some type of palace prefix since the other palaces in the tour book seemed to begin with it. Anyway, we were so pleased to arrive at about 1:45,  just in time for the changing of the guard or so we thought. The ticket taker tried to shove Jake into the palace and to shove us out. We later realized this was because the tour guide was narrating in Korean and the English tour was later. I can't tell you anything about this wonderful, ancient palace because we couldn't understand a word of it, but it was beautiful and the grounds were lovely. We are attaching some pictures!

Any of Jake's teachers who are reading this will be pleased to know we are about to do some homework! Tomorrow we will be able to say that "day after tomorrow" we will get Gage!!

Day 1 Seoul, South Korea

Our flight over was great and we don't seem to be feeling any jet lag, perhaps because it was night when we arrived and we went right to bed.

 Today was fabulous! As you will see from the photos, we visited the Social Welfare Society babies' home today where Jake lived from birth to 2 months of age. The babies are beyond gorgeous and we got to hold as many as we wanted!! I held a baby that was born two days ago. The lady who met with us gave us gifts, a set of wooden chopsticks for Dave and I , and a ceramic mom and dad holding a baby for Jake. So lovely! She sat with us and let Jake look through his entire file, and we even got a copy of a newborn photo that we didn't have. She told him that, when he is 18, they will help him search for his birth mother if he is interested. They don't allow searches before the age of 18. I had sent his birthmom a necklace soon after Jake was born and it was still in the file, so she hasn't been back yet. This was a day none of us will forget!

Before our meeting at SWS, we went to COEX, which is the Korean world trade center. The beautiful flowers you will see in the photographs are from the floral displays in front of COEX. We enjoyed seeing a group of preschoolers in uniform touring the gardens while their teacher taught them to say "hello" and "good-bye" to us in English. Even the very little children here bow when they greet us - so adorable. In the lower level of COEX is a huge shopping/restaurant area where we had lunch. We had Chicago pizza Uno - shame on us! Many people from the nearby office centers were coming in for lunch while we were there and we were impressed with how beautifully dressed they were. Most of the men wore suits while the women wore lots of black clothing with layers, tights and leggings with very high heels.

We are about to go out to dinner now. There is an area called Dongdaemun Market where the shops are open all night, playing loud music and displaying cheerful colors. We will check that out for sure!

It was nice losing a day traveling here because that puts us a little closer to getting Gage. It is now Friday night here and we wonder what he is doing and thinking. We really don't know if he has been told yet that we are coming to get him on Tuesday. Please pray that God will ease his transition to a completely new life with us. We can't wait!

Thanks to all of you for supporting us through this journey. More news tomorrow!