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.