Sunday Night in GZ

C here, thanks for tuning in.

KFC messed up our dinner order.  Just thought I'd mention that.

I am sitting at the desk in our room at the Garden Hotel in GZ.  Everyone's in bed, and apparently sleeping soundly.  The boys are here for the night, after a fun-filled "sleep-over" in AR's room last night.
It's 9:39 PM and I'm watching the replay of Game #1 of the NLCS.  It's the bottom of the 6th and the Phils are down 1 (4-3) - Jayson Werth just hit a 2-Run HR.  PLEASE don't tell me who won - I turned off my ESPN alerts today so this would be a surprise - thanks for not ruining it.  I'll type while I watch so it does not get too late.

We just got back from Starbucks where we had a nice desert of Hot Chocolates and Marble Pound Cake.  It's just across the street from the hotel - but requires a treacherous J-Walk to reach.  Not to worry - we made it both ways.  AR and I are city kids so J-walking's no big deal.  (Don't worry Mom, we looked BOTH ways before crossing!)  The Starbucks was nice - 2 stories - so we went upstairs.

When we left Wuhan, we had to say goodbye to our most excellent guide on this most excellent adventure. Thanks Mr. Grant! All of his tours were very informative. He always had the paperwork in order and was very helpful the entire time we were with him. Our driver for almost the entire time in Wuhan was Mr. Dong.  He was always very careful in his driving and proved very skillful and PATIENT even in the most challenging traffic (and some of the traffic was horrendous).

Mr. Dong's Most Unfortunate Accident...
On the night after our adventurous trip to the Aloha Diner, Mr Dong was involved in a traffic accident.  Apparently, he was trying to exit the road into a fueling station when his van was run into by a scooter. The scooter driver (who, according to Mr. Grant, who heard it from Mr. Dong, was clearly at fault) was was injured - a broken nose, I think.  Mr. Dong had to go to the hospital to be checked out - happily he was shaken up but is fine.  The boys were very concerned, and each time we rode in a van piloted by someone other than Mr Dong, always asked "Where's Mr. Dong?"  Mr. Grant explained that when traffic accidents happen in China, the drivers involved sometime lose their licenses for a few days.  this is what happened to Mr. Dong.  We hope he is OK. 

This is where things spin a little out of control...

When Mr. Grant was explaining the accident to us the next day, he mentioned the "scooter driver" several times.  For some reason the boys heard this as the "screwdriver".  I (surprise, surprise) decided to have a little fun with it...
Each time the boys inquired about Mr. Dong's whereabouts or condition, I interjected something about the screwdriver to embellish the story.  It went from Mr. Dong running over the screwdriver, to the scooter drive running over the screwdriver, to the screwdriver hitting the scooter and breaking it's headlight (that's why Mr. Dong didn't see him)...you get the idea.  At one point, on the plane trip to GZ, Kyle asked loudly again about Mr. Dong.  The story had gotten to be so twisted and funny that AR laughed so hard that she almost(!) has her Coke Zero come out her nose!
I guess you had to be there...it was a lot funnier than it probably reads - ask AR!

At least Mr. Dong didn't spit out his window!  some of the other driver's we had did - 'nuff said.

The Doctor's Adapter...
While in Wuhan, I needed to get another electrical adapter for our room so I could charge the wide assortment of gadgets (iPhone, Camera batteries, computer, Blackberry, the DS's, my shaver, Ashley's iPod - we use it every night to play her the Chinese lullabies while she fades off to sleep) we brought.  I phoned housekeeping, but the language barrier was just too high, so they transferred me to the front desk, where I promptly struck out again (just as Ryan Howard just did AGAIN a moment ago!!)

To be sure, I walked down to the front desk - surely I could get through to someone...perhaps the young lady who understood me perfectly when I flashed my $US to have her change them into RMB?

When I asked the first young woman for an adapter, she look at me - puzzled - with that deer-in-the-headlights look .  To any other adoptive parents who are following along and who may have also traveled to China: you know the look that I'm describing.  With a surprising amount of urgency, she hustled over to a woman I took to be her supervisor.  Finally, I'm getting some action!

The supervisor approached and I again explained to HER that I needed an adapter. She asked (what I took to be) "an adapter"?  I said, "Yes, an adapter".
She gently told me that it was too late and that the DOCTOR would be unavailable until tomorrow.  Was it an emergency?

Huh???  Doctor???  She seemed very concerned that I was in distress and needed a doctor!  To clarify, I repeated that I needed and electrical adapter and I made a motion with my two hand like I was plugging something in.  She made a similar motion, but farther up her forearm, like she was injecting something into her arm, and said "Like a doctor uses?" now thinking that I needed a syringe or IV??!!

As the chain gang boss said in Cool Hand Luke:
"What we have heeah is a failure to communicate." (ya think!!!!)

I took another tack and searched around the lobby from where we were standing. Relieved, I walked over to the wall, crouched down and pointed to the wall socket where the light was plugged in and repeated "Adapter" - motioning like I was plugging something in.  A look of complete relief washed over her face and she said "Oh... a transformer"!  FINALLY - Yes, I repeated, I needed a TRANSFORMER!  She promptly phoned Housekeeping and told me that one would be delivered toy our room in a few moments.

Looking back I am thankful that she did not immediately phone the Chinese equivalent of 911 since I was in such urgent need of a doctor!!

Phils just lost!!

"And now for something completely different...

Sometimes Dylan can be tough to please with food.
We asked him what he'd like to eat the other day...he replied with an ear-to-ear grin:
"Turtle Soup" .... with Bread!!!
He's never had this - at least not while with us!
Who knows - maybe he likes it!
We probably won't try, though, especially after he saw all those turtles in the pond at the Temple!!

Also,
Apparently, in China recently, (at least according to an English-language Chinese newspaper we came across) the young (i.e. trendy & cool) people like to visit McDonald's quite a lot, and it's become a bit of a romantic hot spot.  A lot of Chinese couples have met and had many dates and shared courtships under the golden arches.  Not one to miss out on a cross-marketing opportunity, McDonald's has announced that they are now offering catering for Weddings!! (True Story!)

Work with me on the following item...
Say the word "hook".  Now say it again, but replace the "h" and "k" with "p".
It's hard to get across in writing, but (given Ashley's current challenge) this is Mr. Grant's pronunciation and we've adopted it as our own.  It's not the typical pronunciation of this word - it needs to be shorter and you need to "pop" the P's.  These are the times when I wished we could easily post an audio clip!

Next topic...
Our last supper in Wuhan was at a Pizza Hut, which worked out fine.  We had a passable meal.  We actually got dinner and a show!  At he next table was seated a typical extended Chinese family, complete with one son and what looked to be 2 grandparents.  The boy was all over the place...in the high chair/out of the high chair, running around - chased closely by the grandmother while the parents calmly ate their meal.  It was entertaining to watch and the boy and family seemed genuinely friendly, although not able to speak English.
We had a nice walk back to the hotel (not in the rain!) and the boys went right off while Mom & I packed the suitcases.

On Friday, Mr. Grant took us on a guided tour of the Guiyan Temple.  It's one of the largest in China and the largest in Hubei Province.  It has several very large Buddhas and one large White Jade Buddha carved from a single large block of jade.  There is also a part of the temple that houses 500 buddhas (arhats), all arranged in aisles and rows of different sizes and NSEW directions.  Each one is unique and symbolizes something different.  Each is the approximate size of a human being but the appearances, facial features, poses and artifacts represented in each is unique.
Mr. Grant said that it was customary to find the Buddha you like the most, and then count around the room buddha by buddha and stop when you reach your age.  The buddha you stop on can help tell your fortune or will have some other significant bearing on your future (I'm not exactly sure how though...I missed Mr. Grant's explanation because just at that moment I was chasing Dylan down since he was being a little unruly!!).
Overall the temple was extremely interesting and was actually a "working" temple with many rooms / wings that were off limits to visitors, and only accessible to monks or those true believers studying to become monks.

Ashley (remember her!) has been doing very well adjusting to her new family and our routines here on the trip thus far.  You can see the beginnings of her attachment forming with Mom, and she likes to sit on Mom's Lap and sometimes ride beside her in the van.  She gets in and walks directly to Mom to take her place in the back row of seats!  This is wonderful to see - especially the look in Lisa's eyes as Ashley looks up at her face for clues as to how she should act/react.  She loves the boys dearly as much an a Mom could, but she's always wanted a girl. I am so happy for her that we have been so fortunate to have been blessed with such a beautiful little angel.

We are trying to capture so many photos since this trip only happens once and every moment is so fleeting.  Our decisions on what to post here are so difficult, because we have so many good ones to choose from.  We'll continue to try to select the best of the best for you to enjoy.

(Be sure to check out the new captions on the photos posted this morning.)

I am a little disappointed since I have been unable to post directly to this blog from my iPhone.  I posted twice earlier today, but neither post made it.  I'll try again, but it may not work - so I'll continue to capture our adventures and post in summary when we have the chance.

Had to take a break a moment ago - Ashley woke up crying and seemed upset.  I don't think her tummy was bothering her, but perhaps she just awoke from a bad dream and was uncertain of her surroundings.  This is unusual since she's been sleeping so soundly for us.  AR came down to check her out - all is well now as she has fallen back asleeep.

Wow, look at the time!!
Lisa will be mad that I'm up this late, but I wanted to try to catch everyone up a  little bit.  Still need to hit on the Italian Dinner we had last night, and the Safari Park Tour today. 

We should have some more time tomorrow for words and photos, since we need to be in our room between 10:30 - 11:30 AM - Elvin will be at the US Consulate on our behalf getting Ashley's visa.  Later tomorrow afternoon we'll all go to the Consulate to take the Oath of Citizenship on Ashley's behalf.  This is usually a very important and sometimes emotional event and is very symbolic of Ashley's new start in America with us.  Plus it's a really unique experience when you see the Stars & Stripes waving over the Consulate, since we've been strangers in a strange land for what seems like so long.

Gotta hit the hay - talk to you soon.
C