July 9 – Nanchang
A word about the Gloria Hotel where we are staying. This place is much nicer than our Beijing hotel – the Wangfujing Grand was a bit tired, but this place is in better condition, and the meals and facilities are nicer. We are staying in a suite, with one bedroom, two bathrooms, living area (with couch) and kitchen. Our room overlooks the river that flows by the city.
Michelle told us last night that we need to be ready to go by 8:30am for our day’s paperwork, financial settlement, and gift presentation to the orphanage and officials. No problem we think – the caregivers tell us that Zoe is usually up and going by 7am, and breakfast at the hotel is conveniently included with our room.
Zoe slept the whole night. We thought she might be a midnight feeder (based on her paperwork) but no sign of that last night. I am up by 6:00 and see Karen shortly thereafter. Shower by 7am, and I set out to purchase some water since the kids are still sleeping.
After barging into a closed grocery store at 7:15am, I sheepishly exit (past the crowds of locals waiting for the 7:30am opening) and walk the streets until I can return. Prices are great – I purchase 12 bottles of water for about $1.25 US.
Back at the hotel room – Karen has had to awaken Emma, and Zoe is still sleeping. At this rate, we are going to be late, so we go against our basest instincts and awaken Zoe, dress the poor groggy child, rush to breakfast, and back to the room to change for our meetings today.
Today we finalized our paperwork with the Chinese government. Back to the adoption offices where we had our interview, presented gifts to the agency and officials, and had our official paperwork finalized. After this meeting (and our subsequent visit to the Notary), the Chinese government now says that Zoe is our kid. The agency presented us with a gift of local porcelain, and a good luck jade charm for Zoe.
These meetings take most of the morning, and we returned to the hotel, took a trip to the grocery store for more supplies, and back for a nap and some food in the room. This afternoon we have one final meeting and Michelle has agreed afterward to accompany us to Wal-Mart, of all places.
Wal-Mart is a madhouse. People everywhere, and two floors of product. We purchased some diapers, baby food and some other supplies, and then Michelle graciously agreed to take us to the computer pavilion so that we could get a new part for the laptop. The computer place was an amazing experience and luckily Michelle translated everything so that within 30 minutes and $6 US, we are fixed and able to access the Internet again.
Now our only limitation is that we can post to the blog, but still cannot read it due to government Internet policies preventing that sort of access from within the country.
Zoe has absolutely expressed a preference for Karen. She cannot leave Karen’s side without getting extremely upset – even when Karen puts her in the floor in the hotel room, or when we do a diaper change, or when I give Zoe her bath. Me on the other hand – any time spent in physical contact comes with loud protest (so much so that the room neighbors know us as the people with the loud baby). We’ve heard that often the baby will latch on to one parent over the other and we are seeing this for sure. If I was a first-time parent, this would be brutal, but lucky for me I know that at some point in the future I can win Zoe over. I hope it happens in the next week, otherwise the airplane flight home could be particularly taxing for everyone. We were told that lack of bonding is the leading cause of “disruptions” in the adoption process, where parents back out at some point after meeting the baby. Fortunately for us, we have one extremely strong bond between Zoe and Karen, and I am lucky enough to get some smiles from time to time.
We have dinner at the hotel – Zoe loves Winter Melon Soup with rice, and also eggs. I try a durian fruit dessert and find the taste to be terrible. Emma tries a variety of local options and so far has been a great eater here in China.
A word about the Gloria Hotel where we are staying. This place is much nicer than our Beijing hotel – the Wangfujing Grand was a bit tired, but this place is in better condition, and the meals and facilities are nicer. We are staying in a suite, with one bedroom, two bathrooms, living area (with couch) and kitchen. Our room overlooks the river that flows by the city.
Michelle told us last night that we need to be ready to go by 8:30am for our day’s paperwork, financial settlement, and gift presentation to the orphanage and officials. No problem we think – the caregivers tell us that Zoe is usually up and going by 7am, and breakfast at the hotel is conveniently included with our room.
Zoe slept the whole night. We thought she might be a midnight feeder (based on her paperwork) but no sign of that last night. I am up by 6:00 and see Karen shortly thereafter. Shower by 7am, and I set out to purchase some water since the kids are still sleeping.
After barging into a closed grocery store at 7:15am, I sheepishly exit (past the crowds of locals waiting for the 7:30am opening) and walk the streets until I can return. Prices are great – I purchase 12 bottles of water for about $1.25 US.
Back at the hotel room – Karen has had to awaken Emma, and Zoe is still sleeping. At this rate, we are going to be late, so we go against our basest instincts and awaken Zoe, dress the poor groggy child, rush to breakfast, and back to the room to change for our meetings today.
Today we finalized our paperwork with the Chinese government. Back to the adoption offices where we had our interview, presented gifts to the agency and officials, and had our official paperwork finalized. After this meeting (and our subsequent visit to the Notary), the Chinese government now says that Zoe is our kid. The agency presented us with a gift of local porcelain, and a good luck jade charm for Zoe.
These meetings take most of the morning, and we returned to the hotel, took a trip to the grocery store for more supplies, and back for a nap and some food in the room. This afternoon we have one final meeting and Michelle has agreed afterward to accompany us to Wal-Mart, of all places.
Wal-Mart is a madhouse. People everywhere, and two floors of product. We purchased some diapers, baby food and some other supplies, and then Michelle graciously agreed to take us to the computer pavilion so that we could get a new part for the laptop. The computer place was an amazing experience and luckily Michelle translated everything so that within 30 minutes and $6 US, we are fixed and able to access the Internet again.
Now our only limitation is that we can post to the blog, but still cannot read it due to government Internet policies preventing that sort of access from within the country.
Zoe has absolutely expressed a preference for Karen. She cannot leave Karen’s side without getting extremely upset – even when Karen puts her in the floor in the hotel room, or when we do a diaper change, or when I give Zoe her bath. Me on the other hand – any time spent in physical contact comes with loud protest (so much so that the room neighbors know us as the people with the loud baby). We’ve heard that often the baby will latch on to one parent over the other and we are seeing this for sure. If I was a first-time parent, this would be brutal, but lucky for me I know that at some point in the future I can win Zoe over. I hope it happens in the next week, otherwise the airplane flight home could be particularly taxing for everyone. We were told that lack of bonding is the leading cause of “disruptions” in the adoption process, where parents back out at some point after meeting the baby. Fortunately for us, we have one extremely strong bond between Zoe and Karen, and I am lucky enough to get some smiles from time to time.
We have dinner at the hotel – Zoe loves Winter Melon Soup with rice, and also eggs. I try a durian fruit dessert and find the taste to be terrible. Emma tries a variety of local options and so far has been a great eater here in China.
Bed by 8:30 – Zoe falls asleep with Karen by her side, then we transfer her to her crib for the night.
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