"Eeeeev-a!"
Ok, what the heck? This was NingNing's word today! I've been waiting for 9 days for anything, like "Mom", "James", "hello", "goodbye", etc. and it's "Eva". So we were waiting for our guide to bring his visa and Wall-E came on. Apparently NingNing has never seen this before and thought it quite hilarious. When Wall-E and Eva introduce each other and say each other's names, all of a sudden, NingNing says "Eeeev-a". James and I wanted to crack up, but we didn't want him to think we were laughing at him, so we just grinned at each other. Oh well, at least it's English!
Last day in Guangzhou and in three trips, I never realized that beyond Lucy's there's a little walkway right next to the river and even another restaurant! The boys went to play badminton again while I ventured back to take pictures of the river scene. Yesterday I also got stopped by the police; they asked to see my passport and wrote down my information. I kept the boys away from that area as we didn't have NIngNIng's passport back yet; not taking any chances.
Had smoked duck's breast at Lucy's (yum) and the boys went to play pool again. Our guide showed up at 830 saying our travel agency, SSIT was demanding the rest of their money NOW and would not let us leave Guangzhou until we did. To anyone whose agency uses SSIT, beware; this would have been a perfect trip except for certain things they did and didn't do. It's a long story that didn't end in Chengdu like I'd hoped but I won't waste my blogging on them.
Thankfully, they are not involved at all in our Beijing days, so here's hoping for a happy ending!
Consider stepping "outside the box" and adopt a child...it will not only change that child's life, but yours as well.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Too many days in Guangzhou
Six/seven days is officially too long in Guangzhou. Nothing much to do when you have kids who hate to shop, couldn't care less about the architecture, and just want to sit in the hotel room and zone out. And let's face it, unless you want to spend money in the millions of stores there are around here, there really isn't much you can do once you've seen the typical sights.
Yesterday we met up with the Gerbers again and a couple other families, one also with a 13-year old boy who has quite a history. I find it interesting that the Chinese kids will not speak to each other from different families. Don't know if that's just their way not to talk to people they don't know, or what.
We rode back to the China hotel with them on their bus, and went to MacDonald's for supper, then hopped a taxi back to our hotel. I'm sure there was one closer to us, but it gave me an opportunity to talk with other families. I crave that adult interaction, as my two boys would prefer we sit in the room all day and do nothing but watch TV. I thought NingNing would be interested in being in a different city that he's never been in, and I thought James would be more interested in China in general. But where we are is so modern, and crowded, and urban, it's been "underwhelming". If I could just get the boys out to the countryside, where people scrabble for a meager living, then it might make an impression, but then again, maybe not. I think it is very hard to impress today's teenagers at all, no matter where you are, and have them appreciate what they have.
We did go out and buy badminton rackets though, and played for about an hour on the courtyard behind our hotel. Try playing badminton in 100% humidity; you will lose at least 2 lbs of water instantly!
Last night, we had a conversation on Google Translate. NingNing typed that James was bullying him, YET when they settled down from their daily evening wrestling fest, NINGNING started things up again by whacking James with a pillow! So he is NOT a total innocent in the byplay! Not only that, but he still sticks to him like glue whenever we're out.
Our conversation went on and I explained about school, that it would be schooltime when we got home (not sure what he expected; I think later because they don't start back here until Sept. 1). He was slightly taken aback by that. I went on to describe the school day and that the school was hiring someone to help him out. He considers himself very stupid and told the guide this; how very sad. His teachers here must have really done a number on him, because he doesn't consider himself smart at all and doesn't think he can learn English. He can repeat things just fine, but will not spontaneously use English still, even to express a need. I have to ask him if he's hungry or thirsty or tired, etc., or just doing ok. I never thought I'd say that having a completely compliant, non-needy child was a little frustrating, but it is, simply because you don't know what they want or need, and have to guess all the time.
I feel like there's something I should be doing different so that he will feel better about trying English, but don't know what.
This morning we had our Consulate appointment, so that's the final step. All that is left is for our guide to pick up NingNing's visa tomorrow, so he can leave the country. Not only do you need a visa to enter China, you have to have one to leave as well. We were in and out pretty quick; they asked NingNing one question, if he still wanted to go to America, and he said yes, so that's good :).
Then we went to the Electronics market. This is a huge area where, you guessed it, they sell every kind of electronic item imaginable, Ipads, Ipods, Iphones, video games, DVDs, etc. I went looking for a little movie shop we went to last time where we bought 92 DVDs. Found it, and this time I was conservative, and bought only 29. They were 8RMB apiece, or about $1.75. Some of the movies are not even out of US theatres yet. Then James found some XBOX 360 games for 5RMB, or .90 apiece. The really weird thing is, though, that the Ipads and Ipods are MORE expensive than in America or on Ebay!
By this time, NingNing was making it somewhat apparent that he doesn't like to shop AT ALL! Nothing major, just facial expressions, yawning, and sighing. James is more vocal about it unless of course he's finding something he's interested in. On our way out, we lucked into a counter that was selling translators. The one I've been looking at on Amazon was $130. This one was $50, so we had NingNing try it out (he did so reluctantly). The guide explained it was for school and he typed in "do not go for a stroll". Ok, point taken.
Back to the hotel room for another rousing afternoon of electronic stimulation. Later, however, I'm dragging them out and walking to the pedestrian street for dinner at the Guangzhou Restaurant; want to eat there at least once.
Probably won't blog until Friday night when we're in Beijing. I don't anticipate any major outings tomorrow and we have to be in bed very early for the flight on Friday. Will be very glad to get there, do our whirlwind sightseeing and then start home.
Yesterday we met up with the Gerbers again and a couple other families, one also with a 13-year old boy who has quite a history. I find it interesting that the Chinese kids will not speak to each other from different families. Don't know if that's just their way not to talk to people they don't know, or what.
We rode back to the China hotel with them on their bus, and went to MacDonald's for supper, then hopped a taxi back to our hotel. I'm sure there was one closer to us, but it gave me an opportunity to talk with other families. I crave that adult interaction, as my two boys would prefer we sit in the room all day and do nothing but watch TV. I thought NingNing would be interested in being in a different city that he's never been in, and I thought James would be more interested in China in general. But where we are is so modern, and crowded, and urban, it's been "underwhelming". If I could just get the boys out to the countryside, where people scrabble for a meager living, then it might make an impression, but then again, maybe not. I think it is very hard to impress today's teenagers at all, no matter where you are, and have them appreciate what they have.
Last night, we had a conversation on Google Translate. NingNing typed that James was bullying him, YET when they settled down from their daily evening wrestling fest, NINGNING started things up again by whacking James with a pillow! So he is NOT a total innocent in the byplay! Not only that, but he still sticks to him like glue whenever we're out.
Our conversation went on and I explained about school, that it would be schooltime when we got home (not sure what he expected; I think later because they don't start back here until Sept. 1). He was slightly taken aback by that. I went on to describe the school day and that the school was hiring someone to help him out. He considers himself very stupid and told the guide this; how very sad. His teachers here must have really done a number on him, because he doesn't consider himself smart at all and doesn't think he can learn English. He can repeat things just fine, but will not spontaneously use English still, even to express a need. I have to ask him if he's hungry or thirsty or tired, etc., or just doing ok. I never thought I'd say that having a completely compliant, non-needy child was a little frustrating, but it is, simply because you don't know what they want or need, and have to guess all the time.
I feel like there's something I should be doing different so that he will feel better about trying English, but don't know what.
This morning we had our Consulate appointment, so that's the final step. All that is left is for our guide to pick up NingNing's visa tomorrow, so he can leave the country. Not only do you need a visa to enter China, you have to have one to leave as well. We were in and out pretty quick; they asked NingNing one question, if he still wanted to go to America, and he said yes, so that's good :).
Then we went to the Electronics market. This is a huge area where, you guessed it, they sell every kind of electronic item imaginable, Ipads, Ipods, Iphones, video games, DVDs, etc. I went looking for a little movie shop we went to last time where we bought 92 DVDs. Found it, and this time I was conservative, and bought only 29. They were 8RMB apiece, or about $1.75. Some of the movies are not even out of US theatres yet. Then James found some XBOX 360 games for 5RMB, or .90 apiece. The really weird thing is, though, that the Ipads and Ipods are MORE expensive than in America or on Ebay!
By this time, NingNing was making it somewhat apparent that he doesn't like to shop AT ALL! Nothing major, just facial expressions, yawning, and sighing. James is more vocal about it unless of course he's finding something he's interested in. On our way out, we lucked into a counter that was selling translators. The one I've been looking at on Amazon was $130. This one was $50, so we had NingNing try it out (he did so reluctantly). The guide explained it was for school and he typed in "do not go for a stroll". Ok, point taken.
Back to the hotel room for another rousing afternoon of electronic stimulation. Later, however, I'm dragging them out and walking to the pedestrian street for dinner at the Guangzhou Restaurant; want to eat there at least once.
Probably won't blog until Friday night when we're in Beijing. I don't anticipate any major outings tomorrow and we have to be in bed very early for the flight on Friday. Will be very glad to get there, do our whirlwind sightseeing and then start home.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Sightseeing.........
Sunday we went to the Chen Family Temple and a park to see the Five Goats statue. While I thought it was at least interesting, the boys were completely bored! However, I thought it was cool because there were elderly people in the park ballroom dancing and doing hackysacks! My two strapping, healthy, strong young boys refused to hackysack,though i bought them each one. They were totally chicken about looking bad in front of the older people! Later that day, we met up with the Gerbers and hit the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street. It's a huge street just full of shops, more things for sale than you can imagine and probably more people in this one area than all of Kansas City!
When we got back to the room, Trish wanted to go in some of the shops on the island, but the kids didn't. So we left them all in our hotel room with James in charge and got some browsing in.
We're finding out that NingNing is not used to a lot of activity, so all our walking and doing things kind of wears him out, but what else am I going to do with two teenage boys? No way I'm going to let them stay on their electronics all day; we usually come back in the early afternoon to rest at which point James will do Facebook and NingNing jumps on QQ, then later we head to dinner (Lucy's), look in a few shops (ok, purchase a few more gifts for people back home), then back to the room.
I found an app on our Ipod and we started English lessons Sunday evening...basic words as well as 1, 2, 3, etc. NingNing is very quick and said almost every word perfectly.
Monday (today), we met up with the Gerbers, got the TB test read (negative), and went off to the Safari Park. We rode the tram through and then walked the rest of it. The boys were dragging until we got in the van, then they and YanPing started horsing around. Finally, they calmed down and NingNing fell asleep. Did our afternoon rest, then went to Lucy's again. I got to thinking, Lucy's charges 18RMB for a Coke. You don't think about it when you're handing out notes, but that's $3 USD! Prices are NOT what they used to be here and it is getting expensive to keep two growing boys fed. Tomorrow we are going to try and find a WalMart so I can get a few snacks to have in the room and quit going to the darn 7-Eleven. P.S. When we went to Lucy's, NingNing chose a double-cheeseburger with fries! He ate everything but the bun, tomato, and lettuce (went just for the meat); but hey, at least he's trying American food already!
When we got in the room after dinner, I announced "English!" and NingNing crawled under the covers and hid, lol. Tonight through another app, we worked on the alphabet. It says the letter then has the person draw it with their finger. Each time he was done with one, I had him go back and say all the letters before up to that one. When he finished Z, he went back on his own and said every letter perfectly. Sooo...either he's incredibly smart and memorized them that quickly or this boy knows the English alphabet when he said he didn't.
Our guide told us this morning that Ningning said he didn't do well in school because he started having some issues in 4th grade, especially with math. Because there were brighter and harder-working students in the class, he said he was ignored by the teacher and not encouraged at all; he said they just let him be. It will certainly be a different story now and we'll make sure he gets lot of encouragement and support from us and his new school.
James and NingNing have completely broken down the "newness" barrier and have commenced tussling at various times. NingNing actually had James pinned down on the bed, when James flipped him completely over and pinned him. Since this "brother" thing is still new to me, I just try to referee and make sure no one gets hurt. NingNing also gave James a "fan" lesson. A shop guy gave James a fan as a gift, and there's a knack for flicking it open. He showed James numerous times and then he got it; so now he's an expert "fan-flipper" like NingNing:).
Till the next time........................
When we got back to the room, Trish wanted to go in some of the shops on the island, but the kids didn't. So we left them all in our hotel room with James in charge and got some browsing in.
We're finding out that NingNing is not used to a lot of activity, so all our walking and doing things kind of wears him out, but what else am I going to do with two teenage boys? No way I'm going to let them stay on their electronics all day; we usually come back in the early afternoon to rest at which point James will do Facebook and NingNing jumps on QQ, then later we head to dinner (Lucy's), look in a few shops (ok, purchase a few more gifts for people back home), then back to the room.
I found an app on our Ipod and we started English lessons Sunday evening...basic words as well as 1, 2, 3, etc. NingNing is very quick and said almost every word perfectly.
Monday (today), we met up with the Gerbers, got the TB test read (negative), and went off to the Safari Park. We rode the tram through and then walked the rest of it. The boys were dragging until we got in the van, then they and YanPing started horsing around. Finally, they calmed down and NingNing fell asleep. Did our afternoon rest, then went to Lucy's again. I got to thinking, Lucy's charges 18RMB for a Coke. You don't think about it when you're handing out notes, but that's $3 USD! Prices are NOT what they used to be here and it is getting expensive to keep two growing boys fed. Tomorrow we are going to try and find a WalMart so I can get a few snacks to have in the room and quit going to the darn 7-Eleven. P.S. When we went to Lucy's, NingNing chose a double-cheeseburger with fries! He ate everything but the bun, tomato, and lettuce (went just for the meat); but hey, at least he's trying American food already!
 |
| As American as Apple Pie! |
 |
| Chen Family Temple |
 |
| Family Pic in front of Goat statue |
 |
| Shangxiujiu Pedestrian Street |
Our guide told us this morning that Ningning said he didn't do well in school because he started having some issues in 4th grade, especially with math. Because there were brighter and harder-working students in the class, he said he was ignored by the teacher and not encouraged at all; he said they just let him be. It will certainly be a different story now and we'll make sure he gets lot of encouragement and support from us and his new school.
 |
| Didn't move fast enough to avoid the camera! |
 |
| Chen Family Temple |
 |
| Panda on "Ice" |
James and NingNing have completely broken down the "newness" barrier and have commenced tussling at various times. NingNing actually had James pinned down on the bed, when James flipped him completely over and pinned him. Since this "brother" thing is still new to me, I just try to referee and make sure no one gets hurt. NingNing also gave James a "fan" lesson. A shop guy gave James a fan as a gift, and there's a knack for flicking it open. He showed James numerous times and then he got it; so now he's an expert "fan-flipper" like NingNing:).
Till the next time........................
Saturday, August 11, 2012
More pics
 |
| The start of the Chinese Twin Towers - 100 stories tall - the second one is under construction |
Guangzhou pictures
 |
| Lost in thought on the way to the medical appointment. |
 |
| The Canton TV tower; apparently there is even a Ferris wheel around the rim; NOT doing that! I like this picture; he smiles and laughs frequently (mostly at us), but will only tolerate so much picture taking. |
 |
| An example of Guangzhou growth; Elsie our guide said everything around this area is new within the last 5 years. She said the buildings keep getting taller as there's no more ground! One building is 100 stories tall and they are building a twin; their own "Twin Towers". |
 |
| Yay! He decided to go swimming! After some hesitation, he jumped right in and swam like a fish! |
 |
| OUCH! |
 |
| Shamian Island is a favorite spot for models; they were everywhere. Our guide said 4,000 people make Shamian Island their home; while the other 13.5 million are in the main city of Guangzhou. |
Guangzhou!
We got to Guangzhou Friday, the 10th, two hours later than we were supposed to due to sitting on the plane for two hours before takeoff. My biggest regret about leaving Chengdu is I didn't get the opportunity to get any province-specific souveniers/momentos for NingNing. Neither guide ever took me anywhere to shop. Our "good" guide, Ray, did finally, the last evening, take us to a very nice quaint shopping street, but wouldn't stop walking long enough for me to shop! There were so many people I kept checking to make sure the boys were with me.
Today we had NingNing's medical appointment. He was not happy about it, but didn't put up a fuss or anything. However, when they got him in and pulled out the needles, all of a sudden, he sat straight up and said "Wahhhh, Wahhhhh!". This is what he says when something impresses, surprises, or freaks him out. He toughed it out though and the TB bump is looking ok. The doctor kept coming out and ordering him to sit up straight; too funny! I had asked our guide to let NingNIng know he could eat as much as he wants wherever we go because he usually eats only one plate at breakfast and refuses to get more. I thought maybe he thought he wasn't allowed or something. She told me he said he wasn't used to eating breakfast as he usually didn't eat until lunchtime??!! No wonder he only weighs 98 pounds at about 5'7"! Turn him sideways and he almost disappears!
Communication is coming along thanks to Jibbigo and our translation app on the tablet. I've learned a few key phrases and tonight he finally started trying to help us learn how to say the Chinese words the right way. He seems to have an accent that makes it hard for him to understand us unless we say it exactly like he's heard it, so we're trying! He laughs at us which is ok :). We really try to encourage him whenever he says any English word (thumbs up, "Ok!", Hao (good)). At least he is willing to try a few words more now.
Went to dinner with the Gerbers (not the Horns-I had the wrong last name!) and Yan Ping, NingNing's foster sister. She's still enamored with him and now they've established kind of a brother/sister teasing thing while NingNing just looks on laughing and kind of shaking his head. Can't tell for sure, but don't think he and YanPing got along very well. He's so easygoing and she kind of takes charge, so I can see that.
Earlier in the day, James took NingNing up to the pool. At first, he said he'd never been swimming, then after a bit, when I asked him "you like to try?" he finally relented and stripped down right there at the pool to put on the trunks I brought (while I turned my back). THEN he cannonballs into the pool and starts swimming like a fish! He was holding out on us, which makes me wonder if he's doing the same thing with the English. That will remain to be seen; when he's in America and English is all he hears, it may be a different story.
More paperwork tomorrow, then off to my favorite place, the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street. James is looking forward to the plentiful camera opportunities of pretty girls!
Today we had NingNing's medical appointment. He was not happy about it, but didn't put up a fuss or anything. However, when they got him in and pulled out the needles, all of a sudden, he sat straight up and said "Wahhhh, Wahhhhh!". This is what he says when something impresses, surprises, or freaks him out. He toughed it out though and the TB bump is looking ok. The doctor kept coming out and ordering him to sit up straight; too funny! I had asked our guide to let NingNIng know he could eat as much as he wants wherever we go because he usually eats only one plate at breakfast and refuses to get more. I thought maybe he thought he wasn't allowed or something. She told me he said he wasn't used to eating breakfast as he usually didn't eat until lunchtime??!! No wonder he only weighs 98 pounds at about 5'7"! Turn him sideways and he almost disappears!
Communication is coming along thanks to Jibbigo and our translation app on the tablet. I've learned a few key phrases and tonight he finally started trying to help us learn how to say the Chinese words the right way. He seems to have an accent that makes it hard for him to understand us unless we say it exactly like he's heard it, so we're trying! He laughs at us which is ok :). We really try to encourage him whenever he says any English word (thumbs up, "Ok!", Hao (good)). At least he is willing to try a few words more now.
Went to dinner with the Gerbers (not the Horns-I had the wrong last name!) and Yan Ping, NingNing's foster sister. She's still enamored with him and now they've established kind of a brother/sister teasing thing while NingNing just looks on laughing and kind of shaking his head. Can't tell for sure, but don't think he and YanPing got along very well. He's so easygoing and she kind of takes charge, so I can see that.
Earlier in the day, James took NingNing up to the pool. At first, he said he'd never been swimming, then after a bit, when I asked him "you like to try?" he finally relented and stripped down right there at the pool to put on the trunks I brought (while I turned my back). THEN he cannonballs into the pool and starts swimming like a fish! He was holding out on us, which makes me wonder if he's doing the same thing with the English. That will remain to be seen; when he's in America and English is all he hears, it may be a different story.
More paperwork tomorrow, then off to my favorite place, the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street. James is looking forward to the plentiful camera opportunities of pretty girls!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Pictures!
First time getting to be affectionate with NingNing
Ear cleaning - a custom in China
than James for a minute!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)