Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Post #4 From China

Please note:  I'm putting up two posts at once, so don't forget to scroll down and read all about day 3 as well!  Oh, and I just noticed that Sheri Lee posted two videos!  Yay!  Scroll down to see those as well!


Day 4

Snow Storm
Yep that’s right a snowstorm in a part of the country that is supposed to be about 17 degrees this time of year.  Now of all the things we would like to have from home, snow is not one of them.  The day started off with freezing rain and quickly turned to snow with winds at about 50 km and in Nanchung, nothing clears the roads like a good old fashion snowstorm. I’d like to say the lack of traffic  made us feel safer on the roads, unfortunately snow in these parts is not a common occurrence so the traveling was tricky but we got back and forth safe and sound.

The Tang Temple (I’m pretty sure they think I’m crazy!”)
Our one excursion today was the Tang Temple, a temple that was originally constructed around 650 BC, yep, pretty much the oldest building I’ve ever been in. The tour was pretty good, dampened by the weather, but still pretty amazing. We have lots of pic’s  and video, which we will have to show when we get home.

As per the first paragraph, the weather is not what we expected, not even close. We were expecting temps around 17, not snow for this part of our excursion. This new winter wonderland, combined with our expectations and the fact that we had to pack for 2 locations (1/2 our clothes, the warm ones, are still in Beijing) our preparation in not exactly in tune with our surroundings. Thus our trip to the Tang Temple was not exactly a warm weather journey…to say the least. In order to keep K and Tya warm my jacket had to be sacrificed which left me in short sleeves. Now as “Hearty Canadians” we have all at some time or another worn a short sleeve shirt in 0 degree snowier weather. Well the Chinese, or specifically the people in Nanchung, not so much!! Our guide Mary was greatly concerned with my lack of winter attire and was constantly shuffling me to every warm room within the temple as quickly as possible. Everyone would point, laugh and make some comment in Chinese. One elderly man on our way out looked at me and I’m pretty sure he said “dumb a@#” in Chinese.

Kennah’s a Hit
We have had inquires about how K and Savvy are doing, well both girls are great, adjusting well to the weather (not much needed there) the food, the new addition and the people. Savvy has been great and has fit in great helping all of the other parents with this that and whatever. Her maturity and helpfulness has impressed everyone and we get continuous comments on what a great young woman she is. How is Kennah doing in one of the world’s oldest civilizations? Well she of course shines and is a hit with the Chinese People. They think she is “so pretty” and has “beautiful blue eyes”. Everywhere we go people are drawn to her and while shy at first, she becomes herself and breaks into singing and dancing, which means she is being herself.    

Getting Comfortable
As for Tya, well she seems to be getting more comfortable by the minute. It’s not that she has ever seemed uncomfortable, but today she seems fully relaxed, with 4 poops in little under 12 hours (no signs of tension there)!! While I have been writing this my 4 beautiful ladies have been on the bed and Tya has been giggling the whole time. She has been much more playful today and yesterday began to snuggle, something that everyone loves. Her personality is starting to rapidly emerge with her laugh, raised eye-brows and kicking foot (a sign of either hurry-up with the bottle, I gotta burp, or I wanna go). She crosses her fingers a lot which is either a sign she is hoping someone will come rescue her or she is hoping she gets to stay with these 3 Mohawks and the Irish chick, we think she wants to stay. She has one cute little dimple on her right cheek and a smile that will make you smile.

All of the babies in our group are cute, each with their own unique personality. As a father of two amazing girls I cannot understand how anyone could abandon such wonderful little creatures simply because they are girls. With that said it is unfair to be judgmental as the cultural and socio-economics are different and the reality is the mothers take such actions in the hopes that their children will find a loving family and be given a quality of life they could not. As hard as it is to imagine taking such an action, it is in many ways the ultimate sacrifice a parent can make and their sacrifice has given us an unbelievable gift.

The rest of the day has been fairly relaxed, a welcome change since we arrived. Jen and K spent 2 hours in the pool, some much needed Kennah and mommy time as K has been in need of some focused attention from her mom since we arrived. Such a busy day but Kennah managed to stay up until 7 tonight, but did not make it too 7:01. The day was capped off with a late supper, more play, and hopefully another full night’s sleep.

Trust everything and everyone are well and we miss you all.

  XO by 5


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Positively thrilled for you Jen and your entire family! Tya was made to be in your arms!! Safe travels! xo Jill Richard

Mitchell McKenna said...

I loved the videos! Not surprised Kennah's a hit, she's a hit back home as well after all ;) Great to hear Tya is getting playful already, amazing she's sleeping as well as she is. Enjoyed the story of shopping (seems strange that walmart is so big) and food.

Deb said...

I just got all caught up. Sounds like everything it going well! LOVE the videos! Your description has me nodding my head with a smile on my face remembering exactly what your going threw.
One thing I remember when we were there was that so many people looked at us then her and couldn't figure out what was going on. One of the ladies in our group said to say "Neen Ya" to them and that means you adopted. We did this and got a lot of head nods, smiles and thumbs up.
Can't wait to hear more!!!