KEITH AND HIS FOOD
STEPHEN LOOKIN COOL
FAMILY PICTURE WITH OUR GUIDE MICHELE. SHE HAS BEEN SO GOOD TO US.
ALL THE BABIES IN OUR GROUP WITH THE OLDER SIBLINGS
ALL EIGHT BABIES IN OUR GROUP. SOME WERE NOT VERY WILLING. THEY ARE ONE.
Monday, June 11, 2007
VERY COOL PICTURES
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Adjustment Period
Adjustment Period is here !!!,
This update was started 2 days ago, and you can see the change in my paragraphs.
Samantha is not happy with life these days. We are starting to see her personality and she is a little live wire. She defiantly wants what she wants. She is sitting in the crib screaming. Dianna has also said that No will be happening soon. Samantha does have anything to do with me. I keep trying to bribe her, but it is not working out at all. I just bought ice cream, still did not work. One of our traveling moms bribed her with ice cream and she went right to her. It did not work for me.
The neatest thing is smile on her face when she sees Dianna and when Dianna picks her up. Samantha is starting to chat more and more. She is not the most active child, but she seems to like to take things out and put them back. It would be finally wonderful to have a child that will put stuff away. Dianna is hoping that the rest of us do not rub off on her.
She has warmed up to Rebecca more then me. When she is not tired she will go to Rebecca, but she does not really play with Rebecca. We think that will change as time goes on.
Chris
The buisness of China
For the business person.
I have been reading the China Business daily every morning. It is the national paper of China and they print an English version. The interesting part is that they are starting to have the same issues in China that face us in America. In the last 3 papers they have discussed drug bust, over weight children, and suicide. The social issues are growing as prosperity comes to the masses. It does show that free market system does work and is working over here for financial good.
It is a unique system in which the government still owns a large portion of the companies, but they allow free market as well. Someone used the term hybrid approach to communism.
The have many private business owners and they are getting wealthy. The banks are all starting service for the wealthy when the account balances reach 5 million Yuan, which is 1.2 million US dollars. There is also a new upscale private jet airline that is over booked. Cars are everywhere, but are very expensive. We were riding around in a Mitsubishi SUV. In the states I would think it would cost around 40,000.00 and in China it is 80,000 American dollars.
Another article I read was the theft of electrical wire from buildings. They are having the same issue with money being paid for scrap copper as we are in America. They are trying to increase the penalties for the crime.
The one major difference is that there are stories everyday of someone being removed from a leader ship position for not doing something the communist way, or using money in a wrong way. There is not share holders meeting, the government just demotes them.
I guess enough of the boring stuff.
Chris
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Sites of China
The Sites of China
Most of us have read books and stories about the Far East. It really is a different culture. We visited an acting Buddhist temple yesterday. There were people praying to different Buddhist God’s yesterday. I felt like I was visiting all the God’s that are written about in the bible. Rebecca was asking a lot of questions and it was nice to be able to discuss her God compared to Buddha.
The really interesting part of temple was the age of the building. I was built between 1100 and 1440 AD. The building was a functioning building. The architecture was very smart in that no wood touched the dirt. It was all up on concrete or stone. The other thing that was amazing was how square everything is. My last house was not as square as that one.
We visited a museum yesterday as well. It was a side trip that a friend of ours set up. We went to the center of Changsha yesterday. It was one of the few places that were not burned in 1943 invasion by Japan. The Chinese burnt it to slow down the movement of the Japanese’s.
It was beautiful and the plants were similar to the ones that we have in Florida. There were retires all around playing cards and the Chinese domino game. It was cloudy and so tranquil in the park.
The next stop was the Chinese Museum of the tombs that were unearthed. It was created over 2000 years ago. There was a body that was preserved that still had soft flesh under the skin. In addition the organs were still intact. The women had a heart attack from eating too much of a fruit. This was based on the fact that she had 138 seeds of the fruit in her system.
The relics from the tomb were just amazing. They had a body suit made of jade and sewed together with gold thread. They also had a national treasure piece that was 2500 years old that was perfectly symmetrical with for rams head. It was made of Bronze and was intricately carved.
Later a story about local business for all of the business people visiting our blog.
Chris
I want my money back !!!
I want my Money Back !!
Sammy and Dianna are really bonding. She has Sammy kissing her and smiling when she walks in the room. She rarely cries and seems very content, until the boys or I get near. The other night she woke up coughing and uncomfortable, and I figured out that she had a dirty diaper. I changed the diaper in the dark as not to wake anyone up. I was able to pick her up out of the crib and change her diaper, but once I had her cleaned up and tried to pick her up she started crying and squirming. I put her back in the crib and she quieted down and went to sleep. Dianna never woke up. The next morning I was telling Dianna what was going on and she said she remembered something, likely story.
If I have to change dirty diapers I should at least get a little loving, but have come to realize there is no 30 day return policy with Samantha.
Chris
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
PICTURES
KEITH AND OUR FAVORITE WAITRESS SARA. SHE SPEAKS ENOUGH ENGLISH FOR US TO EAT WHAT WE WANT. SHE IS VERY COOL.
STEPHEN LOVES THE STOP LIGHTS! THEY HAVE TIMERS ON THEM
JUST THE GIRLS
MOMMY AND REBECCA MADE HER LAUGH OUT LOUD TODAY, IT WAS
MOMMY AND BABY. SHE STILL WON'T GO TO THE MEN IN HER LIFE BUT WE CAN SEE A BIG CHANGE IN HER. SHE REALLY SEEMS HAPPIER.
CHRIS'S FAVORITE PLACE! HE CAN'T EVEN SPEAK THE LANGUAGE AND HE IS STILL LOOKING FOR A DEAL
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Quite Day
Quite Day
The last 2 days have been quite and uneventful. Dianna, Rebecca, and Samantha are bonding. Not sure if you noticed or not, but there is not a mention of any men in her life. Samantha wants noting to do with the 3 men in her life. She turns her head away from us if we try to hold her or to even give her food ( see picture of Keith).
We all are enjoying China; The town of Changsha is the capital of Hunan ( a state). Is has a population of 5.1 million people. It is very different then Beijing, which has 27 or 37 million people. I enjoy walking around the cities as they come alive in the morning. I am having problem sleeping past 4:00 am. I think the smells of the city are very unique. There are not as many road side vendors in Changsha as there were in Beijing, but a lot more small shops every where, blocks and blocks of them. I do not know how they stay in business. There are literally thousands of them.
I have to say that Samantha is the quietist baby of all of them. She is very easy going child. She is really smiling more and more, as long as I stay a distance away from her. I tried to feed her this morning and she was having nothing to do with that. When we sat her back over with Dianna she started smiling and you could see the change in her face and she is becoming very close with Mom. There are several other men in our group that are experiencing the same thing.
The personalities of all the babies are coming through in the past 24 hours. Each child is definitely different. One child is already calling her Mom, Mom but her 3 year old is not happy at all. We will probably see that family back in Orlando which is where they live. It is a very neat group of eight families, all from different parts of the country that have a common thread together.
\
The hardest part for me is the sleep pattern. I am dead by 8:30 and up by 4:00. There is nothing to do in the early mornings around here except walk around the city. There is no one that speaks English around the city. So it is hard to venture too far, but there is so much to see and do.
Have to run, more later
Chris
CHINESE TOILETS
YES LADIES THIS IS WHAT THEY EXPECT US TO USE. JUST PLAIN CRAZY! REBECCA WILL NOT USE THEM NOT MATTER HOW BAD SHE HAS TO GO.
Monday, June 4, 2007
SOME PHOTOS MORE TO COME
AFTER SEEING THE WAY PEOPLE DRIVE HERE I WILL NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT THE DRIVING IN THE US AGAIN
I LOVE THIS PICTURE. EVERY TIME WE WALK DOWN THE STREET THEY WANT TO SELL STEPHEN SOMETHING. WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF HER LOOKS LIKE THE MONEY IN THE GROUP OR THE SUCKER. HE REALLY HAS FUN WITH IT THOUGH, HE THINKS ITS FUNNY.
THE KIDS AT THE FORBIDDEN CITY. WHAT AN AMAZING PLACE.
THIS IS OUR GUIDE MICHELLE. SHE IS A GOD SEND WITH OUT HER LIFE WOULD NOT BE THIS EASY. SHE PICKED US UP AT THE AIRPORT AND WILL BE WITH US UNTILL WE COME HOME. SHE IS VERY UNSURE OF CHRIS BUT MOST PEOPLE ARE (GOTTA LOVE HIM THOUGH).
THE CHINESE PEOPLE LOVE BLONDES AND THEY ALL WANT THERE PICTURE TAKEN WITH REBECCA. THIS LITTLE BOY WAS VERY SHY BUT HIS MOTHER MADE HIM POSE FOR THE THE PICTURE AND SHE KEPT SAYING VERY PRETTY. REBECCA IS REAL HEAD TURNER IN CHINA
US AT THE GREAT WALL AND IT REALLY IS GREAT. STEPHEN AND KEITH CLIMBED ALL THE WALL TO THE TOP. THEY SAY IF YOU CLIMB TO THE TOP YOU ARE CONSIDERED A HERO. NOTHING REALLY NEW FOR STEPHEN AND KEITH THEY WERE ALREADY HERO'S. REBECCA MADE IT ABOUT HALF WAY PRETTY GOOD FOR A SEVEN YEAR OLD I THOUGHT.
EVEN IN CHINA THE LITTLE ONES LOVE REBECCA. KELLY AND REBECCA ARE BOTH GETTING LITTLE SISTERS. KELLY' FAMILY IS IN OUR GROUP AND HAVE BEEN COME FRIENDS
SUCH AND ANGEL, SHE WENT TO BED AT 8 PM WITH NO TROUBLE AND SLEPT UNTILL ALMOST 7 AM. LIFE WITH SAMANTHA HAS BEEN A BREEZE SO FAR. I KNOW WE ARE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET BUT WE SURE HAVE HAD A GREAT START.
THE GIRLS ARE LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH A GREAT BIG BROTHER
SAMMY'S FIRST BATH OF COURSE
IT WAS WITH HER BIG SISTER
DADDY FINALY GOT TO HOLD HIS NEW DAUGHTER- SHE IS REALLY NOT TO CRAZY ABOUT MEN.
OUR BIG TRIP TO CHINESE WALMART
REBECCA HAS ADJUSTED WELL TO THE TIME CHANGE
She's ours
Official
We are the proud parents of a child named Samantha Marie McCall. We just got back from the adoption agency and Samantha is ours. We have seen the official adoption papers. The only official part of the trip left is getting her passport and visa.
Chris
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Samantha Pickup
We boarded the bus, You can tell Dianna is getting more emotional. The weeks and months of waiting are finally coming to an end. We are getting breakfast at the Buffet and I tell Dianna that this might be the last quite meal in a long time.
All the mothers in out group are getting excited, you can see the tears in some of their eyes. We get to the Chinese Adoption Agency, It is a older building, kind of what you would expect. We all board a elevator and go to the 3rd floor. We go into a room with wooden couches, and wait for out babies.
The first baby comes through and Rebecca recognizes the blanket. Dianna and I missed it. The babies walk through our room into another room and you can see all the moms on the edge of their seats in anticipation of getting their baby.
They call each family one at a time. The babies are crying as they are handed over to the moms. They call our name and Dianna gets up with tears in her eyes to walk over to get Samantha. Keith is taking videos and Stephen is taking the camera pictures. You can see from the pictures the amazement in Dianna’s face. It is like she just had a baby. I can only imagine what she was like the moment Rebecca was born.
Samantha cries as she is handed to us. Rebecca has the solution, she gives her some oyster type crackers and she immediately stops crying. It has been several hours and she has not cried since.
I do not know if I have ever seen so much joy in one room. Most of the parents have children so this is a wonderful addition, but it is especially exciting for the 2 families that do not have children.
The Broken Glass
Might be funnier then the Peking duck story. We went to the local restaurant in the hotel yesterday for lunch. It was a more western style Chinese food. Still very different then we are used to. The 2nd story restaurant is more authentic, so that will be out next stop. I will have a blog update regarding the food. Everyone knows that the McCall's are about the food. Well onto the Broken Glass story.
We were sitting at the table eating lunch and Rebecca was trying to give her brother her Hamburger (more about that later). When knocked over a glass of sprite, wetting Keith. The funny part is that the glass rolled off of the table and hit the cushion. Keith and Rebecca tried to catch the glass as it rolled off the table and hit the cast iron base, and of course it cracked and broke. Well Rebecca’s face immediately turned red and she started crying. She was begging not to go to Jail. And crying that it was a accident and that she was sorry. We have not seen her that upset for a very long time. She thought she was going to Jail. She was so upset she came over to me and would not leave my side. When the waitress came she clutched my arm very hard. Of course her mother is on the other side of the table in laughing hysterically. I have not seen Dianna laugh that hard in a long time, the pee in your pants kind of laugh.
We all tried to ease Rebecca’s fear, but it was hard. It was the funniest thing for all of us except for Rebecca. The story gets better. We picked up the glass and handed it to the waitress. She took it but Rebecca was still scared. When we got our bill there was a charge for the glass. Rebecca started to cry again.
Next Day…,
Well we just went down to lunch and we were seated at the same table. Rebecca almost would not sit at the table. There was still sprite in the base of the table. We all stared laughing again.
2 hours to baby pickup time.
Chris
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Peking Duck
June 2 or 3, not really sure any more.
It is been a wonderful adventure so far. We took a trip last night. One of the families traveling with us is from Beijing, and Stephen was talking about Peking Duck and they told Stephen about the original Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing and wrote it in Chinese. We gave it to the Taxi Driver and off we went, with no idea how to get home or really to get there. We were all crammed into a Hyundia car traveling the streets of Beijing.
We get to the restaurant and there is a wait, but we can not tell when they are calling our name. They did put numbers on the card, but kept calling different numbers. After a 20 or 30 minute wait, they did call our number. Stephen was guarding out spot, and kept close eye on people being called. (We have pictures ).
Well the menu was in Chinese…, except for this one package deal for 5 people list. Could not really understand the list but it did have Peking Duke on the list so we ordered it. It was 1200 Yuan ( about 175.00)… We all looked at each other and went forward with the order.
No one spoke English at first except this one waitress that spoke a very few words. We tried to order drinks but that was also difficult. Keith ordered Apple Juice with a little Kiwi juice. It turned out to be very much Kiwi and was at room tempiture. Keith did not like it at all. It turned out later we found out that it cost 190 Yuan for this drink.
They then started to bring the food. The 1st was the cold course. We could not tell what we were eating. We did have some cold ribs, not sure from what animal. Cold duck wing in strips, some kind of brown seafood they called it, It was very brown and grisley. We all just looked at each other and laughed. They then started to bring the main dishes.
I will just list them, It started with sea cucumber, slimy cabbage, weird sweet and sour chicken. We then got some mushroom soup, along with duck soup. The also include the a part of the duck that we are not sure where it came from, and of course the Peking Duck. It was the best part of the meal. They do not serve it like we do. They cut it into small pieces and have you wrap it up in a round shell.
We also got Bird’s cage. That may have been the best part.
Stephen got so he could not eat anything. I have to admit it was very strange food. It was also a very expensive meal in which everything else has been very cheap. The adventure and laughter were well worth the price.
Dianna is getting very excited about getting her baby. ( I know she is mine as well). We are less the 24 hours away from getting the baby. It seems like the comments that the Orphanage are usually accurate, which is great news because Sammy is quite and smart. We need one of our kids to quite.
Chris
Friday, June 1, 2007
Our 1st morning
I got up and 4:30 in the morning and walked around the city. It it is a incredible city. I can not belive the way the properties are landscaped and the amount of roses that are planted around here. I am sure they are getting ready for the olympics.
Tomorrow I will be buying some food along the road. We are not suppose to, but i figure if it is cooked in hot grease then i can eat it.
The other very neat thing is to watch all the bicycles riding around, and the little parks have isometric excercise equipment. As the sun was rising there were a lot of older people standing and doing exercises.
We are getting ready for an amercian buffett, but would rather go eat along the street side. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to.
I will continue to provide insights and observations throught out the trip. I am sure that mine will be much different the Dianna's. I am very interested in the way people live and work. I am also looking for a Realtor, have not found one yet. :)
Chris
NI HAO (HELLO)
THE VIEW FROM OUR ROOM
WE ARRIVED IN BEIJING AROUND 8:05 PM AND HAD TO GO THRU BORDER PATROL. WOW WAS THE LINE LONG!
TRAVEL DAY
We have arrived in Japan and are having a very easy fun trip so far. Just have one more two and a half hour flight to Beijing and then we can sleep.
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