Just a quick post before going to bed. On the last full day of the trip Alice mellowed quite a bit and seemed more comfortable with our family. While waiting in the hotel lobby for the other families to assemble to go out to dinner, Alice ran around and played with Gracie and the other girls instead of clinging for dear life to one of the Chinese guides. She happily sat with me throughout dinner and sat on my lap after dinner while the adults talked. When we got back to the hotel she snuck into Grampa Glenn room and stole a bag of banana chips (although I think Glenn let her take it, he's been "Grampa treats" for all the kids in the group). We sat up in bed together watching Mandarin soap operas, listening to Gracie snoring and feeding eat other banana chips (I really didn't need all the banana chips but didn't want to spoil the moment). She gave me a kiss and went to sleep. All very nice but now it's late and I have to get up early in the morning to pack and she'll probably go back to hating me when she wakes up.
One more thing - Alice is now officially a Canadian citizen -sort of. We got a letter from the embassy stating that Alice Qiu Loten is now a Canadian citizen and has been issued a facilitation visa to allow her to enter Canada on her Chinese passport. After several congratulatory paragraphs the letter ending on a high note by stating that this letter should not be considered official confirmation of citizenship, is not a travel document, and does not guarantee that citizenship will ever actually be granted - God Save The Queen!
See you all Thursday
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
An old friend
Ma Rui, our guide when we adopted Gracie, dropped by today to say Hi and to deliver the new scrolls for the kids. In order to make sure that all the kids have the same `look` to their scrolls, we ordered a new set to include Alice. I also asked that the scrolls include the characters identify is child within the family. In Manderin, there are different terms for 'oldest sister', 'second oldest sister', 'youngest sister' etc, so now everyone is properly identified within the family. She remembered me and asked after Sarah and several other members of our first travel group (amazing when you consider the number of groups she has assisted). Gracie refers to our guides as our "guardians" and was asking if they were coming with us to Canada. Take a good look at the clothes Alice with wearing because right now I can't find any of them. We are getting along much better now, but as soon as we get to our room she immediately strips down naked. Since I've been forcing her to get dressed she has taken to hiding her clothes. I have no idea where they are right now, so she is up on points. On to the next round.Message for Sarah: Please buy a bunch of instant noodles (the ones that come in their own bowl - Chef Woo would do). This is Alice's comfort food and we have a routine where we all sit on the floor in a circle and share a bowl of noodles (except Evan who hates the stuff). However bad things might be, or angry she might be, she will always sit with you and share a bowl of noddles. I think we will need lots of this stuff when we get home. BTW I showed her your picture today and right away she said "Ma Ma" so I think the orphanage must have prepared her. Keep in mind that "Ba Ba" means Darth Vader, but she seems happier with women. Also, I went a little nuts buying kites at the Friendship store, but I got some really cool ones, like a big silk and bamboo cobra kite and a big sparkly butterfly for Gracie and a Peking Opera kite and a really big birds kite with a huge tail (about 5ft). I sort of bought some really neat kite reels as well (high quality with ball bearing in the reels). They also gave me a few extra small ones free because I bought so many..... Anyway not a problem because your dad picked up an extra suitcase for the kites this afternoon so no worries. Good thing we are leaving tomorrow.
One more night in China so see you all soon!!!!!!
The sparkly dress are here!!!!!!!!!
Last night the sparkly dresses arrived and practically flew out the door of our room the get her's. I've never actually seen anyone float before, but when she put her on, she literally rose about a foot off the ground and floated out of the room. She did about 10 laps around the hotel and never touched the ground. Unfortunately the Ottman girls both melted down (Gracie has had her share of meltdowns too) but as you can see from the pictures, she has her runway poses down pat.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Tractor blockage to the Canadian Embassy - Back off government!
Yesterday we performed what will hopefully be the final official requirements needed to bring Alice home. All we had left was the medical check required by the Canadian government and a fee payment of $75 CDN to be made at the Canadian embassy and we'd be done.
The folks in our group who were applying under the old system, where the children will be entering the country as immigrants went off in the morning while those of us whose children are, according to Mr. Harper's new rules, fully Canadian citizens went in the afternoon. The medical check at the international clinic was great and we had the same doctor who checked out Gracie two years ago! She's a Chinese Canadian from Montreal who as been at the clinic for 10 years and has adopted two of her own children. She gave Alice the once over and everything is fine. Alice is a bit small by North American standards (6% on the charts) but only slightly small by Asian standards and her weight is exactly right for her size - perhaps a bit plump. We had a bit of a delay at the clinic as they were quite busy and then walked over the embassy (a five minute walk at the most) to pay the fee. This is where things fell apart.
First of all they were a bit fussy about letting us in. The embassy closes up at 3:00pm (even the Scotiabank in Perth stays open until 4) and since we arrived at 2:45 they seemed to think it would be better if we came back tomorrow (wouldn't want to get caught up in Beijing traffic after all). Eventually they decided that one person per family group would be let in (this was with all of us standing outside the gate waving our Canadian passports in the air). Of course we weren't allowed in the front door (after all, we're only a bunch of taxpayers) and instead were led around to a back entrance and down a dingy set of stairs to a clerk's window where you make your payments. The fee was $75 CND and I had on me about $80 CND in cash, $100 US in cash, $1000 RMB in cash, travellers checks, VISA, and interact - and NONE of this was acceptable. As of March 1st you can make payments at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing only with a CitiBank of China card. You have to pre-deposit your payment amount and then bring the card to the embassy to pay. Of course Children's Bridge had checked with the embassy before hand about the new system and fees, but somehow no one had passed on the info about the "special" payment methods. Chia, a Children's Bridge person who has accompanied us on this trip to assist with the new Citizenship process, began trying to negotiate with the clerks while the rest of us stood around looking contrite. But as I pondered the fact that Canadian currency wasn't acceptable in a Canadian Embassy, a tiny little Lanark Landowner, sort of like a little Yosemity Sam character, started pushing his way into the front of my brain. I started hearing a little voice saying that if Canadian currency was good enough to build the embassy, it damn well ought to be good enough inside the embassy. I start to feel like Bill Bixby right before he hulks out, only in my case I'm afraid of morphing into Randy Hiller, complete with red suspenders. The words "Back off government! Back of government!" started ringing in my ears and I could only keep things together by thinking happy thoughts about Tommy Douglas and other left-wind icons. I had resolved to wait another 5 minutes before demanding to see a consular official when they decided that we could (just this once) pay by VISA, which they would convert to RMB. We would lose on the exchange rate and there would be an extra service charge, but all we wanted to do was get our new kids (now full citizens) into their country of citizenship. We paid our fees, gritted out teeth, smiled and left, but it was the single most frustrating experience we had in this whole adoption process. We arrived pointing to the embassy and saying to the kids "look, look, Canada, Canada!" and left mumbling to the kids "Canada %$&*@ Canada" and somehow resisted the urge to heave the maple syrup bottles we bought as gifts at the flag.
Home stretch now ..... hurray!!!
The folks in our group who were applying under the old system, where the children will be entering the country as immigrants went off in the morning while those of us whose children are, according to Mr. Harper's new rules, fully Canadian citizens went in the afternoon. The medical check at the international clinic was great and we had the same doctor who checked out Gracie two years ago! She's a Chinese Canadian from Montreal who as been at the clinic for 10 years and has adopted two of her own children. She gave Alice the once over and everything is fine. Alice is a bit small by North American standards (6% on the charts) but only slightly small by Asian standards and her weight is exactly right for her size - perhaps a bit plump. We had a bit of a delay at the clinic as they were quite busy and then walked over the embassy (a five minute walk at the most) to pay the fee. This is where things fell apart.
First of all they were a bit fussy about letting us in. The embassy closes up at 3:00pm (even the Scotiabank in Perth stays open until 4) and since we arrived at 2:45 they seemed to think it would be better if we came back tomorrow (wouldn't want to get caught up in Beijing traffic after all). Eventually they decided that one person per family group would be let in (this was with all of us standing outside the gate waving our Canadian passports in the air). Of course we weren't allowed in the front door (after all, we're only a bunch of taxpayers) and instead were led around to a back entrance and down a dingy set of stairs to a clerk's window where you make your payments. The fee was $75 CND and I had on me about $80 CND in cash, $100 US in cash, $1000 RMB in cash, travellers checks, VISA, and interact - and NONE of this was acceptable. As of March 1st you can make payments at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing only with a CitiBank of China card. You have to pre-deposit your payment amount and then bring the card to the embassy to pay. Of course Children's Bridge had checked with the embassy before hand about the new system and fees, but somehow no one had passed on the info about the "special" payment methods. Chia, a Children's Bridge person who has accompanied us on this trip to assist with the new Citizenship process, began trying to negotiate with the clerks while the rest of us stood around looking contrite. But as I pondered the fact that Canadian currency wasn't acceptable in a Canadian Embassy, a tiny little Lanark Landowner, sort of like a little Yosemity Sam character, started pushing his way into the front of my brain. I started hearing a little voice saying that if Canadian currency was good enough to build the embassy, it damn well ought to be good enough inside the embassy. I start to feel like Bill Bixby right before he hulks out, only in my case I'm afraid of morphing into Randy Hiller, complete with red suspenders. The words "Back off government! Back of government!" started ringing in my ears and I could only keep things together by thinking happy thoughts about Tommy Douglas and other left-wind icons. I had resolved to wait another 5 minutes before demanding to see a consular official when they decided that we could (just this once) pay by VISA, which they would convert to RMB. We would lose on the exchange rate and there would be an extra service charge, but all we wanted to do was get our new kids (now full citizens) into their country of citizenship. We paid our fees, gritted out teeth, smiled and left, but it was the single most frustrating experience we had in this whole adoption process. We arrived pointing to the embassy and saying to the kids "look, look, Canada, Canada!" and left mumbling to the kids "Canada %$&*@ Canada" and somehow resisted the urge to heave the maple syrup bottles we bought as gifts at the flag.
Home stretch now ..... hurray!!!
A few shots from the hotel room
Here are a few shots from our hotel room after a typical day. We have Evan comforting his sister after a "Darth Vader" moment (fewer now). Gracie doing her middle child act and "mei mei" (little sister) and "jei jei" (big sister) sharing a bowl of noddles. The girls sit across from each other and pass the noodle bowl back and forth. If Gracie isn't paying attention, Alice passes the bowl over and gives her a whack as it to say "get on with it, your turn".
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Up the Great Wall with Evan the rock star and our new middle child Gracie-lu
Here are some shots of us during our assault on the Great Wall of China. I have lots more pictures but am having connection problems so I'll only post at few. There's us at the top, a shot of part of the wall, and a few interesting others. In one you can see our new middle child Gracie-lu who was such a little @#%$*&^ that Grampa Glenn had to carry her up the wall on his back (since Alice decided that maybe Darth Vader wasn't quite so bad I was carrying her). The other shot is one of Evan's many adoring fans. No fewer than 5 very attractive young ladies asked to pose with the rock star and since Mr Evan doesn't want disappoint his fans, he was more than happy to oblige. They all gave him kisses when they were done. I don't know what this kid has, but it's a problem I never had to deal with.
Dresses, dresses, sparkly dresses
The other night a tailor arrived at the hotel to take measurements of those who want Chinese suits and dresses made up. He also brought a lot of patterns, samples, etc and set up in the Ottman's room. Suffice to say that Gracie arrived early and never left. She spent the whole evening carefully examining all the samples, watching the fittings and offering her professional advice to everyone. I had decided to get each of the girls a traditional outfit and when it was our turn Gracie already had everything worked out. She has selected a long, sleeveless dress with a leg slit on one side in a light pink material with a soft floral design. She also had selected a similar pattern for Alice, but in white. On the spur of the moment I asked Even if he wanted a traditional Chinese suit and he said he really would, so we had him measured up too. He says he wants to wear it when he talks to his class about his China trip. I didn't know he was planning to do this, but it will be an interesting lecture!
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