Hong Kong and I wanna GO HOME- or do I?

It appears I may need to eat my previous post about NOT wanting to be a city girl…….It may be after all I like the hustle and bustle of city life. First let me explain the difference of city life in Guangzhou and city life in Hong Kong. It is something like an overrun MCDonalds at lunch time and dining in Chicago with your cutest, trendiest outfit and heels on!
Hong Kong offers it all- Lights, camera action baby! This is where it happens – Louie Vuitton , Parada, Jimmy Choo and every runway designer you can image. O.k. Well truth be told, I have been sucked in by the fashion and lights and the attractive people………….There must be a part of me that can pass on the country life and look the other way at the marvels of fine wine and dining. Oh I am a fickle girl ………loving the good life tonight- Don’t get me wrong the history of mainland China draws me in like a hungry fish in Victoria Harbor but the style and action here is fun, glamorous, like nothing we have in Howell- I love a bit of the good life once in awhile.
Hong Kong if done right is well worth the stop and should not be by passed up when so close to China-
But the real story begins last night with our train ride in.
Lin our guide snuck us out of our swearing in ceremony at the consulate early after the “I do” it was just mumble and jumble and well worth the rush out. We hurried to the train station to catch the 5
pm train to Hong Kong. Our original plan was to catch the 7p.m. so leaving two hours early and not having to wait in the unairconditoned Guangzhou train station seemed like a gift- We ran with it and with Lin our guide who booked through the mass of people and lines of people to get our tickets changed.
We said our goodbyes- and as Lin hugged me and said “I love you”- I really felt the LOVE she has for us.
Lin our guide has a book and she asked us to write in it to tell of our thoughts and feelings of her and our process. I could only write of how I had prayed that the we would touch the people of China……….How naive of me to assume we would touch others when we were the ones being touched………Lin, like so many others in our China story has touched our lives with her kindness and warmth. Her Christian heart. Her beautiful face and her love of adoption, and the families involved. Leaving Lin at the train station was like saying goodbye to a favorite Aunt who you know you will not see for a very long time but you know has impacted your life greatly and you really just want to know more of……
Getting past the tears and navigating our way onto the train, down escalators with huge pieces of luggage, masses of hurried travelers and one other adopting family, we finally made it to train car 3. We found four seats close together and heaved our heavy luggage into the overhead racks. Ten minutes later we found that we had become too comfortable in the train and we were NOT in our correct seats. Not realizing we had numbered seats we had to move to the back of the train and get comfortable once again. Two hours later we arrived in Hong Kong.
Hi Ping was angry……..yes, Angry. The whole day actually brought the first of the sad , angry emotions we had seen yet. WE felt for her…..Can you imagine all that this child of ten with little experience has gone through? Now we are rushing her, having her carry luggage, missing a meal, not being able to communicate, removing her from her people, her culture and all that she knows…………
Her mood justified-

We arrived at the train station in Hong Kong and walked to our hotel just minutes away. Checked into the most beautiful hotel I have ever stayed in………..Our room, a suite with a private bed room, kitchen and pull out couch in the living room for the girls. A palace after our stay in Guangzhou. Shortly after arriving -a knock at the door and a plate of fresh fruit arrives ………….A look down from the 15th floor and the girls spy the pool. We cannot deny them a swim, even with a hungry belly the pool calls to us all.

As I sit on the lounge chair watching my girls swim listening to the relaxing music, watching the clouds overhead. I think God has given Brian and I a glimpse of heaven before we return to our life of chaos…………….

Today a mere 24 hours later, a rainy morning. Boring really, an afternoon of tired girls. So back to the hotel and I let them swim. WE leave Brian to tour on his own…..I miss him. It’s true even after three whole weeks of being very together – when he leaves I feel empty. But a mothers duty is never done and the girls need to rest and not be run down more with walking another city…….So I pass on pictures and Hong Kong Tours to hear my girls play in a pool with kids from India, New Zeeland , China and Hong Kong. Who could ask for more?

Tonight after dinner- A Hard Rock Café Delight of Chicken fingers and fajitas! If it were Brain and I alone -a different story- Hong Kong life would call…….But no, this trip is about our girls and here we end it at the pool. I am enjoying a nice glass of chardonnay . Brian is swimming with the girls- All I hear is BA- Short for BABA(daddy ) as HAi Ping calls for her favorite ride across the pool. The neon lights from the city stare down on us and the warm of the night and the wine makes me more relaxed than I have been before………..this is the prayer I SCREAMED before I left….Calgon take me away-

We have been gifted the most trying times in our lives these last few weeks - too much time away from our boys . Gifted the most memorable times, a new daughter and three weeks of quiet time……
Life-long friends have been made. Our daughter in our arms………………

Our journey leads us away from China but never the people to A place we always want to be- the place that is everything to Brian and I – Our home. Our simple life of Johnson chaos……………

Thank you Lord for all you provide- For my husband my children and my forever faith in you-

Humble goodbyes from China-
S

Zhu HAi Orphanage visit

Hai Ping, friends from her school and Zhu Hai orphanage

Meeting Ms Zhong again

Sorry, she has a mama waiting, but she has friends!!!

I love this picture.......

Big smiles!

walking with Ms.Zhong....She explains to Hai Ping the story of her finding ........

Our daughter Zhu Hai Ping is from the city of Zhu Hai .It is a pretty city right on the ocean. The air quality seems better here and the people fewer than Guangzhou. I would live here IF it were not so hot. It is very tropical and although it was a beautiful sunny day i was told told Zhu Hai gets many storms and hard rains.

Our visit went well .......Brian struggled - After a two hour drive with a crazy driver his stomach was not good and his mood even worse! We did make it in one piece and Zhu Hai Ping was happy to see her friends!
She was met with hugs and kisses from all of the staff and it is VERY clear to me she as well as all of the kids have been shown affection and been cared for. I feel very lucky knowing that she was here vs. an orphanage like Zachary's for the last 10 years.

We had the pleasure of meeting a sweet little Zhu Hai girl who will soon go home to her family. I was able to get a few pictures and some video clip for her mamma who I know from my message board.

We took pictures , looked around a bit and then the rest of the kids were coming home from school for their lunch break. They come home, eat lunch and then take an hour nap before going back to school for the afternoon!! I bet the teachers love the quiet break!!! It seems here in China everyone takes a rest in the afternoon...on park benches, leaning up next to trees , in restruants, maybe even the teachers get a nap at school! I will say Brian has a very difficult time with the productivity level of this country.......WE like to GO, GO, GO in the U.S they are SLOW SLOW SLOW here!!!! Maybe this is a good thing???? Still debating!!!

After Hai Ping passed out toys and candy to her friends we said our goodbyes and headed out to her finding spot with MS. Zhong.

The finding spot was about 20 minutes outside of the city in a very small VERY old village. It is amazing to me that people still live this way in todays world. This village was only a mile away from a MAZDA dealership but yet once we drove into the village it could have been over a hundred years ago.....well it did seem they had TV and mopeds but all else was ancient!!!

Hai Ping was found behind a village family's home on the main drag. This main drag was barley wide enough to get the car down. Ms. Zhong found the women who had found our Hai Ping over 10 years ago and kept her for 20 days before she was sent off to the orphanage. Hai ping came only with a note with her birthday and time on it..........
This child I love so much has so much courage.....So much going on around her at once. Ms. Zhong took her for a quick private walk to explain why we were there and who the women was.
I asked this women if she maybe had any idea who the birth parents were and the answer was "no" of course. I wondered if we should leave our information with them..........And decided that when Hai Ping was ready and the time was right if she wanted we could always come back and search for her birth parents. Brian reminded me this all happened for a reason and to let it all be......

After our visit we headed off to lunch with Ms Zhong. She took us to one of her favorites a tiny local rearuant on a fishing wharf..... which also seemed to be like stepping back in time.
Our lunch was food I thought I would never eat but smiled and ate it with grace and courage only God could have given me.

I dreaded feeding this to Abbie as it was ALL just brought in fresh from the sea (along with all of the pollution and dirt , and I worry about the Mercury level in farmed samon!!!). My organically fed girl proved me wrong once again and ate a ton of Shrimp even though they came with a head, tail, eggs and shell! No crispy, breaded outside! Just a crispy shell! We ate another something? - No clue what it was something larger than a shrimp and smaller than a crab and not filled with very much meat! Fish with head and tail, sweet potato greens and a root veggie were all eaten. The appetizer , snails- the kind you find in the bottom of the lake . You know the small ones the kids find and then leave in their beach pail and they get yukky and smell......Those were inhaled rather quickly by Hai Ping........Fortunately she sucked them out of the shell rather quickly and there was non left for mom and dad.
I will have to explain to her the snails we have at North Lake must stay in the lake and NOT be eaten in front of MAMA!!!!!!AHHHHH!!

We very much enjoyed our visit with MS Zhong. We were able to get to know a bit of her history. We invited her to the states and told her how much the rest of our group ( Zhu HAi yahoo group ) wants to stay in touch with her . She feels it is Extremely important for us to continually send pictures- not just for her benefit but to show the Chinese government how well our children are doing!!!

She promised to keep in touch with us and just before we left she had Hai Ping sit on her lap, look into her eyes and had another heart to heart.......Wishing her well, telling her to obey and sending her love to the other girls who she knew Hai Ping would soon be in touch with once in America.

Then with out tears, Hai Ping held out her hand to me and walked back to our car. We know she is loved- With us and in China. She knows only with us she will have a family.

And so our vist to Zhu Hai was a success and we hope to someday visit again. Although the new orphanage is almost ready and we are told the kids will move into it in October. Ms. Zhong is worried only for the older kids and the transition to a new school. It looks like a beautiful place and with the staff at Zhu Hai I'm sure they will all do fine. We saw kids who still need families.....If it is on your heart, do not look the other way-
Although Zhu Hai has to be one of the best orphanages it is still an institution and not a home............

Longsheng County-Zhuang and Yao ethnic People.

Snakes- for lunch???

No just rice and ? served in bamboo- grilled outside

It was actually very good! We ate this lunch at a local village person's house. The lady was taking a nap on her couch in the same room.......I did love the food and had the man/owner of the house take me to the kitchen and show me how he made everthing!

Yes, I DID want to bring him home......Lucky for Brian we are in China!!!!

Longsheng County-Zhuang and Yao ethnic People.

Longsheng County-Zhuang and Yao ethnic People.

A few more pictures:

My goal of the day -to catch up on pictures and posts -connection willing!

We are still here.........

and as much as we love China we are ready for home....
Our zest for witting has disappeared with our excitement of exploring. I'm afraid we have become very comfortable in our little home at the Victory. Not much happening here - We are counting down our last days here and praying they will fly by.

Our internet connection has been painfully slow and most of our patience with it has been on video conference calls to our boys.

We love all of the comments and helps us to feel in touch.
Abbie is doing well but REALLY misses her brothers and her class at school.She was bummed to realize yesterday that she would only have a few days left of school with her friends and her teacher when she returns home.......Ms. Surian's class:

Abbie says hi and that she misses you! She can't wait to tell you all about China!!

Hai Ping is doing well also- She has a flair for pouting her way out of situations and we are careful to not let those pouts break our hearts too much. I can see how she could use that one to her advantage someday. She LOVES her daddy but he is tough on her and she is sensitive to that. She can play rough and is relentless with teasing. Sometimes enough is enough and we need her to slow down or calm down and she may not "get it" at first and when daddy say's "NO" she gets it but holds a grudge....

Of course usually in a few hours all is forgiven and she wants us to take her to the pool. We now have leverage!!!!HA , We explained yesterday "if " you want to go to the pool "then " you must obey our rules and not run in the hotel . Use gentle hands ect.......OK - Her big word this week. She gets what we are saying!!! Trust me she wants to swim!

She loves the pool and is becoming very daring. The first day we had her she clung to the ladder , now she is floating on a tube in the middle or riding on daddy's shoulders!

Her smile fills my heart.......She wants cuddles at night and wrapped herself tightly into me last night, soaking up the cuddles that my other babies have been given for so long. Loving the closeness and wanting me to sleep with her......I stayed with her in till she fell asleep praying my Thanks for all she will now have and how grateful we are to have her safely with us. Whispering to her that I will always hold her and she will forever be my girl...........

We had the trip to the orphanage on Friday.I am having a hard time getting our computer to down load the pictures and video-
i have spent hours and our connection times out- It is very frustrating!!!

Once I get them to my computer I will post again and fill everyone in.
It went well and Hai Ping was happy to leave with us again so we took that as a good sign she loves her new family-

Church here in China today! I miss our church at home but this will hold us through until our return next week-

Thanks all who have been so good with our boys.......We are so grateful!
Amy- I have heard you were called to major mama duty with Nolan last week........I don't know how to thank you.....You have been such a great friend this year- Thank you-
I miss our group and look forward to an all AMERICAN Coney, talk it all out kinda breakfast with you, Melissa and Rosanne when I return. Thanks girls.........

I needed a break and went off on my own yesterday- A trip to the grocery, the mall and then Starbucks- I was feeling very homesick so it was a good break to have a few hours to myself and I have to admit it felt good to explore on my own and be independent in a new country.
Brian went to a concert the other night alone. So we are getting very comfortable with our surroundings and life here......

However I have found I am NOT a city girl and much prefer the CHINA countryside to the filth around us....Everything is dirty and smells. I know it is true in all big cities but seems worse here. The pollution is high here - I do not worry for us for the short time we are here but Would NEVER live here with this much junk pouring into the air! Zhu HAi Seemed much cleaner so I hope their is no damage to Hai Ping for all she has breathed and eaten in the last 10 years. I see a major detox when we get home........I know I am freaky about this type of stuff - My bio kids raised on raw milk and organic meat. Poor Hai Ping has no idea all of the vitamins her crazy mama is going to make her take when we get home.......


More later- Off for breakfast-

Caroline -I am still working on Isabelle's video.....I can't get the file to down load but I do have it!!!!!!

Longsheng County-Zhuang and Yao ethnic People.

Split pants- no diapers here...Just squat and go-

Baby ducks- you know i love the animals here!

village man

love the stairs every where- so old

chopping wood- the old fashion way

Local woman working on her field

Rice paddy up close

This guy was selling turtles- Turtle soup?

It seems there is always a game of some kind going on -even mid day.

This farmer was spraying something? Pesticides or fertilizer maybe? I could not get an answer from Jessie -LIT (lost in translation)

We snuck off leaving Jessie our guide with the girls to check out how the rice fields look up close.

This cow was headed up the hill with his owner close behind

I was determined to get a close up.....
When he was right in my face i jumped to the side-
The wrong side - The farmer yelled at me for going so close to the edge of the mountain!!!! The things I will do for a picture!!!

Longsheng County-Zhuang and Yao ethnic People.

Picture by Picture
Our Friends from Spain

Local women carrying goods up the mountain

We meet again - Our Wisconsin Friends!

This is crazy but these older (very frail ) little men carry over weight Americans and Europeans up the HUGE mountain. I was so mad.........Brian reminded me it may be their only means of income.......but still if you can't climb it -DON't (o.k. i know it's a brutally honest opinion but it really bugged me!!!)
This local guy was hanging around-He liked to see himself in the camera display. I handed him a few yaun to keep taking his pictures.

Everyone wants a picture with Abbie

This women wants to play with Abbie's hair also!

This guy needs a picture as well!!!! Abbie is a superstar!

Longji Rice fields

Beauty beyond words- terraced mountains of rice fields surrounding a village full of culture and history.

Cormorant fishing in Yangshuo

This was a fascinating excursion we went on after landing in Yangshuo. Our small group got on bamboo boats. We were served the best oranges I Have ever had and peanuts. I was lucky to have these pictures because my battery was dying quickly and the pouring rain made it difficult to catch anything. Brian and I loved this little boat ride.The woman you see in the picture was singing to us.The tradition is that a young women sings to a young man, he then sings back to her.......for three days non stop. They get to know one another during this time and if all is well at the end she will throw him a ball of string.
We were encouraged to sing back to her and be rewarded with a gift. Any song would do! One guy in our group was brave enough to try and he was handed a beautiful ball on a string as his reward. He sang the theme song to the movie Rocky. Abbie and Hai Ping were given one as well just because the girl liked them-

There was a small waterfall at one point and it looked like we may go over it......I was really getting worried - our boat driver if you will - pushed us to the side of the river where Hai Ping jumped off squatted in the bushes and went potty! No big deal - Normal stuff here! Abbie our American Princess chose not to pee on the side of a waterfall with village people looking on...........



The cormorants were very interesting. The fisherman ties a band around the neck and sends the bird out to fish. The highly trained cormorant comes back with the fish for the fisherman .

The Cormorants are fed only the smallest fish but is plenty for them to be full on. Thsi method of fishing has been going on for over two thousand years. It takes two years of training to get the birds ready for this.