China – Day 7: December 2014
Today was our last full day in Shanghai. To say that Han has come out of his shell is an understatement. To say that he is a handful is the understatement of the century. This kid never stops; he runs, jumps, laughs, yells, dances, and gets into everything. He talks our ears off (in Chinese) and, of course we can’t understand a word of it. We have figured out what a few things mean. He says something that sounds like “hiya” which we have realized means “again”, something that sounds like “coco” which we think means cracker or cookie, and something that sounds like “ooh la la.†We have no idea what that means but he says it a lot. We have also discovered a lot of his likes and dislikes. Likes: sweets, throwing away trash, putting things away (books, clothes), pushing buttons for the elevator, escalators, opening doors, motorcycles, closing doors, putting on his socks and shoes, drinking with a straw, feeding himself, and turning on the TV. Things he dislikes: broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce, being told he cannot touch something, corn at breakfast (he loves it at dinner), cucumbers, actually watching TV, sitting still in a taxi (now that he’s comfortable after the first half dozen trips).
We had a free day today so we decided to do a little exploring on our own. After breakfast we went to the Yu (or Yuyuan) Garden, which is an “excellent model of classical Chinese gardening architecture” (according to the brochure). It is a really beautiful garden tucked into a giant maze of tourist oriented shops and restaurants. We toured the gardens and Leslie did a tea tasting at the tea house in the garden. Leslie bought some tea and Han insisted on carrying the bag for the rest of the afternoon. We tried to hold it for him or but it in the backpack but he had a death grip on it the whole time. Within the garden are a lot of “art displays” which are actually gift shops. We went through one with some beautiful paintings at warp speed because Han was pulling us through. When we tried to walk into another one, Han stopped suddenly, looked around, and then bolted out the door. The look on his face basically said, “Hell no, I will not walk through another boring art display.”
After the garden we walked around all of the shops for awhile. It is very evident that the area completely caters to the tourist crowd, but it was still really fun to look around. We ate lunch at a steamed bun restaurant, and it was delicious. After lunch we caught a cab back to the hotel and then put Han (and Leslie) down for a nap.
After nap time we took a cab to yet another shopping district — Xintiandi — that is designated as “where Europe meets Shanghai.†It is also, apparently, the most expensive place to live in all of China. It was a nice area, with lots of outdoor patio dining (way too cold for us but not so for a few people) and definitely more of a European / American feel to it (there was even a Biergarten). We had a great time walking around and Han loved riding 5 floors of escalators. We had dinner at a really great Thai restaurant (Jeff feels the need to mention here that in the US, they serve tofu as a replacement for meat, whereas here, they serve tofu in addition to it — tofu and pork, for example) then took a cab back to the hotel, but took a quick detour to the Hershey store for some dessert before heading back to our room.
Up until this evening, every time we have ventured out in a car, Han has been very quiet and reserved. It feels as though he is worried about what is going to happen when we get out of the car. The cab ride back after dinner was a different story. He stayed completely animated and wanted to look out the windows and touch everything in the car (including trying to open the door while we were moving). Of course, since he was acting like a child who had been given a caffeine IV, traffic was terrible and it took us forever to get back to the hotel. We are thankful that he is becoming more comfortable but, quite honestly, it was a whole lot easier when he was timid.
Regardless, we had a really great day. The first two full days we were here we planned our schedule around the adoption schedule and barely ventured out far from the hotel. Yesterday we had Amanda with us to help navigate the city in the morning, but today the training wheels were off and we did fine on our own. It certainly helps that street signs are in English, we have a “take us back to our hotel†card in Chinese that they give out at the front desk, and we check the map before we leave. Of course, we still did have a bit of a challenge getting a cab, and one time on the way back to the hotel, we think the taxi driver just sort of gave up since he stopped a few blocks away and just motioned for us to pay and get out (and said something in Mandarin which of course we didn’t understand).
We leave tomorrow afternoon for Guangzhou, where we will complete all of the steps we need for Han’s immigration to the US. We are feeling a little homesick at this point and a little unnerved at having to spend another week away from the girls, but we really can’t complain. Everything on this trip has gone very well and we are torn between staying on “vacation†and coming home. It will be a while before we’re back here, so we’re trying to take lots of photos and remember things about China to share them with Han. We’re enjoying time bonding with him before we have to get back to “real life.†Plus, this is a really cool and unique vacation (and as we mentioned we’re actually getting caught up on sleep)!
That all said, we’re homesick and a bit ready to be home. The “free days†are nice to do sightseeing and not be on a schedule, but part of us just wishes we could just pack all of the “official†stuff into a more compressed schedule and get back home sooner. We know the girls are having a good time with Gigi and Grandpa and it’s been great getting updates, pictures and the occasionally choppy FaceTime (bad internet connection here in Shanghai, but hopefully better in Guangzhou). We will see how Gigi and Grandpa feel this coming week now that school is out and the girls will be with them all day. Hopefully they won’t get too worn out — and if they do, well, just hopefully they can make it one more week until we’re back and reinforcements (Mimi and Papa) arrive!
See pictures (sorry, no videos worth sharing from today) below or in our China: Day 7 SmugMug gallery.
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