Goodnight, China

Tonight, we fall asleep in China. Tomorrow, we fall asleep on an airplane. Then, going back in time some 12 hours, we fall asleep again tomorrow in the U.S.

It has been an amazing trip. How many times have I used that word in these posts? Probably an amazing number of times.

IS ZHUHAI IN THE HOUSE?

The hotel where we are staying makes for a surreal experience. Because the U.S. Consolate is here in Guangzhou, all American families must come to this city to apply for visas for their babies' passports. Many, many Americans stay at the White Swan, which is a luxury hotel overlooking the Pearl River.

The hotel also attracts tourists and businesspeople from around the world to this special economic zone of China. Therefore, when one steps onto an elevator in the White Swan, chances are good one will encounter a couple of white families with at least one Chinese child, a couple of tourists, some people in suits and - a few times this week - a cntingent of hard-drinking German-speaking airline employees. (For the record, I'm sure their hard-drinking is something that happens only on Chinese vacations and not when they are flying around the world.)

There is a Mattel-sponsored playroom on the first floor of the hotel, and you'll find almost exclusively adoptive families in there. And at the American-style breakfast buffet served every morning, the dining area is packed with bleary-eyed parents who are either praying to get through the meal without ascreaming fit, hoping for real sleep again in the next decade or keeping their mouths shut about how easy their experience has been so far.

In short, you meet a lot of other adoptive families here at the White Swan and on the island in general.

And you meet all kinds of families. You meet wealthy families who are cucumber-cool seasoned travelers. You meet dorky folks who have never been out of the U.S. before and can't stop marvelling that the buffet has tater tots on it. (Yeah, that was me. But dayum, tater tots are good for breakfast.)

You meet parents who do not speak nicely to their children. You meet parents who are terrified. You meet couples who should be divorced for the sake of their families and everyone who meets them.

You meet really friendly people who could have been your good friends had you met someplace other than a Chinese luxury hotel where you;d have a few conversatons and then never see them again.

We've met all those people on this trip.

Today we met a couple whose daughter comes from the same orphanage where MM lived for the past 13 months. Usually, that's not so strange, but MM's orphanage has very few adoptions, so this was a pretty rare treat.

They were very nice people, and since they have no group to speak of, we invited them to dinner at the Cow and Bridge Thai restaurant, where the mixed vegetable in red curry seems to get better every time I order it.

We had a great time. Their daughter is beautiful, and I was glad we got to meet at least one other family with a connection to MM's first year.

OUR TROUBLES WILL BE FAR AWAY

Christmas is in full force here at the White Swan. I've written and we've podcasted about the proliferations of Christmas decorations n the hotel and on the island in general.

This morning, I turned on the bathroom radio (yes - a radio just for the bathroom!) and it was broadcasting Christmas music on one of the channels. This made me so very happy.

Tomorrow, we will fly over the North Pole again. If you have anything you'd like me to tell Santa, let me know now.

Comments

[ppb]

Tell the jolly old elf that I said hi.

[AmericanFamily]

Please tell santa I want my referral for Christmas. I hope you have an uneventful flight!