Cheezer and Louzer

The boy lost his second baby tooth yesterday. As per tradition, the tooth fairy visited him during the night and left him a $2 gift. We had to call Gramma in Washington state too so she could alert the Tooth Fairy up there. When he lost his first tooth a month or so ago, the WA tooth fairy was VERY generous so the boy is now clued-in to the process. We told him tooth fairies are not predictable but he still has high hopes.

This morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we drove the pugs out to the local dog park for some exercise. They love this park; it’s all wide fields and scrub brush. The bigger dogs mostly just want to sniff them and then leave them alone.

Of course, Louie, the wonder dog, always ends up barking at them and that sometimes makes the big dogs jumpy. One nice looking St Bernard-mix got a little testy today after being rudely barked at by the Lou-er, so he started to growl. We just brushed him off and he ran off to find another more suitable playmate. Once again, we regretted not properly socializing Louie when he was younger.

In other news we’re all set for the big trip coming up. We’ve met up online with some of the parents in our Travel Group and they all seem nice. A few are getting girls from the same orphanage as we are, “Gong girls” as they are known, since the orphanage assigns all of their girls the same surname. At first we thought maybe we might be traveling around in China by ourselves (plus our guide) but it turns out there are more like the usual 10 or so other families going too. We’re trading tips on buying tickets for the flights to Hong Kong & back and getting to know each other.

Here at home now, I am reading CHINA GHOSTS by Jeff Gammage. It’s a father’s story of going through the Chinese adoption process and the profound effects its had on his life. He’s a great writer and it’s a good read. It’s really nice to see a father writing about this experience. If there’s one thing that can somtimes get a bit on my nerves about this whole 3-years of waiting, it’s been how everyone always talks as if the adoptive Moms and the little girls are the only ones involved. I understand the how and why of that but I’m in this too. I have become as emotionally wrapped-up in little Kristen Jianmei as my wife has. This is going to be shocking and life-altering for both of us. This last minute waiting is officially killing us now, but getting to read Jeff Gammage’s book while we wait has been a big help. Most of what he writes about becoming a father, adopting a girl from China, and so on is not news to us but it’s still reassuring to read it one more time. I’m going to write to him and thank him for that.

I just looked at the calendar. We leave in 10 days now. Wow!

My wife recently got some good advice from another adoptive Mom and it’s really good information for anyone traveling to China. I’ll share some of it here, with my own thoughts:

Street scene in Guangzhou

First when you go to China one thing you will notice is everyone will stare at you. This is normal behavior in China. I have found when someone is really watching me I would smile and then be met with an equal smile. The Chinese are very curious and a nation of lookey loos. The good part of this is you can stare at everything too! So relax and enjoy the culture. It is very different but very interesting.

I’ve read that in other places too  – such as in River Town by Peter Hessler – so I suppose it must be true. On the other hand, I’ve just been searching for pictures on flickr for this post and I couldn’t find a single picture that showed any Chinese folks staring at the picture-taker. I think we Americans do a lot of people watching too but I guess maybe we try to make it less noticeable?

Dim Sum

If you stay at the Majestic {in Nanning, there} is a wonderful restaurant next door run by the hotel. Not sure the real name but it has a picture of a baby over it. It is sorta like a food court. Your order from individual windows, they mark a paper you are given and it is delivered to your table. It is really easy to use. Also above each area is a picture of the food made there and a description in English of what it is. This is quite a place because you get to try all kinds of food.

I’ve been told that even though Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi province, it’s still a smaller city, by Chinese standards. So I am surprised they’ll have English signs in Nanning, but I suppose that just shows how much more global a lot of China is these days.

At one end of the restaurant are the fresh vegetables. You sorta point to a vegetable and it will be cooked for you. I will say if there is sweet and sour eggplant order it. It is great. Also near the vegetable is a place to order fried rice. Don’t order the western style but the other. Your child will love it and so will you. There are meat sticks that you order with curry powder. Also there are homemade noodles made right in front of you. We would order the noodles with broth and our girls could not get enough of it.

Mmm, freshly made chinese noodles and vegetables. I’m so there.  When we moved to Denver here a few months ago, we knew we’d have a hard time finding good Mexican food, made in the style we were used to in So Cal. We said if we couldn’t find it, we’d open our own Roberto’s-style taco shop, just so we could eat the food again. Now I’ve found a good substitute here – Raliberto’s in Westminster, if you’re interested – so the next major find has to be good Chinese food. That should be the subject of another post, since Denver has a good, rich Asian culture and lots of good restaurants for Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and so on.

Mala Tofu

In China you would never order a dish just for you, everything is shared. Also you food comes out as it is cooked. It is so different than America, so we Americans go to China each order our own meal Then wait until everyone is served before we eat. Well that doesn’t work in China because it could be ten minutes between dishes coming out. So if you go out with another family try ordering Chinese style. Also the place setting will be a small plate and a small bowl. The bowl is what you eat out of really and the plate is a discard plate. You spit onto the plate all the little bones, etc.

Smells Like Fish Eggplant

Sweet! That sounds like my kind of meal. Everyone eating from all of the bowls, sampling this and that.  I’ve been reading the great web site – HowToOrderChineseFood – a lot lately too. Ben Ross, the author there, has lots of experience and is a good writer. His blog is fact packed as well. A recommended read for learning about daily life in China.

Man, I cannot wait to go!