Winter chills

It is cold and icy outside at times now and the washing is more trying. Lotus has been making some progress in the speech area although it seems we have a lot of work to do for the rest of the year. And Charlotte has been having some orthodontic work with quite a bit to come. Charlotte has done more Chinese dancing display's at school and it is so lovely to see the gusto with which she wants to perform. And Lotus seems to be able to sing every Chinese song that Charlotte has picked up at school, although perhaps not 100% clear on all the words, but the tune is there. In regards to Lotus going to school next year I have been on the fence, although currently I think she would cope just fine. She is growing up so fast it seems. We sent the letter for the students in China to let them know we are coming, although I have no chance of reading it given the style of writing in their language. Out the west of China there have been a number of cyclists who have blogged their experiences with plenty of photos so we have some idea of what to expect. We could visit the Gobi Desert but would need 2 days for that so will miss it. My father has been a super sleuth in trying to gather information which has been a wonderful way to keep his mind active. He has pulled out maps of Shanghai and worked out where we are staying etc. Want to visit that underground Childrens clothing area and hoping my father can take kids to the museum across the road meanwhile so I can get some peace. Lotus started gym, not that we needed another activity. By the time we go to China I want her to walk more. Charlotte has done art after school with a fabulous lady at a community centre. They have some wonderful people who are like retired artists who share their knowledge. We will do swimming for one more term before taking a break. Lotus gives her teacher such a hard time. He is such a soft mannered young man, but you can see him to tell her to 'get back to the wall'. I feel for him as she sure can give you a hard time. In his case she regularly jumps on his back as he brings another child down the pool, constantly goes under the water when he is trying to tell the children what to do, swims around his legs when other children are trying to float on their back etc. Occasionally we have bribed her with 'if you want dumplings for dinner do not jump on Tom's back'.... We often end up having dumplings in a Chinese area on the way home. The other day she seemed to do backward somersaults while waiting for the other children to come back down the lane. In music Lotus loves it but is often tired and at times non-compliant. She says that ballet is poofy and boring, but then dresses up and plays like a ballerina at other times with her sister. Life is never boring with children. The kittens have grown a lot and Puff eats up any meat in seconds.

What to take as donation(s)?

The trip continues to be refined. Pingyao looks fantastic and grandpa is keen to visit.. so perhaps we will take the train from Beijing-Taiyuan, and change to Taiyuan-Pingyao and stay overnight before heading off to Xian for a few nights. That would break up the long train journey before heading onto Xining. And it looks like there is one direct flight per day from Xining to Shanghai. It will be worth it. Looks like the city the girls are in has a low grade quality 3 star hotel, but we will take it no problems (hoping the heating works well!!). The subway system in Shanghai seems to have about double the number of lines that Beijing has so that will call for a lot of interchanges although I am not sure we will need it much.

Trip planning update

Qinghai seems to be a bit of a frontier for adventure... but given our limited mobility we will take it easy. You can track overland from south of Xining into Northern Sichuan. Turns out the area we were looking to visit in Mongolia has been overdone re tourist things that takes away from the authenticity (perhaps related to how close it is to Beijing). We are covering a LOT of the country anyway so will forget that for now. So the current plan is: 1. Arrive early morning Beijing (stay somewhere close to airport rail line that night/morning) 2. Take subway to XiSi station near where we stayed last time and order a traditional dress to be made for Charlotte (grandpa found a shop specialising in these, as he visited each shop on his walks). 3. Take the 1.35pm train to Xining which goes through Xian in the early hours of the morning (train takes 24 hours to cover around 1980 kms). 4. Spend 1 or 2 nights in Xining before heading to our sponsored student area (enjoy modern facilities while we can and adjust to altitude if need be). Need to investigate what to do to avoid it... colleague went to Peru and said those on heart medications feared better than the young ones he travelled with (aspirin may help???). In October the snow storms may start to come in and no doubt there will be snow on the mountains. 5. Spend 1 or 2 nights in the city the students study and visit the school/temples/thangkas artists 6. Make it back to Xining and take train on to Xian 7. Visit the terracotta warriors / perhaps Charlotte and I can pedal the city wall / visit the free history museum / acrobat show. 8. Take the train down to Suzhou - stay in a traditional Chinese B&B near the water area. 9. Visit the traditional gardens etc and go to a Chinese traditional tea service 10. Perhaps stay at Tongli in another traditional place (note these places tend not to have all the modern conveniences/smells as you like) - beautiful area again near the water. Take canal ride on small wooden boat. 11. Move on to Shanghai for a few days and visit music street, Yuyuan gardens, acrobats and other attractions. 12. Take train back to Beijing for a night or two before departure, stay in the hutong area, this time perhaps closer to the drum tower and the lakes, north west of the Forbidden City. 13. Visit the lovely Ming Dynasty restaurant Bai Jia Da Yuan again. 14. Fly out. http://www.nickrains.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=216:china-workshop-updates&catid=12:news&Itemid=24 Looks like they love seeing a pic of themselves. http://johnjemi.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/around-qinghai-lake-koko-nor-august-30.html Turns out some groups have bought some of the Tibetan families a solar panel so they do not have to rely on candles which impacts their eyesight.

We are off to China... again..

We managed to book a cheap enough flight to Beijing. Given we have done Beijing pretty well we will use it as a base to travel. Grandpa wants to go to Shanghai to visit the Music Street (a whole street dedicated to music shops). We may also visit our sponsored Tibetan students in Qinghai province but need to check a few basics such as weather, altitude, accomodation etc. This may be grandpas last trip overseas so we have been guided by where he wants to go. Another alternative would be Mongolia but the weather may be an issue at that time of year and given it is North of Beijing. If we can meet the lady who found Charlotte we may do that as a side trip quickly but we will see. Shanghai also has an underground Childrens clothes shopping area that is across from the Museum/park area. It is walking distance from the Bund but quite a walk. Taxis in Shanghai were pretty good last time we were there, especially as compared to Beijing where the Olympics seems to have spoiled them. We will stay at the same Hutong in Beijing as last time and may look to do Xian and/or Suzhou as side trips but it will depend on the Qinghai option. The students keep saying to visit and apparently English is their hardest subject. The welcome when other caucasians have visited looked unbelievable especially given how limited the means of the people are. There is still the boy who sits on the shared list in Charlotte's SWI... I would LOVE to organise a hearing aid for him but it could take a while to get him tested etc etc. Hoping that a travelling family will get updates when they travel shortly. If only our department here would allow out of birth order.....

New additions...

Visiting a good quality breeder is not a good strategy.... we always seem to go for 1 feline and end up with 2..... Puff is the Blue persian boy who had personality plus, seemingly having fun playing with Lotus's pigtails. And Elf is too cute to be a boy, but too small to be a breeder.. so we got lucky... hoping to show him one day if he can grow enough. Feeding time is a frenzy around here.. on all fronts.

The junior cook

Charlotte has done OODLES of cooking courses over the past few months... and her confidence is coming along. She has done a weekly course at a community centre but also more specialist type sessions with cooks from various food businesses providing guidance. The most memorable food was Greek with hamburgers that had fetta in them with beautiful soft bread rolls that were obviously just made from the chef's kitchen. There was also the recipe for the sauce but it was delicious and light!

Grandpa has been a wonderful backstop taking Lotus to music class or Chinese class.

Becoming a parent/wants/needs/desires

We all hope for a perfectly healthy child that is natural. Even when adopting we hope for a perfect cute little bundle no matter what their size.

I have now learnt that it is not until you have become a parent and see the strengths/weaknesses and medical issues of these children that you realise how wonderful it is to parent ANY child. Your whole life changes to focus on the child and their wellbeing and future.

It is saddening to think that children need to be abandoned from their birth family because of some deformity which can be managed with medical intervention. Lotus requires on going doctor appointments but that is such a minor blip in who she is and the amazing progress she has undertaken since having her own family. And no matter what issues they face or come across it is so wonderful to parent these youngsters and to see and hope for such a bright future for them.

I have now met another family hoping to adopt that turn out to be in the same batch sent to China when we applied for Lotus - needless to say we went the green stream and had a CCAA match SNs. They have no children and yearn for that perfect little baby girl that China had been so famous for supplying. Meanwhile if you follow the shared list you know of so many often slightly older boys that are available.

Being in a position to look back how my mind has changed over the years in what sorts of needs I would consider I ache. In particular there is a boy at Charlotte's SWI we met last June who has been on so many lists for so many years. Our department here would never allow out of birth order but I know no one will come forth for him given his slight abnormal face and age. He is such a shy boy and sweet - when I sit watching the girls do their swimming class I think of him and how it would be great to bring him along to learn to swim despite his needs. And I imagine the smiles he would make with each little step of progress. And what would he think of the sea and the ocean? Would he even be aware of it given it seems he may not have hardly ever been out of the SWI?

Need to find an American hubby where the rules are no where near as strict!!