Home Sweet Home

Good Morning Everyone!!!

We're home and comfy after a long journey.

The much feared flight back was not "Quinn and Alice on a Plane" as first expected - though Alice did bonk a few heads with a water bottle, they both slept for a good portion of the flight. They were also well apart from each other in the plane, which was probably good for the safety of all of the passengers :).

Much to our surprise, we were greeted by several friends and family upon arrival (thanks to all of for taking time out of your schedules to welcome us home). Quinn was very happy to see everyone, especially all of the lovely young girls who received the bulk of his affections (should we be surprised).

When we arrived at our house, there was a very thoughtful greeting on our door from our good friends Lynn, Duncan, Kira and Maia (Thx). After showing Quinn his new digs, we had some soup, and played basketball and air hockey (Quinn was in his glory). We quickly reset our clocks and were all in bed by about 11:30pm. We woke up this morning around 8am. Likely given the huge change for Quinn, he was not his usual chipper self this morning, getting sick a few times, but hopefully, he will be OK in a day or 2 and can get to know everyone real soon.

Thanks again to all of you for sharing in our memorable journey. See you soon!!

p.s. Here is our "After" trip photo...

A Fond Farewell (for now) to our Children's Birth Country

This morning, Jennifer and Hannah toured the Forbidden City, while the rest of the clan did some last minute shopping.

The Forbidden City lies in the heart of Beijing, north of Tiananmen Square. It was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties, with construction starting in 1407.

In the afternoon, we spent some time with everyone's favourite travel guide, Ma Rui, from our previous 2 adoption trips (she says hello to everyone). It was nice to connect with her once again. In the evening, Hannah enjoyed a wonderful Martial Arts show with the Lotens' 8-year old son and his Grandfather, while we did some more shopping and spent some time chatting and laughing with our guide, Fontana, in our hotel room.

With mixed feelings of sadness and gladness, our journey has come to an end, a journey that we will never forget. Three weeks ago on a cold winter morning in Burlington, we started our trek to China to meet our new son Shi Lin Yu (Quinn). Three provinces, 2 "province-level status" municipalities, 6 cities, 4 planes, 1 train, and 5 buses later, we are preparing for our final flight to Toronto Thursday afternoon.

A big thank you to our niece/cousin, Jennifer, who was a tremendous help throughout the trip, lending a hand at every turn. A big thank you to our travel guide, Fontana, who is a very genuine, down-to-earth and caring person. Especially for the girls' homeland trip prior to meeting Quinn, it felt like she was an extended member of our family. Also, a big thank you to the Loten family for their fun times over the final 2 weeks of our journey, and their new daughter, Alice, for keeping our Quinn in line. It is our hope that we can maintain a special friendship for years to come for the sake of our respective new family members, and for ourselves.

We hope that you enjoyed sharing our experience with us as much as we enjoyed sharing with you, and want to express a heart-felt thank you to all of you who added well-wishes along the way.

We can't wait to introduce our newest family member, Quinn, to you following our return. We'll add a final post after settling in at home to let you know how well we survived the flight. It should be eventful.

Below, are just a few of the memories that each of us will take away from our adventure:

Steve

Seeing Hannah light up when greeted by her caregivers at the Jiujiang SWI
10 high-5's within the first half hour of meeting Quinn
Becoming Ba Ba's (aka Daddy's) boy after only a day with Quinn
The panoramic views in the lifting fog at the Lushan Mountains
Alice and Quinn “Food fights”
Banana Bread in China
The "Waltz" of the pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle
The disappearance of the bicycle
The vibrancy of the Chinese people - hard working, full of life

Jane
Meeting Quinn and knowing that he liked Mommy for the first 2 days
Hubei Provincial Museum
Our crazy driver in Shanghai
Wuhan breakfasts
Returning to each of the girls' orphanages and seeing their positive reactions
Seeing Hannah's caregiver cry after meeting Hannah for the first time since her adoption in 2000
The drive up the Lushan Mountain, knowing that we still had to go back down
Alice and Quinn (Shiyan SWI mates) talking to each other about all the planes they saw, across several rows when landing in Beijing

Jennifer
Squat toilets, and Jane's expression when she discovered that she had to use them
Movie night with Hannah and Stephanie - Cheetah Girls and High School Musical!!
Hanging underwear and socks in the bathroom
Crazy drivers
Playing "Evil Robot" with Hannah and Stephanie
All the adorably cute babies at the orphanges
Being told that I use the word "Cute" to describe everything
Tickling Quinn's tummy
The Great Wall
Lushan Mountain
Our guide Fontana (and the funny moments we shared)

Stephanie
Visiting her orphanage
The Great Wall
Visiting Hannah's orphanage
Lushan Mountain

Hannah
Visiting my orphanage
Going to the Great Wall
Going to the porcelain shop and buying gifts for my friends
Going to the Kung Fu show at the Red Theatre
Seeing the Shanghai acrobat show
Visiting Stephanie's orphanage
Emailing my teacher and getting emails from her
Not the Lushan Mountains as I was afraid
Meeting Quinn
Meeting Evan and Grace, and playing with them everyday
Playing with Quinn and Alice, Evan and Grace's sister

Dust-Up at the Hutong

Today we set out early for a tour of a Beijing Hutong. The hutongs represent a significant place in the incredible culture and history of Beijing. The word "hutong" originates from the word "hottog" which means "well" in Mongolian. Villagers dug out a well and inhabited there. Hutong means a lane or alley, a passage formed by lines of "siheyuan" (a compound with houses, around a courtyard) where "old Beijing" residents live.

The morning was quite breezy, dusty and smoggy due to a sandstorm that rolled in from Inner Mongolia. We were taken for a scenic ride into the hutong by "modern" rickshaws - 2-passenger carts pulled by a bicycle. We visited a resident's home and courtyard for a quick chat and then visited a lovely garden of Prince Gong's mansion. Included in our visit to the hutong was a visit to another "kindergarten" classroom for some songs and fun. In the afternoon Tuesday, we rearranged the schedule to have free time rather than visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Though the hutong excursion was nice and the children had fun, it was not as impactful as previous sights on our journey. Maybe it was the windy, gray day, or the very quick visit to a villager's home, or the seemingly "touristy" feel of the hutong, or the addition of 13 new families to our travels, or the addition of a 3-year old that never stops.... or maybe we're just winding down an amazing trip, and it's time to come home.

Tomorrow, one last day to shop and then we'll head home on Thursday. Stay tuned for a final post tomorrow (oh, and a "final" final post with the "After" shot of us at the end of our journey).

No Shots Please...

Today while Jennifer and the girls spent some time in the park outside the Temple of Heaven, we went to the S.O.S. Clinic in Beijing for Quinn's medical check-up, required prior to his departure from China. The wait was a little long, but Quinn kept himself occupied in the kids' playroom, and flirting with all of the nurses. The check-up was very cursory, but Quinn came out with a clean bill of health. When the doctor started her tests, Quinn insisted that the doctor not give him any shots. For those from our first adoption trip in 2000, the doctor was the same woman that looked after our babies (Dr. Chen from Montreal).

In the afternoon, we arranged to meet up with one of Stephanie's former C.H. Norton daycare mates, William, who moved back to Beijing almost 2 years ago. We visited William's school and class, and was greeted with song, games and some martial arts practice. The children were a real treat to watch, and Hannah, Stephanie and Quinn had a lot of fun. Oh, and did we mention Quinn was flirting with all of the teachers. We spent some time with William and his Mom in their apartment - Hannah wanted her Gr. 2 class to see that many Chinese people still have decorations up from the Chinese New Year that started on February 7. We then headed off to a hot pot dinner at (apparently) the biggest mall in Asia. The food was great (as usual). One floor of the mall houses about a dozen very large, fancy restaurants representing different parts of Asia, with hosts at the entrances decked out in traditional costumes of the respective region. Oh, and did we mention Quinn was flirting with all of the waitresses.

With all of the trips to and from the medical clinic and Stephanie's friend's school, the contrast between transportation in the year 2000 when we first came to Beijing, and transportation now is striking (and somewhat sad). There are very few bikes anymore, just countless cars fighting traffic jams throughout the day.

Tomorrow, we are touring one of the Hutongs in Beijing (an ancient city alley which is rapidly disappearing given the growth in China), as well as visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (and maybe some shopping for Jane).

We've Hit the Wall

Today was an early start as we set off for The Great Wall of China. The girls were very excited to set foot on such an amazing structure, one that they had set foot on (or their foot through Mom and Dad's foot) during their respective adoption trips in 2000 and 2003.

Portions of The Great Wall were first constructed in 7th century B.C. The Wall was primarily built to fortify and protect the Chinese Empire from the Mongolians and other invaders. Successive Chinese dynasties all had a hand in repairing, re-building, lengthening, modifying and preserving the Great Wall. There does not seem to be one agreed-to length of the structure, but it is approx. 3000 km long, stretching from Kansu in the west to the Yellow Sea in the east.

Today, we visited a famous tourist section of the Wall, Badaling, 70 km north of Beijing. Construction of this portion of the Wall started in 1368 and lasted for over 200 years. There were quite a few people today given that it was Sunday, but a great visit was had by all. Upon arrival, the group was first greeted by 2 large birthday cakes to celebrate several birthdays which included those for Jane, Quinn and Steve. The weather was a little cool because of the wind at the Wall (maybe 7 C), but the views were spectacular as always. The kids, Jennifer, Flat Jessica and Flat Stanley, enjoyed their first taste of one of the "new" 7 Wonders of the World. This trip, Jane made the higher climb with Jennifer (Jane's highest climb ever!!), while Daddy dealt with squirmy Sir Quinn, who fell asleep on Ba Ba's shoulders on the way down.

After the visit to Badaling, we had lunch at the restaurant in the "Jade Factory", and again watched Quinn and his Shiyan mate Alice make a mess of the food and themselves. We all survived and spent an hour or so making a few Jade purchases.

As we drove back to our hotel, the tremendous growth of Beijing since our last 2 visits is very evident, and the city seems to span an enormous distance from one end of the city to the other. We passed by 3 Olympic venues, including the main Olympic stadium for Opening and Closing ceremonies and Track and Field, and the Water Cube, host to the swimming events.

Upon arrival at the hotel, the kids bunkered in for a DVD. A Visa photo shoot in the evening and an 8 1/2 dumpling outing for Quinn, signalled the end of a long day.

Tomorrow morning, Quinn gets his medical while the kids may go kite flying at the Temple of Heaven, and then its a free afternoon (for more shopping for Jane).

2008 Beijing Olympics - Food Fighting

Well, we started the last leg of our amazing China journey by flying into Beijing late Friday evening and meeting up with 13 other families from Children's Bridge adopting babies from other provinces. We didn't get settled into our hotel rooms until around 11:30pm which made for a long day. We are staying at the TianTan Hotel in south Beijing, a few blocks from the Temple of Heaven and the Pearl Market - Jane is in her glory. Given the late arrival in Beijing, we shifted the Great Wall visit to Sunday and spent a "quiet" day settling in with our new additions. On Saturday, Steve also celebrated his 33rd(?) birthday.

With a population of over 17 million people, Beijing is the capital, and cultural and political centre of China. It will play host to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games from August 8 - 24.

Alice and Quinn (Shiyan orphanage mates) spent several hours playing with each other and with the other Loten and Ottman clan members on Saturday. It was (is) quite amusing watching Alice and Quinn interact - they display a lot of the rough and tumble nature that we are assuming occupied their days in the orphanage. They tossed crayons, ate chalk, fought over cookies and miniature cakes, sending crumbs in all directions, shredded an orange, throwing orange peel across the room and taking turns sucking the juice out. The funniest of all was when Alice (the older of the 2 and apparent "leader"), was feeding a yogurt drink to Quinn, dousing the 2 of them and the room floor with the white liquid. Did we mention that this was all in the Lotens' room :). Though the above description may set off the alarm bells, the 2 have made great progress over the past week or so.

Steve, though happy to have a man on his side, is getting a little worn out. Sir Quinn is Ba Ba's boy, always wanting to be with Daddy. Though Quinn knows who Ma Ma is and offers a kiss or hug when requested, Mom is feeling a little left out. However, after carefully reconsidering things, Mom realizes that the free time gives her more opportunity to do what she does best - Shop!!

Tune in Sunday afternoon for a Great Wall post (with pics - sorry for the text-only post) - we're all looking forward to it.

Score 1 for Daddy (and Mommy)

Today, the rain did not come as promised :). We had another awesome spring day as we headed to the Hubei Provincial Museum. The Museum contains the most important collections of artifacts in Hubei province - 812 of these are listed as first-class relics of China, and 16 are considered national treasures. The most famous treasure is the Chime Bells, which is the largest bronze musical instrument ever discovered. The Museum was a great exhibition of ancient Chinese artifacts, similar to the one we saw in Shanghai. The children especially enjoyed seeing the chariots and horse armour that were excavated from a very recent archeological discovery in Hubei.

Sir Quinn was his usual cheeky self today, throwing, hitting, spitting food, dumping apple juice on Daddy's head, etc. Steve and Jane continued to try new words and/or actions to get him to stop, but with little success. Finally a breakthrough - Daddy hit the jackpot. After Quinn hit his fellow Shiyan adoptee, Alice, and howled with laughter, Daddy sternly said "Ba Ba Shengqi" (shung chee) ("Daddy is angry") and laid Quinn on his back, he began to cry and cry. Several times for the rest of the day when Quinn was "crossing the line", Daddy only had to say Quinn's name (Shi Lin Yu) with a raised voice and stand up, and he responded very favourably :). Lots of work still ahead for Mom and Dad, but the transformation is in full flight. Not bad, considering we are trying to reverse 3 years of "acquired behaviours". We joke with the Lotens that the Shiyan SWI must have been a free-for-all - no rules, every child for himself, with the last one standing proclaimed the victor.

Having said all this, we did see a very sensitive side to our feisty wonder today while at the museum (which was an awesome place, by the way). While touring around, there was a little boy (probably younger than Quinn) who started to cry. Quinn immediately went over to see what was wrong and stood looking up at this little boy in his mother's arms. When the mom put him back down on the ground, Quinn looked at his face (presumably to see if he was still crying) and then put his arms around him to give him a comforting hug and kiss. We've seen this look of concern, but not the outward actions of a truly sensitive heart.

Tomorrow is our final day in Wuhan as we fly to Beijing late afternoon on Friday for our final leg of our journey :(. It has been a special time here with the addition of Quinn, and we hope to return soon to this fabulous city and province.