Update on Our Sweet Daughter!

Katie Chao Yan and Mr. G. had a good sleep last night and seem ready to face the day. She did wake up with a fever again--last night it was 102.2, so I'm worried that it is more than a cold. The clinic gave her meds but they weren't antibiotics. She is feeling better, but I am afraid he'll be back at the clinic again if the fever doesn't break soon.

Katie is a young lady who thinks of everyone else first. My mother is a knitter and made several beautiful baby sweaters that we have donated to the orphanage. There is a baby at the hotel that is being adopted from the same orphanage right now, and Mr. G. suggested they give one of the sweaters to him. Katie said, "No, these are for the orphanage kids, he already has a family." So to the orphanage they go, along with many pairs of mittens and hats that were donated by my school.

When Katie was sick and had to go to the clinic, she asked the guide to take her and let Mr. G. go back to the room for a nap because she knew he was tired.

We had packed many small Avon bath gels, powders, etc. for use as gifts for the nannies --they are quite popular in China. Katie has hand-selected who will get what, and she is excited about giving it to them. They will get to go back to the orphanage on WEDNESDAY to visit. We are hoping that Katie will get to see her best friend, Ling Ling. She is 17 years old and visually impaired. Ling Ling attends a trade school, and Katie Chao Yan refers to her as her "sister". We are going to do everything we can to keep the two of them in touch with one another.

Another exciting development is that Mr. G. and Katie may be able to go visit her school!!! This would be so great--we can get an idea of what school has been like for her. Katie said that she was bullied at school, especially by the boys. She was worried about that happening at her new school, and we assured her that it would not. If anything, her new friends will go out of their way to watch out for her.

Katie was able to keep her school books--these will be priceless to us as they will help us understand what she has learned. In China, she had to get up at 5:15am to ride her bike back and forth to school--8 miles total!

We have learned that Katie does not like spicy food or noodles. She loves rice, ice cream, apples, and bananas. Steve tried to take her to the restaurant in the hotel, but she insisted on going to Burger King because she said the other one was too expensive!

Today they are headed to the Civil Affairs Office to sign the paperwork which will legally make her our daughter!

Quick Update

This morning, the kids got to speak to Katie Chao Yan for the first time. We didn't get too far beyond "Hello", but it was nice for them all to talk to one another! Justin tried his hand at Mandarin...unfortunately he said, "This is your little sister, Justin" instead of "This is your little brother, Justin!" Giggling is a universal language, so maybe that was a good thing!

Mr. G. said that Katie's suitcase was filled with snacks and a change of clothes. He thinks that she was a favorite in the orphanage! She arrived with a cold and fever, so they have already visited the doctor and she is on medication for that. She also wears glasses! Everyone in our family does also, so she'll fit right in!

Mr. G. gave her some first grade sight word cards to read and she was able to read 8 out of 10 of them. She doesn't know what the words mean yet, but she's off to a good start! Mr. G. said that she really isn't understanding what he is saying to her, but that is to be expected. Denise (the guide) was with them all day today and could translate.

Tomorrow they will go back to the Civil Affairs office to sign the official adoption papers which will legally make her our daughter! Then they go to different offices for notary and passport processing. We'll talk with them again tonight (tomorrow morning for them).

Mr. G. sounds really exhausted! The lack of sleep plus the excitement of the day is taking its toll. He also accidentally brushed his teeth with sink water and has been paying the digestive price for it. Many times in other countries, you must drink or use bottled water instead of sink water, or you will get sick. Hoping a good night's rest leaves them ready to tackle tomorrow.

It sounds like their first day together was a huge success!

Mr. G. has Katie!!!!!

(This is a picture of Katie from 2 weeks ago. Mr. G. can't find the USB cord to download the photos!)

I just got THE CALL!!! Mr. G. and Katie are back at the hotel with Denise, the guide. He sounds SO excited--poor guy only got 2 hours of sleep last night as he hasn't adjusted to the time change yet. He's running on adrenaline--LOTS of it from the sounds of things!

He said Katie has already become inseparable with him. She is VERY excited and happy about being adopted! Director Wong from the orphanage personally brought her to the Civil Affairs Office this morning, and he will be there again tomorrow when they go back to sign the documents that officially make her our daughter.

Steve said she is every bit as beautiful as her pictures, and she loves running and singing. She also thinks her Baba (Daddy) is loud! (She's right, he is!) She came with an entire suitcase of stuff already packed--we're not sure what's in it yet though!

Katie has been trying to learn English, and I can tell that she is excited about having a "Mommy". "Mommy" was in almost every sentence! I tried to say some Mandarin phrases--I only know a few--but I wanted to say some words to her directly and not through the guide.

When someone first learns a new language, they make a lot of mistakes. Sometimes they have learned to say something, but it is hard for them to understand when another person asks the same thing. Or they understand the words, but aren't sure what to say back.

Mr. G. put Katie on the phone:

"Hello Mommy! Hi Mommy!"

"Ni Hao, Hello Chao Yan!" (Chao Yan is her Chinese name.)

Katie in English: "Hello, Mommy, how are you?"

Me in English: "Fine. How are you, Chao Yan?"

Katie in English: "Yes." (She did not understand what I said back to her.)

(pause...)

Me in Mandarin: "I am happy you are my daughter."

Katie in English: "Thank you, Mommy, thank you."

Me in Mandarin: "I will be your Mommy forever."

Katie: "Aww, THANK YOU Mommy!"

Steve was in the background talking about the time difference--Denise translated to tell her that it was midnight in NY.

Katie: "Go to bed. Good-a-bye."

Me in Mandarin: "Good bye, Chao Yan. I love you!"

Tomorrow morning we will call so that the kids can speak to her before they go to school. It will be 7pm in China, 7am here.

I can't wait to have PICTURES! She sounds like an angel!

Nanjing

I just talked with Mr. G. He is doing well and is anxious to get Katie. Yesterday he got a chance to walk around Nanjing a bit. He said it is very different than Wuhan, where he was when we adopted Leah three years ago.

He has not seen many other people from America or other western countries in Nanjing. A lot of people are staring at him, probably wondering why he is in China. He said that this city is nice, but that there are a lot of homeless people on the streets. Some have approached him asking for money. He helped one very old woman who was carrying a baby. "Shyeh Shyeh nee (Thank you)", she said, over and over. Homelessness does not happen everywhere in China, just like it does not happen everywhere in America. But sadly, it happens. We have so much to be thankful for, with our homes and food and families.

Mr. G. said that most people he has met in Nanjing do not speak English. When they do, they may know a word like "supermarket", but they don't know that "grocery store" means the same thing. This has made things kind of hard, but it helps him to know what it will feel like for Katie. She will have a lot to get used to in America!

Mr. G. said the breakfasts in the hotel are very good, but the food is so different from what we eat! This morning, he had an egg baked in a tea mixture, boiled pumpkin, and dumplings. Some of the food is very spicy too!

Nanjing is about an hour and a half from Yangzhou, where Katie lives. Tomorrow (10pm Sunday night in NY), he will meet her for the first time. Imagine meeting your parent for the first time ever at age 13! How do you think she feels about that?

Another update!

This is the Mandarin Garden Hotel, where Mr. G. and Katie will be staying in Nanjing.

It is 6pm Friday night, and I just got off the phone with Mr. G. Where he is now, it is 6am on Saturday!

He said that when the plane flew over Greenland, he could see giant cracks in the ice. He didn't take a picture, but I sure wish he did!

His hotel is nice and right near a busy shopping area. He said that the beds are hard and low to the ground, and there is no dresser in the room. Gaming is very popular there, and they have areas where people can play cards and chess.

Tomorrow he will learn more about the area and get all of the paperwork together for Katie's adoption. His guide, Denise, will meet him at the hotel and drive 40 minutes to the Civil Affairs Office. There, he will meet Katie at 10:00am on Monday (10:00pm Sunday night in NY). After that, he will go back to the hotel and they will call home! I expect to hear from them sometime around midnight. I can't wait!!!

Mr. G. is in China!

Mr. G. called me this morning at 8:45 am to tell me that he had just arrived safely to his hotel in Nanjing, China! He had been awake for more than 29 hours straight, so he was pretty tired!

We could only talk for a minute, because he called me on my cell phone and that is very expensive. We will get to talk longer tonight on our landline phones.

Mr. G. said that it was daylight the ENTIRE time he was on the airplane! He flew up over the North Pole, and with the time changes he never got to see night time. I will post more details after I talk with him tonight!

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Katie has finished her last day of school in China. (Remember, they are 12 hours ahead of us there.) I wonder what she must be thinking! I bet she is excited, but it sure must be scary to leave everything she knows and fly halfway across the world to a new place. We think she's REALLY brave! :-)

Ni Hao and Welcome!

Ni Hao! (This is "Hello" in Chinese.)

Welcome to our blog! If you are just joining us, this blog was created for teachers and kids to learn more about our new daughter Katie. She is 13 years old, and we are adopting her from China. On this blog you will find information about China and Chinese culture, adoption, and special needs. Everything here is meant for kids, so have fun and enjoy!

If want to start from the beginning of the blog, click on the posts to the right, starting with the one at the top.

Please feel free to post questions also! Mr. G. (Katie's dad) is going to China to bring her home, while Mrs. G. (Katie's mom)is staying here in the US with the other four kids in the family. Mrs. G. will be posting updates as she has them, and hopefully a few pictures too. Please check back often!

It's Travel Day!!!

(This is Katie last week at the orphanage, talking with her nannies.)

Mr. G. will be flying out of the Binghamton airport at 6:00am on Thursday. He first goes to Washington, DC, and he'll be there until 12:20pm. Then he gets on the plane for a 15 hour plane to Beijing!!! He will be in Beijing for a few hours, then will take a plane for two more hours to Nanjing. It will take him over 27 hours to get there!!!

We will miss him a lot, but we will get to talk to him on the phone once he arrives. It will be Friday morning then in New York state! China is in a different time zone, so it will be 12 hours later where Mr. G. is!

China Travel Dates

Mr. G. has his travel itinerary. An itinerary is a schedule of where he needs to be and when he needs to be there. We found out that he will need to be in China a little bit longer than we had planned. There was one date at the Chinese consulate that had to be scheduled later than usual due to the Guangzhou Trade Fair. It added an extra three days to the travel plan...

China is in a different time zone. They are 12 hours ahead of us! So sometimes when it is Monday in America, it is Tuesday in China! Isn't that wild?!

Anyway....here is Mr. G. and Katie's itinerary:

Thursday, March 27th-Friday March 28th
Mr. G. leaves the Binghamton airport at 6am. He will fly to Washington, DC, and then to Beijing, China. Then he will get on another plan and go from Beijing to Nanjing. This whole trip will take 27 hours!!

March 29th- Mr. G. will sleep, sleep, sleep! The time change and long flight will make this necessary.

March 30th-Mr. G. will get everything ready to pick up Katie. There are papers to prepare, gifts for everyone to get wrapped (a custom in China), and he needs to meet with his guides.

March 31st-GOTCHA DAY!! Mr. G. will get Katie in Nanjing. When this happens, it will be the middle of the night here in New York State. I (Mrs. G.) will be waiting by the phone to hear from them!

April 1st-processing Adoption paperwork

April 2nd-Sightseeing in Nanjing with Katie

April 3rd-Mr. G. and Katie will visit the orphanage. It is in the town of Yangzhou, a few hours away.

April 4th-Katie's passport and papers should be ready. They will get on a plane and fly to Xi'an province. Xi'an is west and not too far from Tibet.

April 5-7 Mr. G. and Katie will see the terra cotta warriors in Xi'an.

April 8 Fly to Guangzhou in southeast China. Katie has a physical exam in the afternoon.

April 9th There is a visa interview to get Katie ready to go to the United States

April 10th Go to the American Consulate to take an oath and get Katie's visa. Fly to Beijing.

April 11-13 In Beijing-see the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Olympic site

April 14 Get on the plane to come home! Fly from Beijing to Washington, DC. Stay overnight in Washingon, DC.

April 15 Arrive at the Binghamton Airport at 2:05am!

Welcome Home Katie!!!!

New Pictures of Katie!

These pictures were just taken YESTERDAY!! The little girl in the black jacket is named Jael. She is being adopted now, and her parents took her back to the orphanage to say goodbye to the other kids and the nannies. Jael will live in Rochester, NY when she gets home, so we will be able to visit her!

Katie told Jael that she is excited to have a family and she wants her parents to come get her NOW!

The littlest girl in the pictures is named Ting Lee. She does not have a family yet. She will live in the orphanage until a family is found for her.

The ladies in the pink coats are the nannies. They probably wear them because they take care of lots of babies--and babies spit up! The nannies are sad to say goodbye to the children, but they are happy to see them adopted into families.

We Have Travel Dates!

Yay!!!! We don't have the details of each day yet, but we do have some dates to share!

Mr. G. is leaving for China at 6am out of the Binghamton Airport on March 27th! He will fly to Dulles International in Washington, DC, and then on to Beijing, China! I will share more information later once we have it all.

He will be returning home on April 15th! We'll be greeting him at the Binghamton Airport at 2:05pm. The timing is perfect, because the entire family is on spring break for the rest of that week. Katie will get to spend a lot of time with her brothers and sisters!

I can't wait to tell you about all of the adventures in between these dates! Stay tuned! :-)

Here's a Question for All of the Kids Out There!

Let's see if we have anyone out there who is really good at solving problems!

When Katie leaves China on the airplane, she will leave Beijing at 6:30pm on
April 14th. Then she will arrive in Washington, DC at 7:44pm, also on April 14th.

China is on the other side of the world, so how does she travel here in that amount of time?

See if you can figure it out!

Hint: This website may help you!
www.worldtimeserver.com

WE HAVE TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!

Woo Hoo!!!

We just learned today that Mr. G. has been approved to travel to China to bring Katie home! By the middle of next week, we will know the exact dates. We think he will leave on March 27th, though! Wow, that's in less than two weeks!!

We have a LOT of things to do this weekend to get ready for her. Mr. G. is packing a suitcase full of gifts for the children from Katie's orphanage and for her nannies. We have to make sure we have everything ready for her that she will need here.

If everything goes the way we think it will, she will arrive home during our spring vacation. That will be nice because her brothers and sisters will be home that week and can spend it with her.

Stay tuned...we'll post updates as soon as we have them!

Still No Travel Approval :-(

We're patiently (or maybe not so patiently) waiting for travel approval to bring Katie home. We thought we'd get the call this week, but it looks like we'll hear something next week instead. Approximately 3 weeks after that, Mr. G. will be going to China!