Sunday 11-18-12

Today we ventured to the Great Wall, to the Badaling section, or as we nicknamed it, the Bada Bing section (for you Sopranos fans.) But before actually getting to the wall we had to stop at a jade "museum" first. This was one of those government / touristy places where everyone gets a kickback if you buy something. Of course it wasn't much of a museum even though we had a "tour" of them carving jade stone and describing the various typres of jade. And then we were led into a gigantic store the with prohibitively expensive jade. Of course all the children wanted to buy stuff and Jemma was no exception. Luckily we left our wallets intact and a tearless Jemma (phew!) Driving through the mountains up to the Great Wall was beautiful and the air finally looked clear and clean. Even though it was a gorgeous sunny day in Beijing the air hung heavy with smog and particulates. As Vivian our guide informed us, we were lucky to be traveling in winter because the air in Beijing in the summer is filled with black dust that you can see. Oy vey. There was snow on the ground which gave the mountains even more depth and beauty. We drove past several sections of the Great Wall before getting to the Badaling section, so our excitement was growing. Vivian told me that some Chinese people like to spend the day at the Great Wall just to get their exercise. You could see why as it is a challenging climb and an awesome view. Hard to imagine those who were enslaved to build it and oftentimes died while doing so - their bodies buried deep in the wall. The children seemed to especially enjoy the challenge of the climb and Jemma managed to do many cartwheels on the way as well. One thing I've noticed in China is that the spitting seems to be more in check. Folks were spitting over the wall and I even saw a few people run to garbage pails to spit in them. On the way back from the wall we were taken to lunch at a commercial place where you eat lunch on the second floor and then go to the Cloissine "museum" and shop afterwards. Not a single Chinese person was eating lunch at the restaurant or shopping for Cloisinne. Is there no end to our forced government shopping?

Saturday 11-17-12

We arrived in Beijing exactly as scheduled after a very long but rather unremarkable flight (l never like when doctors use the word unremarkable especially when talking about your kid) but it seems fitting here. We were auspiciously seated a row in front of the other family going to the Gaoyou orphanage, mother Susan and 12 yr old daughter Rebecca. Thank goodness we all opted for Economy Plus at the last minute when we got that taunting email luring us to upgrade before checking in. Jemma sat with Rebecca the whole flight and the two bonded instantly and have been joined at the hip since. Maybe it's that they were both at the Gaoyou orphanage, maybe it's the big sister little sister relationship, maybe it's the iPhone apps or probably a bit of all of the above. We all started sniffing as we got off the plane because heard about the distinct smell of Beijing, but all we could smell was airport with a touch of Chinese food. It is a humongous airport and pretty cool looking - they did a lot of building for the Olympics and if you remember that opening ceremony and the bird's nest stadium you can imagine how cool the airport design is. We were met by the BLAS guides and brought together with a few of the other families on this trip. We have people from Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, Idaho, Tennessee, Utah, Los Angeles and Denmark - we all have different dialects, religions and lifestyles but we all have one thing in common - adopted Chinese daughters (and one son.) As soon as we exited the airport a generous waft of pollution embraced us - and that is the distinct smell. China still uses 70% coal and there are no smog emissions on the insane amount of cars on the road (not to mention the insane drivers!) The Lido Hotel was once the cat's pajamas so we are told, but it's clear they've done little to uphold that reputation. Despite the wear and tear it has some terrific amenities. A fabulous pool - someone likened it to a mini version of the Getty Villa - a real bowling alley (we didn't play), beautiful shops, lots of restaurants of every nationality - Indian, Thai, American, and even an authentic Irish Pub. Oh, and let's not forget a Starbucks, although who needs it when the breakfast buffet has such excellent espresso coffee. One of the cool things about traveling in China is that all the hotels include a huge international buffet breakfast. I remember from the time we adopted Jemma that these breakfasts are not only some of the best meals you get but also some of the most relaxing. They last about two hours and its a time for people socialize and just fuel up for the day ahead. The Lido is no exception and although they have made to order omelets and Belgian waffles, it makes me very happy to start my day with vegetables and rice.

Nov. 2, 2012 - Two Weeks Till China!

Jemma, her dad and I will fly to China on November 16, 2012 for a quick, ten-day tour of Beijing, Chengdu, Gaoyou and Shanghai. We are traveling with the Zhanjiang homeland group, and I believe there are ten families traveling - two going to the Gaoyou orphanage and the other eight to the Zhanjiang orphanage. Here's the plan - we travel from Los Angeles to Beijing via San Francisco - 15.5 hours. We are currently loading up the iPad with as many apps as possible because I doubt even Jemma can play Dragonvales for that long. We spend the first six days with the group beginning with four days in Beijing. Everything has been arranged for us through BLAS, a travel agency in China who arranges homeland return trips. What's nice about going with this organization is that they cut through a lot of the red tape such as facilitate the orphanage visits and get you access to the matching room where the babies photos and files are matched with the adopting parents. I don't think this happens very much anymore as there are so few adoptions coming out of China now and most of them are for special-needs children. After Beijing we fly to Chengdu to the famous Panda Reserve, where the children can hold a baby panda for a small fortune. We will pay that small fortune (supposedly around $250) because we hear it is incredible, even if you have to wait on-line for an hour and only hold the baby panda for a few minutes. Next, we split from the group and visit Jemma's hometown Gaoyou (city of about 800,000 3 hours northeast of Nanjing - www.aboutgaoyou.com) and will meet Vice Mayor Ni of Gaoyou, who featured our family in his book about the Gaoyou orphanage. We will also meet the Director and workers at the Gaoyou Social Welfare Institute and we are hopeful that we will meet the nanny who took care of Jemma during her time at the orphanage. She is retired now, but Mayor Ni has written to us that she is in the town and will be invited to join us. We will be spending our Thanksgiving in Gaoyou and our dinner is already arranged - I'm pretty sure they will not make turkey for us, though we can pretend the dumplings are turkey-shaped... I plan to find a Thanksgiving meal in Shanghai, which should be doable. We drive back to Nanjing and ride the bullet train into Shanghai, which takes less than two hours. Originally, I had hoped to spend some time with a long-lost friend in Shanghai - we reconnected on Facebook last year - but she is flying back to NY just a few days before we arrive. But, there are tons of things to do in Shanghai and we only have two days, so I expect we will be very busy. We fly back to Los Angeles from Shanghai and thankfully, the flight back is only 11 hours - phew! I hope our access to this blog will not be blocked during our trip; but if so we will fill in the missing information after we return. I'm not a big Facebook poster, but I will definitely share my photos on FB, though I believe there is a firewall against FB in China.

LA Times story

Our photo was featured in a follow-up article about child trafficking in China. We were interviewed along with many other families who have adopted from China. Here is the link to the story:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-china-adopt11-2009nov11,0,4189900,full.story

Halloween 2009

For Halloween this year, Jemma's costume was conceptual (again). She was, "You Can Count On Me", inspired by her recent obsession with numbers. We glued numbers all over her, painted them on her face and created a sash that said, "Count On Me". The crown was the highlight, boldly displaying a gold number eight. Needless to say, she was a big hit with the crowds. The weekend before we had a great time carving pumpkins with her friends Grace Li Qi and Anna.

Thing 1 & Thing 2

Jemma and her friend, Dasha, celebrated Halloween a little early by putting on last year's costume. You gotta love these sweet girls, even if they do turn into Thing 1 & Thing 2 sometimes!

Who Needs Disney World?

When you have a treadmill? At the beginning of the summer we had dinner with a few families at our friend's house and after dessert, our hopped-up children found a new and amazing way to use the treadmill. We adults were so amused that we had to capture it on video.

Friends, friends, friends!

Jemma loves her friends and has no shortage of them. Here she is with Zoela, Maddie and Dasha - they are all just the best!

2009 Chinese Reunion

Every summer we reunite with the families we traveled to China with. It is so much fun for the girls to reconnect with their Chinese sisters, and the adults have a hoot, too. This year, like last year, we met up in San Luis Obispo for two days and nights and took over the Embassy Suites hotel. We had crafts, a Chinese banquet, a bouncy castle, swimming in the pool, a visit to the apple orchard and of course, a trip to the beach. After the reunion we drove up the coast to Big Sur to relax in the spectacular nature. We finished our week-long trip with a night in Cambria, where we got to visit the Elephant Seals once again.

It's The Great Campout 2009!

Every year we count the days to till the next Oak Glen Nursery School campout. Only 292 days to go until the Oak Glen Campout 2010! It's hard to describe what makes this annual event so special to us. Perhaps it's being surrounded by beautiful Sycamore trees that the children climb with abandon. Perhaps it's the gourmet food and wine all of the families bring to share with one another, or the sing alongs and storytelling around the campfire. Then there's the beach in walking distance and the glorious hikes up the mountains... Last year we had a family of quail residing outside of our tent, this year jack rabbits were hopping everywhere. It's a very special way to experience community with our families at the nursery school and I know that Jemma will treasure these campouts for the rest of her life.

Oak Glen Fundraiser 2009

I am very behind on my posts, so our timeline might be a bit wonky here... Nonetheless... back in May, I helped organize the fundraiser for Jemma's nursery school, Oak Glen. We had a hugely successful event and I was so proud to work with the other mommas and poppas to create such a memorable evening. I spearheaded the food for the event under the guidance of two famous LA chefs, Thomas Boyce and Kim Boyce, who happen to be Oak Glen parents but couldn't be part of this particular event. Hard to know if the photos give it justice, but everything was done so creatively - the lighting structures, the live music, the handmade crafts - i.e. the lanterns created out of photos of our kids - so incredible - and all set in the most lush landscape in a gorgeous, eco-modern home.

Here, Kitty, Kitty

Jemma is obsessed with cats and asks for one all the time. Of course, our dogs say "NO WAY"... plus, we're both a little allergic. Nonetheless, Jemma has a wonderful way with cats and they always come to her. Here she is with Frankie, our friend Amy's new kitty. Also, that's Wally, Amy's dad, who is a big pussycat as well!

Four Years Ago...

We became a family... We love everything about our Jemma bug - she is truly the best.

Bubbles

It is a tradition to stomp on bubble wrap - usually done during the Chinese New Year to mimic fireworks. We do it every year at our reunion with the families we traveled to China with - kids love it!

Bowl Me Over!

We took Jemma to her first concert at the Hollywood Bowl last night. She was so excited and kept saying the word "orchestra" over and over. It was really wonderful to hear Dvorák and the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Gil Shaham. And it didn't hurt that we had free box seats. Jemma listened quite well and hardly whispered any questions.

Beach Bums!

We had a great day at the beach with Jemma's best buddy, Zoela. The girls spent the majority of the time down at the water running from the waves. But the photos we have show the kite flying and sand playing fun. The dogs were loving it, too!

Hat's Off!

Our little bug is a hat girl - and to think, we almost named her, Hattie! Back in 2006 we took pictures of her in the same hat - my, how she's changed!

Go Dodgers!

Jemma finally went to her first baseball game last night. Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost to the Rockies, but all the way up until the bottom of the ninth, Jemma kept saying, "But they could win, right?" Gotta love the positive thinking. We were impressed with her attention to the game which lasted the full nine innings. When I had to go to the bathroom she was quite concerned, "Hurry, Mom, or you'll miss the game!" She asked questions like, "Why can't the ball go past that line?" and "Why are they combing the dirt?" and "Can I have more peanuts?" I think we have a budding fan on our hands! At the end of the night we walked down to the field and sat on the plush grass to watch the wonderful fireworks display. These photos were captured on my iPhone - not bad!

Bicycle! Bicycle!

Jemma has graduated to a two-wheeler with training wheels and she loves it! Her best trick - honking the horn while riding in traffic - another typical driver in Los Angeles. And don't tell her she shouldn't ride in a dress with flip flops either or she'll do more than just honk the horn!