one in a billion

morgan is a slave driver. and it's awesome. yesterday he said we'd be back to the hotel by 3:30p and we were pulling in at 3:29. today we had a couple items of business to get done but otherwise it was a couple group pics and you're on your own. the island is not very big so it's easy to cover the territory quickly. it's a blessing and a curse because it's easy to feel claustrophobic and that you just want to go exploring this massive city. at the same time the pearl river becomes this magic little moat keeping you safe in disneyland. tomorrow we have a chance to go exploring the city with a private guide. there's nothing on the agenda until 3p where we do paperwork to get ready for our appt at the US consulate on thursday. and tomorrow night is daddy's night out at the group massage place. i think we might just take the chance to see the city. but come sunrise disneyland may be the most appealing thing. we'll see.

so today morgan rounded us all up and had us in our AAC t-shirts. we took a group shot in our hotel lobby then strolled as a group over to the white swan hotel for a group shot there. if you're even thinking about doing chinese adoption you've probably heard of the white swan. it's a massive hotel that is THE stopping place for the vast majority of americans adopting from china due to it's location next door to the american consulate. at least until last week. last week the consulate moved to a building in the city. we'll see what that does to the swan. i imagine not much. if you go to the flickr sight you'll see the lobby of the white swan. a swank place. maybe swanker then the dolton hotel in changsha and from what i've heard there're are some decent western shops and eateries nearby the hotel. i think we'll shoot for breakfast over there in the morning. (we've tried room service twice now with mixed results. the first time i called they asked me to call a different number, i'm assuming to speak with someone in english, but no one answered, so we ate from 7-eleven. last night we filled out the little card and hung it on the door so there'd be breakfast in the morning. about the time we had given up on the food ever getting here this morning the phone rings and the gal says, the dim sum in on the two. you can imagine my confusion. i'm pretty certain we didn't order dim sum for breakfast so i was trying to ask amy and tell the gal i think she might have the wrong number. she says again, the dim sum is on the two and then finally hangs up. a few minutes later food was here. hopefully that wasn't some sort of secret code in case communists were listening on the line. i'd hate to think i missed out on international intrigue on account of being dense.)

after the swan we headed to the medical exam place just up the street from our hotel where they have a room set aside for adoption checkouts. it's a checkout for two reasons. one, they are checking the kids out to make sure they at least look ok. no bleeding from the eyes or aliens popping out of their stomachs. they play a dinky keyboard to see if they turn their heads to sound, and then you're gone. it's also a checkout because this is pretty much the last thing the chinese government does with these kids before they leave the country. it's all on the US side now - excluding customs at the airport, that is.

after the medical check up we came back to the room to crash for a nap. it's stormed twice since we've been here and this afternoon it was really neat. kinda reminded me of colorado's afternoon thunderstorms where it's sunny in the morning, storms intensely, and then is sunny again. this was just like that. except in chinese. after the storm and the naps we kinda just hung out in the room for awhile, joy had beef jerky. then we suited up and cruised the island. had a couple errands to run, including stopping at sherry's place (sherry did our laundry for us. she sends it back clean, folded around cardboard and wrapped in plastic like it's newly bought) to arrange to have her engrave a family portrait into granite. we gave her a picture of isaac so it'll be of all four of us. sherry's really nice. the kind of person you feel you've known for a long time. she has strollers for free for adopting families to use. she gave joy a little bracelet for free. i'm sure we'll see her again and i hope to get a picture for you all.

we ate dinner at a thai restaurant on the corner called "the cow and bridge". don't know if that's another weird english translation or what. i felt a strange cross-roads of cultures sitting in a thai restaurant in china, two white people with their chinese daughter, sitting next to two german flight attendants. the food was decent. joy was fun. got recorded her downing rice congee which is overly cooked rice, kinda like oatmeal. it's quite the site to behold.

we stopped at 7-eleven to get a calling card and some chocolate. they have slurpees here, too. i'm sure they are just as good, if not better than sno-balls back in hays. if they would keep i would bring one home. maybe i'll have one and just have to be the impartial judge?

right now i'm finishing off some skittles. joy just passed out in amy's arms in mid drink from the bottle. too much partying for that girl. and i can tell amy is quite happy to be there with her. it's sweet to watch. can't wait to get home and be with my boy. we showed joy the little movie of isaac mugging at the camera (you can see it on the vids and pics link under narcissism). she flipped out. i think they are going to be fast buddies. and the worst of enemies, too! both are used to being the center of attention. i sense a couple smack downs coming. and lots of love. i think amy and i will both be dethroned by the enamouring power of the older brother.

there's a store here on the island that amy had shopped at before we ever came to china. she found it online and it's called "a gift from china". she bought some cool necklaces that say mother and daughter in chinese characters. we didn't realize the store was on the island. they also are a charity for orphaned and disadvantaged children. you can find them at www.agiftfromchina.co.uk and they are an outreach of the good rock organization (www.goodrock.org.uk). neat stuff.

thanks for keeping tabs with us. it's been amazing to be here but it'll be more amazing to be home.