11/03/2009: Double Arch Day in China

First, let's talk about jet lag. I am feeling a buzzing in my ears and my head feels like it is stuffed with cotton. Or goose down. And I can't shake the feeling of disorientation. In a word, Jet Lag Sucks.

Anyway, yesterday was a sloooooow day. We stayed close to the hotel in case our paperwork was done and we got the phone call to go back to the government office to meet our guide. That's what we were told to do. And so that is what we did. Dull Dull Dull.

Have you sat in a hotel room with a very active, non-couch potato, 8 year old boy for the entire morning? Yah. Okayyyyyyyyy. He was pretty good. He played with some of the toys we brought for him. And he had this constant buzzing talking going on. All in Chinese, low voice, talking to himself, and he didn't stop even to take a breath. The only he shut up was to eat. Anyway.... I find it a bit odd but I chalked it up to nervousness. I am watching him and I know he knows that.

Around noon I called the guide. "Don't worry.". Okayyyyyyy. She had not heard anything yet. "Everything will be fine.". That is the same mantra I hear from almost every Chinese person I've meet, come to think of it. And I've met a LOT of them. It's almost like a universal motto here. I mean, if you take a look at their history, which was totally out of their control... you kinda have to get Zen about the whole thing. All I know is that as bad as Korean history was, I would have hated to be a Chinese female - before the or after the war and the takeover. But I digress.

So after that little bit of that confidence builder, we decided to take JJ to the Double Arches, the Red and Yellow, the Big M. He had asked for it the first day we met him. Joseph and I looked at each other, and immediately fell into our parental role and said "no." He didn't argue. He was sort of like "ok." I wondered if he had been there before but I couldn't imagine that an orphange would take their kids to the MacDonalds. But this was the right day to take him, we decided. And Joseph's Mom and Harriet came with us. As we approached, he was so excited. We had heard that MacDonalds and KFC were THE Places to take kids and if they went, they have "arrived." It was pretty amazing.

It is comforting to know that even in China, you can belly up to a MacDonalds and get nearly the same thing as the USA. My chicken sandwich was nicely spiced and the french fries were the same. And when we asked if they spoke English, all eyes turned to one girl and she helped us. NICE.

We then walked around a long block. We passed by a bank of equipment I first thought was a playground. It was actually exercise equipment, much of it using your body weight. Sort of like circuit training. And there were OLD people using them. OLD as in 80 or 90 -ish old. Not a fat person among them. No walkers or canes either. I think the Chinese are onto something.

In the afternoon, my friend Lilly came in from Shanghai. Thank GOD!!! A day without a guide and our eating was going downhill. We were going to become the fat, ugly Americans while in China! She took us to a hot pot place where we did NOT get hot pot but we did get some very good authentic food! We ordered Orange Juice for JJ and it took about 30 minutes to get to us. Well, as much as I complained, when we each tried a sip, we realized why. It is fresher than the freshest squeezed in front of my eyes that I've ever had. I bet JJ has never had juice like that! Neither had we! LOL. Lilly also has a friend in China and he provided us with a big minivan and a driver to drive us around while are in Beijing. Thank God for Xin! The taxi's here are TINY TINY! And only fits about 3 people - two in the back and one in the front next to the driver. Really. Like I said. No need for big cars. You can only have ONE CHILD and no one is fat. Get it?

We are seeing that JJ asks for things. He actually puts out his hand, palms up and asks for money. Can I just tell you how revolting that is? Not just from him but from anyone - even adults. That is one gesture that I cannot tolerate. Don't know why. Just is. But then, I found it to be sad and distasteful at the same time because he is an orphanage kid and had nothing. And I am not even sure that he knows what money is. I know that at that age they are just starting to learn about money - and that in normal developmental terms, not in Chinese Orphanage Shunted From the World and Exposed to Nothing Terms. So I found it really curious that he would behave that way. So what was he told that he thought this was appropriate behavior? And that he could actually ask? And that it was ok to ask??? I was highly annoyed. But, it turned out that if we say no and he doesn't get it, he doesn't care. He moves onto the next thing. But it would happen time and again. I'm sure he was told by the Nannies he would get everything since he was going to rich Americans. The first three things he asked for, he didn't get. LOL. I think expectations are being set because now he walks around saying, "no no no." He thinks it's cute. Maybe Joseph thinks it is (since he is much more tolerant than I am) but I do not.

Oh, one thing to note was the grayish pall that hovered over the city during mid-day. Smog. I never would have believed it.

That's it for now. JJ will wake up exactly at 6am. He is a morning person it seems. I am going to have to get up earlier than 6 if I want to have quiet time when I get back. But it will be interesting how he adjusts to the time zone change. Maybe he will be turned upside down and become a night person. At this point, I think I'd rather have a kid that wakes up early than a kid that you have to fight with every night to get into bed. We will see...