Chinese New Year & Reindeer?

2012 is the Year of the Dragon. Preston was born in the last Year of the Dragon (2000). Shaling was born in the Year of the Snake. Due to the fact that Chinese Years don't start & end on January 1 & December 31, Brock & I were both born in the Year the Dog (Feb 6, 1970 – Jan 26, 1971).

We were supposed to attend a local Chinese New Year celebration this past Saturday, but it was cancelled. Brock & the kids joined several other families with Chinese children for dinner at a Chinese buffet though. I skipped out because I coached at an all day Scholastic Bowl tournament that day, then participated in a trivia night fundraiser for a woman in need of a new liver.

After dinner, Shaling went home with XinLi, who was adopted by Curt & Susan in August. She spent the night with her and went to church with the family the next morning. Curt & Susan live a bit out in the country and on our way home from picking Shaling up, we saw some deer sprinting across a field. I excitedly pointed them out to the kids. Shaling kept asking if they were flying and I told her no, that they just run really fast. Then it dawned on me...she was thinking of reindeer. As I mentioned that thought to Brock, she confirmed it by saying, "fly...like Santa". I told her that they weren't reindeer; they were just deer. Then she muttered, "I want to see reindeer."

Here are some pictures taken by Andrea Dillon last February. They are Shaling in a traditional Chinese outfit. We should have taken some updated ones this year, but neglected to do so, therefore year-old ones will have to do for now.

Celebrating One Year As An American Citizen

Exactly one year ago today, in an immigration office at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Shaling became a U.S. Citizen. Though she had no idea what was happening (due to the language barrier & lack of a translator), she signed two documents & gave her fingerprints, and voila, just like magic, she was an American.

Because she lived in a very tropical area of China (even further south than the southern tip of Florida), she'd never seen snow. However, there was plenty waiting for her on the ground here in Springfield that night. She reached out and touched, reacting with a "Brrrrr". Because we had sent her a picture of the house, she recognized it before we ever pulled in the driveway.

We were simultaneously exhausted/jetlagged/sleep deprived & beside ourselves with excitement about our new beginnings as a family of 4. I can't believe it's been a whole year, and yet when I look at how far she's come learning a new culture, language, etc., it amazes me. What a roller coaster of a year it has been.

Christmas Break

Wow...I've been so busy enjoying Christmas & New Years that I have been completely remiss in keeping up with my blog. Shaling's first Christmas in America was spread out over several days & several houses. On Christmas Eve, we spent the day at Grandma & Grandpa Barkley's house and the evening at Great Grandma Coonrod's house. Christmas morning, we opened packages together at home and then went to Grandma & Grandpa Coonrod's house, followed by a trip to Aunt Ann & Uncle Frank's house. Then, on Thursday the 29th, we went back to Grandma & Grandpa Coonrod's house because Uncle Scott & Aunt Barbara couldn't make it for Christmas.

I had to accept the cold, hard fact that I will not be receiving the 2011 Mother of the Year award. Shaling was visibly disappointed on Christmas Day when Santa didn't come. I signed all of the packages from Mom & Dad. I honestly hadn't given it a thought, because she figured out the tooth fairy the very first night she lost a tooth at home (and that was back when the language barrier was HUGE). I didn't realize Santa was still real. Yes, I am properly shamed for screwing that up.

The kids spent the nights of the 25th & 26th with Grandma & Grandpa Coonrod. They were supposed to spend the 29th with Grandma & Grandpa Barkley, but I screwed that up too, by scheduling a playdate on the 30th. It was going to be a major challenge to get them home from Carlinville on time for that playdate. So, we currently have it planned for them to stay there on the 15th of January.

We spent New Years Eve at a fantastically fun house party, where the adults sat around playing board games and the kids watched movies, played video games, and lit sparklers when the ball dropped in New York. Through it all, Shaling has had some basketball practices, Dad has watched a lot of football, Preston has been building some complicated Lego sets, and I've done some trivia and movie nights.

Life has started getting back into a routine today, but will progress that way even more so tomorrow, when the kids return to school. As I posted about in an earlier blog entry, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of "Gotcha Day" on the 27th of December. On January 7th, we'll celebrate one year of Shaling being home in the United States.

Here are some random pictures of our 2011 Christmas.

Grandma & Grandpa Barkley's house








Great Grandma Coonrod's house




Home







Grandma & Grandpa Coonrod's house












P.S. Exactly one year ago today, we went on a dinner cruise down the Pearl River. You can read about it (and see a picture of Shaling eating chicken feet) here.

Our 1st Anniversary of Gotcha Day

One year ago today, our family of three became a family of four. This is our one-year anniversary of “Gotcha Day”. Because a year’s time can fade one’s memory, I reread my blog entry about Gotcha Day this morning. How blessed we were to have a very happy, relaxing, and fun day. Not all Gotcha Days go so well, as often the child is scared or sad about leaving all that they know.

We got Shaling at the Civil Affairs office in Guangzhou, China (the capital of her province). Normally, the adoptive family arrives first and completes their paperwork and then waits for the child to arrive. However, things went in a bit of a different order for us. Shaling and her friend Natalie (Ma Meixin) arrived at the Civil Affairs office earlier than expected and were actually waiting for us to arrive. We and Natalie’s new family (the Reichenbachs) exited the elevator onto the 8th floor and quickly spotted two giggly little girls with curiously wide eyes excitedly watching as we entered the foyer. They were quickly ushered back into a little play area behind a curtain, but their giggles continued to be audible.

Our guide, Connie, instructed us to sit on some couches, where we filled out the customary paperwork. She then escorted our girls out, one by one. Here is the first picture I ever took of Shaling:


Though we couldn’t understand a word she was saying, Shaling was full of smiles and sweet talk. She was eager to share with us the few belongings she was able to bring with her. One of those items was the photo album we had sent her. In it were several pictures we went to her and a few that she’d added herself (or her foster family added for her). She was especially proud to show us this family picture we had sent to her, in which she took the liberty of adding herself in animé:


We were pleasantly surprised that she had a gift (shorts and a Chinese t-shirt) for Preston. I’m guessing her foster family helped her purchase that.

This is their first hug:


Preston shows her all about a DSi:



Future Illinoisan Shaling Reynolds & Future Floridian Natalie Reichenbach:


We had our first taste of how much Shaling loves to take pictures, as she grabbed my camera and took numerous pictures. She had obviously been taught the English phrase, “thank you”, as she said it over and over and over – when we handed her items, as she opened gifts, etc. She was immediately clingy and affectionate…holding our hands and hugging all of us.

As we rode in the van back to our hotel, she was as mesmerized watching the landscape and sights as we were. She pointed at me and said “Mother” and pointed at Brock and said “Father”. I pointed at Preston and said “Brother”. She immediately went on a mission and began digging through her backpack. She eventually found a Berenstein Bears book written in both English and Chinese. She quickly flipped through the pages until she found one with English paragraphs. She pointed at the words “Brother Bear”, wanting to prove to us that she recognized and knew the word “brother”. She also used one of her new colored scented pens to copy some English words from a package. She wanted us to see how hard she was working to learn her new language.

That evening we ate at a restaurant popular with adopting families, Lucy’s. It has a very extensive menu with a variety of cuisines. Because our guide, Connie, had strongly advised us to give Shaling lots of rice, we planned to order her a Chinese dish. However, after browsing through the menu, Shaling enthusiastically pointed at a picture and said, “pizza”. We were both surprised and confused. We asked the waitress to please explain to her that she could have whatever she wanted, but she still insisted on pizza. It was her first meal with us, so we weren’t going to argue. She was super slow eating the pizza, but she ate every bit of it. We would soon discover that she ordered the pizza simply to impress us, because it took months back in the United States before she would eat it again (and it’s still not something she particularly likes).

After letting the kids run off some energy at a nearby playground, we walked back to our hotel. As we walked, Shaling grabbed for our hands a lot. Despite the enormous language barrier, we immediately loved our little girl. We were so overwhelmed by her desire to impress us, her constant smiles, and her happy-go-lucky attitude. In retrospect, I am still amazed at (and proud of) her courage to simply walk out the door with people that she had never met and with whom she could not speak, knowing it was forever. Not only did she do so, but she seemed to fully embrace it. Gotcha Day was the first day of a “honeymoon phase” that did eventually end, but not until we had been home for a period of time. Gotcha Day provided us with a full range of emotional memories we’ll always treasure.

We left for China one year ago today!

One year ago today, Preston, Brock, & I took off on a trip of a lifetime & brought home the best Christmas present ever. However, the first few days of that trip were considerably less than smooth. We flew out of Springfield just before 10:00 a.m. & arrived at O’Hare just after 10:30 a.m. We were supposed to have a two-hour layover, but it ended up being closer to a five-hour layover as the airline decided to put a new battery in our airplane. On top of that, when they went to fill it with fuel, there was an issue with the fuel line & it pumped excruciatingly slow. Our flight to Hong Kong took off around 3:00 p.m.

I was recently reviewing my blog posts from last December & found myself surprised by how horrible our last evening at home played out. Preston had been home sick from school for 2 days, but had seemed to be feeling alright most of that day. However, he suddenly got pukey again that evening & I had to call Brock home early from basketball to run to the pharmacy to get some Emetrol, as well as Dramamine for the trip. It didn’t help my mood any that my beloved Illini lost the annual Bragging Rights game in disgusting fashion that night. Our cats, apparently angry over our impending departure, decided to show it by first puking on our bed & then later peeing on clean clothes I had just folded & brought up from the basement. I ended up sleeping in Preston’s room with him, while Brock slept on the couch. Full of anticipation & worry about forgetting something important, I woke up around 4:00 a.m. & never went back to sleep.

The flight from Chicago to Hong Kong lasted around 14 ½ hours. Thanks to time zone changes, we went over the North Pole on Christmas Eve. I looked out the window, but never saw reindeer pulling a sleigh. We alternately slept, watched television, followed our progress on a world map, ate (the plane food was actually quite good), read, & played games. Going through immigration was relatively painless, but I got in trouble for taking pictures while we were in line (didn’t realize it wasn’t allowed). We spent Christmas Eve night at the Hong Kong Marriott near the airport. Here are some pictures of Preston in & around the hotel:







Christmas morning, we took a horrifying fascinating 30-minute taxi cab ride to a train station. The trunk wasn’t large enough to hold our luggage, so the driver left the lid up. Brock & I were just certain something was going to fall out. The drive spoke NO English & the car (like many in China) had no seat belts. I was mesmerized by how quickly the buildings would change from looking like a high-dollar business area to dilapidated projects & then back again.

At the train station (which is bigger than some airports), we had a challenging time figuring out where to go. Additionally, the public restrooms (like most of China) were just holes in the ground. We were also quickly learning that in China, there is no “personal space” or right-of-way. People simple push & shove their way around. It is not considered rude; it’s just how they operate. Once we found the entryway to the platform, we discovered we had to go through immigration again.

Our train ride was right at 2 hours long. Preston slept for almost all of it. As we approached our stop, we woke Preston up & then followed the crowd to the tiny little bunk shelves where the luggage was stored. We had to stand on a tiny stairwell right next to the bunk shelves. It was rather stressful, as I can’t begin to tell you the sheer number of people crowding into a terrificly cramped space. Preston began complaining of a sick stomach, but we quickly dismissed it, as he hadn’t puked in a couple of days at this point. We erroneously assumed he was simply being impatient because he’d just been woken up. Oh, boy…he proved us wrong by vomiting once twice three times four times, with increasing quantity.

I have never felt so helplessly trapped in all my life. There was nothing nearby to grab to use to clean it up, it was right where everyone needed to be in order to grab their luggage & exit the train, we were the only Americans on the train & couldn’t clearly communicate just how sorry we were to all of the other passengers, & there really wasn’t room to bend over & deal with it anyway. As I ridiculously pleaded with Preston to wait until we got outside (as if somehow that was going to make it all go away), another passenger took pity on Brock & handed him some newspaper. Finally, a gloved & masked train employee showed up to clean it up. To his credit, Preston never cried.

Once we were able to disembark the train, we found ourselves amidst chaos. People were literally climbing all over each other to get out of there. As we got smashed in the crowd, trying desperately to stay together, we took a left & realized we had to go up 5 flights of stairs – Preston with a backpack & small suitcase, me with two large suitcases & a backpack, Brock with two extra large suitcases & a carry-on. There was no stopping at any of the levels for a breather, either, or we would have gotten trampled. By the last flight, I was crying out to Brock that I was not going to make it…not that he could do anything about it. For the last 2/3 of the last flight of stairs, a kind woman grabbed one of my suitcases and carried it the last of the way for me. When we reached the top, we squeezed ourselves up against a wall and tried to catch our breath. My heart was pounding & I was gasping for air. Brock was in similar shape. Once most of the crowd had dispersed, we noticed an escalator further over that would have made things much easier on us, but we had no way of seeing it through the sea of people earlier. Then, we had to go through immigration AGAIN (this was our 3rd time).

We finally met up with our guide, Connie, who navigated us through a bunch of foot traffic. We eventually found our driver & jumped in a mini-van for a 45-minute ride to our hotel. The traffic was very intimidating. There is a lot of honking over here. And for anyone that thinks I’m a tailgater – you ain’t seen nothin’! OH, my, gosh. The merging & braking & cutting off & honking & bicycles & pedestrians & you-name-it. It was nuts! We found ourselves quite relieved to arrive at our new temporary “home”, The Victory Hotel. Here is a picture of Brock & Preston standing in front of it:



Thanks to the incredible outcome of our trip, my memories of all of these troubles are as faded as a yellowed-out antique photo. I wouldn’t trade it for anything & would easily do it all over again. That being said, I’m looking forward to an incredibly more relaxed Christmas weekend this year.

A Day of Concerts: Pictures & Videos

This past Saturday, Preston was a busy percussionist. He performed with the Rochester 6th grade jazz band at 11:00 a.m. and with the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony (SVYS) Concert Band at 1:30 p.m.

The morning concert was held at White Oaks Mall. I wasn't sure what to expect, thinking it might be part of a string of performances and perhaps only a couple of songs long. However, the jazz band played 6 or 7 songs and they were the only featured group. They were quite festive, playing all Christmas songs and wearing Santa hats.

The afternoon concert was held at the University of Illinois Springfield's Sangamon Auditorium. Last year, this concert was impressively amazing. I remember bursting with pride watching Preston confidently play alongside students 2, 3, & 4 years older than himself. I won't "air the dirty laundry" here in the blog, but let's just say that there was a change in directors and this year's experience paled greatly in comparison.

Jazz Band Pictures




Dad was in charge of video while I was in charge of still photos. Shaling likes to be in charge of it all.



SVYS Concert Orchestra






Jazz Band Videos
Preston plays drum set on "Jingle Bell Rock".


Preston plays the bells during "Frosty the Snowman". As an added bonus, Shaling chimes in with some singing during a brief period of the song.


Preston plays drum set during "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" (or at least, that's what I think it is).


Preston plays the bells during "Jingle Bells".


Preston plays the bells during "Holly Jolly Christmas".


SVYS Concert Orchestra
Preston plays the tympani (the kettle drums) on "Marche Militaire Francais".