Zachary’s second day with us went very well as he begins his adjustments to being part of the gang. His real adjustments begin in a few weeks as the stability of a HOME and his new routine starts to take root. But for now, he’s begun to bond with Ashley, as she’s been his almost constant attendant since yesterday.
He had a very good appetite for breakfast, sampling many different foods. I expect that this will continue – especially as he enjoys seeing all of the options when we walk him around the breakfast buiffet area at the Hotel.
Today we made a second trip to the Adoption Affairs Offices to finalize the Adoption (after the customary 24 hour probationary period). Z saw his Nanny and the Director again. There was the usual business of completing the paperwork, taking the Redbook Family Photograph, and us giving our stamp of approval with red ink thumbprints. And Zachary gave his red ink handprint, as well. Just for the record, our LAST Redbook photograph was the BEST one we’d ever taken.
All the while, as Lisa and I moved through the process of completing the formailties, Zachary was content to be entertained by the kids, as they waited. Soon, we were informed “That’s It. We’re Done. The Adoption is Final. Congratulations”. As far as the PRC was concerned, YuCheung was now Zachary Lockhead. It’s a powerful moment – to hear those words for the first time. Because all the while, from the moment we’d decided “He’s the one”; since we had made our commitment to adopting him back in the US with our agency – he had already been Zachary in our hearts.
We exchanged WeChat QR codes with the Director so we could keep her and her staff informed of Zachary’s progress, and send photographs of his new like and home. There was another round of photographs before the Nanny and the Director began to gather their things.
As the Director and his Nanny made their way too the door, they asked Zachary if he would want to go with them instead. “No Way!!” was his roughly translated reply! To test his resolve, his Nanny jokingly took him gently by the arm, as if to guide him with her toward the elevator. He wanted NO part of that and he fought that even more strongly than he had resisted me just 24 hours before. “Thanks, but I think I’ll go with my new Family today!”
With Formalities complete, we asked Steve to help us find a stroller, so we could help Zachary keep up with the pace of being a Lockhead in China. After all, he is a bit of a little man at the moment! Our bus driver (yes, this time, we have our own bus!) took us to a local Shopping Mall, in search of an illusive Umbrella Stroller. We’d seen several on the streets, as we know they’re here – we just need to find one. After Steve was able to negotiate with some official-looking yellow arm-banded parking attendants for a great parking spot behind some traffic barriers we piled out. The Mall was well lit, with polished floors, chrome rails and many escalators. It looked a lot like Willow Grove Mall back home.
We visited several shops before we found a stroller that passed for one we’d want to buy. It was pretty basic and looked like it would fit Zachary just fine. Steve pointed out the price: 1,320 Yuan/RMB. Hmmm…Thanks, we’ll keep looking. (That translates to just a shade under US$ 200.00!!!). As we retreated to the next shop, UC and Steve was able to negotiate to what appeared to be US$60 – 75. Like we said, “Thanks, but we’ll keep looking.”
We ended up striking out at the Mall, so we headed back to the Hotel to regroup, and live the rest of our day.
Backstory: Unfortunately, it seems that we left our Camera on the plane on our incoming flight. But, the good news is that thay’d found a camera and somehow tracked us down as the likely owners. Tracy from Cathay sent us an email that they’d found it. We responded THREE times on Monday with detailed descriptions, with NO REPLY from the airline. We were getting a little nervous, and frankly, feeling a bit ignored. We engaged Steve in the effort and he made some phone calls for us. We also got a Hotel Manager named Calvin involved. Calvin was highly recommended by another Adoptive family we’d befriended via FB. Calvin took that torch and ran with it. We exchanged WC QR codes, and he took screenshots of the emails, which by the way, did NOT include any phone numbers to contact the airline. Calvin tracked Tracy down at about the same time that she responded via email to us. (It seems she had Monday off from work and so apologized for not being able to respond.). After all of the back-and-forth among the players in this drama, it ended up that Calvin has made arrangements for his driver to retrieve the Camera from the Airport on Wednesday evening at about 7 PM. He would be going there anyway to pick up some VIP guests, so the trips coincided. That is indeed good news. Thanks to Calvin, and to the Airline for working together to solve this. The camera would have been a loss for us. (Almost as much of a loss as the waterproof camera I dropped to bottom of the Caribbean, when we were snorkeling a few years ago!)
We ventured out from our Hotel to The Martyrs Park, a local park we’d seen (and knew about before…) on our trips to the Adoption Offices.
The weather has been great, so we made the 15 minute walk easily in the warm sunshine. Temps have been in the mid-70s and we were in shorts and T-shirts while many of the locals were in winter gear, with some in hats and gloves! Surprisingly, only one person has approached us about our failure to dress the kids appropriately for the weather! And that was one of the Lobby cleaning ladies at the Hotel… We used a Translation app so we could understand her:
The park was very enjoyable. As soon as we got inside the front gate, UC snagged us a round-trip golf cart tour of the park, all for Y$100 (about $1.50 each). We got to see the entire grounds, and rode completely around the lake – that would have been impossible without the tour! We got a variety of photos from many angles. We saw an Amusement Park, complete with Ferris Wheel and Looping Roller Coaster! Right in the Park… The kids were freaking out – but Mom and I quickly put that fire out – NO CHINESE ROLLER COASTERS, especially looping coasters!! Maybe next time we visit Changsha.
We even took a short boat ride around the lake! We traveled with an older Chinese man and his daughter. She was very bubbly and energetic and was enjoying her day immensely! She knew a few English phrases and tried them all on us! She took some photos of our kids on the boat, too!
It took a few days, but as we waited to see if a boat ride was in the cards for us today, we came across the first few locals (some school-age girls) who wanted to take their pictures with us! It happens a lot… We usually get quite a lot of stares, which sometimes unnerves the kids, and we do usually get a fair number of inquiries for photos with locals. They are generally approving of our family, so we usually oblige them.
As the kids (but not UC) were getting a little tired, we headed back to our Hotel, to meet the Laundry man at 5PM. Steve had arranged a laundry service for us.
The laundry didn’t show up until nearly 6 PM, so we hustled out for dinner – committed to finding something other than KFC, Pizza Hut, or McD’s. We decided to try a local place recommended by Steve, with both Western and local cuisines. At least that’s what we thought…
We were ushered to a “compartment” (i.e. private room) upstairs with seating for 10 at a large table, and a roundabout for the food. The translations started out rough as there was no English menus (we were likely the first Westerners they’d seen in weeks). We used our phones to translate conversations, and camera apps to decipher their menus.
Entrees ranged from Bullfrog Soup to Steak, to Duck…the usual assortment you’d typically find in a local joint. After a rough start, Kyle took the lead and worked out our dinner choices, as nerves began to fray at the table – Zachary was “active”!! Kyle and UC were able to get our order worked out so that we could meet our “Minimum of Y588 for the Room / Compartment!”
The food came out and filled the table: Fried Rice, Steamed Rice, three Steaks, Chicken & Noodles in a mild broth, Fried Chicken, Duck, Spicy (VERY) Pork, and steamed Clams in a HOT broth. Things settled down quickly as we got to it and ate our late dinner. We made it through most everything, except the Duck and clams. And the bill was reasonable – and generously picked up by UC and AM. The staff would be earning their “Service Charge” since the table and floor looked like a war zone when we were done! As we walked out the door, UC noticed that there was a Pizza Joint right downstairs! We checked out the menu to find pizza, pasta and other possibilities – who knows, we just might be back…
Zachary does not like to be picked up when going up and down steps. That is all.
We made it home, dodging scooters and cars, got the kids prepped for bed and shut it down for the night. Poor Dylan was up and down most of the night (that’s why I’m hammering away at 4:29 – he just settled back into a deeper sleep 20 minutes ago) since he’s apparently having some kind of reaction to the air pollution or pollen in the air.
I know we have more photos of yesterday, so we’ll try to add them here and in FB (especially the Restaurant).
Thanks for following along, it’s nice to have you here…