Saying Goodbye to Fuzhou

Saying Goodbye to Fuzhou

First off, thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. It certainly was a birthday to remember. Despite my cold I had a lovely day. When Tori woke up she gave me a birthday card from the kids at school. I was so pleased. And surprised. I asked her how she managed to get that here without me ever seeing it. Clever girl.

Actually the morning started off a little rough. Violet was awake early and then when Tori got up Violet was a little cranky. Which made Tori a little cranky. And I thought, "Happy Birthday to me!" But they just needed some time and then the day improved.

We didn't have any appointments in the morning so we took a walk in a park located behind the hotel. There were beautiful flowers and fish ponds. Then we came to the front of the hotel and went for a walk around West Lake. Violet fell asleep soon after we started that walk and Roger spent most of the walk pushing the stroller on its back two wheels so Violet's head wouldn't flop forward. He's such a good daddy.

We ate snack food for lunch - we have plenty of it here in our room. The hard part is controlling Violet while she eats. It is much easier when she is in a high chair. I'm embarraseed everytime housekeeping makes up our room at how messy it is. Right now there are cracker crumbs right outside the bathroom door. Violet loves transferring things from one container to another, and it is unavoidable for things to end up on the floor.

We needed to meet in the lobby for 2:30 pm to go pick up Violet's passport. We debated amongst ourselves if it should be earlier...we wondered if the appointment was actually 2:30. A little after 2 there was a soft knock on our door. It was our guide, Isabel. I said, 'Oh, are we late?" But that wasn't the case. She had some paperwork for us. She also had a birthday present for me! She is so thoughtful. Isabel was impressed with how Violet is "jabbering" away.

We picked up the passports at the police station. We had to wait outside until it was cleared for us to enter. At the top of the stairs into the building there was like a little waiting room...with leather couches even. It was under the roof, so it was cooler. Isabel made a comment about waiting and Roger said, "Oh, if someone wearing a gun tells me to wait, I'm fine with that!" Isabel added, "Especially in China."

We had to show adoption paperwork and our passports in order to pick up Violet's passport. When one of the police officers was looking at Violet's pictures he kept looking at the picture and then at her. At one point it was like he said, "Are you sure this is the right child?" And my heart started quaking!!! But then he looked at me and said, "She is very beautiful." There were no problems.

After the police station we stopped at the supermarket. The daddys went inside with Isabel and the mommys and kids stayed in the bus. When they got back on the bus Roger gave me another birthday gift - a box of chocolates. Yum! I haven't opened them yet, but I'm sure they are delicious.

Violet fell asleep in my arms on the way back to the hotel. In her snuggly - which she loves. Oh, I forgot to mention this little story. When we were getting ready to leave for the police station Violet grabbed her snuggly off the dresser and carried it over to the bed and laid it down. Then she got up on the bed. It was obvious that she wanted in her snuggly. It was so cute. I had wondered how we would manage with the language barrier, but she is doing fabulously at making her wishes known to us. Yesterday I was putting on lip gloss in the bathroom and she was watching me. She held up her hand to me and said, "I-E-I-E-I-E!" We've figured out that she says that whenever she wants something. Isabel said, "I-E" is nanny. So Violet must have said "Nanny" to get what she wanted at the orphanage. So I bent down and put a little lip gloss on her lips. Then, are you ready for this? - she rubbed her lips together. Oh...my...land! It was so cute!

We went to the restaurant here in the hotel for my birthday supper. I wore my jade necklace that Roger and Tori had bought for me the day before. It is a tiger pendant. I was born in the year of the tiger. So was Tori. She got a smaller necklace, too. Violet has joined our family in the year of the tiger!

We got to the restaurant about 5:10. The buffet didn't start until 5:30, so we took our seats and waited. Then when it opened we walked around the buffet to see if there was anything we wanted. Believe me, there wasn't! Squid, full fish head included, prawns, a lot of sushi and much more. We decided to order from the menu. Thankfully it didn't take too long to receive our meals. But Violet was getting a little put out from sitting so long and not having any real food! (She kept throwing her raisins and cheerios on the floor. She kept throwing everything on the floor!) It was very fancy, and the waiter even came and placed the napkins on our laps. Roger said that he was thankful that he saw him do it to me first, otherwise he might have clocked him! Then he took Violet's napkin and wrapped it around her neck like a bib. A bit later it started to come off and he re-wrapped it. I said to Violet, "Can you say thank you?" And the waiter, Clarence, said, "She speaks?!?" He didn't realize that she was two. The waiting staff always seem to get a kick out of how she feeds herself. I feel like a negligent parent, but she has a fit if I try to feed her. So I just pass her the spoon and she feeds herself. Oh, she didn't have a problem when I gave her some of my soup last night. She ate from me then.

When we got back to the hotel we started packing up everything. Then it was bath time and off to bed.

Our flight leaves Fuzhou at 12:05 pm. We'll leave the hotel at 9:30 am. It is a 2 1/2 hour flight to Beijing. Hopefully there are no delays this time!!!

I'm kind of sad about leaving Fuzhou. There are some things I will miss.

I will miss the beautiful scenery outside the hotel. It is right on the lakefront and there is a beautiful walking trail that we've used - I think everyday.

I will miss the delicious breakfasts at the hotel. Very good.

I will miss Michelle from guest services. Whenever we entered the lobby, if she was on duty, she would come and talk to us. Very friendly. And she got us extra blankets and pillows. :D

I will miss our king size bed. Back in Beijing it is a twin size.

I will miss the mini fridge in our room. It has been wonderful having cold water to drink. Our room in Beijing didn't have a fridge.

I will miss the beautiful weather. No explanation needed for that!

But most of all, I believe I will miss Isabel, our guide. This has been one of the most important weeks of our lives and she has been so helpful to make everything go smoothly. She said it is easy when she has families as easy going as the two of ours. She wishes all her families were as flexible as we are. There will always be a special place in my heart for Isabel.

Well, the day is moving forward so I should get prepared for it.

No worries. We will have internet in Beijing, too! Talk to you again soon.