20 Yuan Please

"I sorry ma'am, but break glass, 20 yuan please" -- this is what I heard at breakfast Wednesday morning. You see, Tuesday morning, the Horse, being very proud of himself after cutting his fried egg successfully with a fork and knife, had swung his arms out and knocked over the orange juice glass onto the floor where it shattered. Nothing was said on that date. Then Wednesday morning when it happened again, even though the circumstances were different and it was truly an accident, 20 yuan please.
Both yesterday (Wednesday) and today (Thursday) we went to the People's Park where there is a playground and rides. Both of the kids went on the Zip Line and both had a blast. Later, when we are home, I will upload the pictures of the two of them on this. I can't believe that the Rooster, who is a chicken by heart, actually did this. The Horse on the other hand is somewhat fearless.
Now, I thought I better do some recording of our activities and time here in Nanchang before I forget the experience and what we have done.
First, Nanchang is NOT a tourist town. It is roughly the same size as Denver, and is a true Chinese provincial capital. Our hotel has only HBO and Cinemax for English TV; so no news or other shows; only movies. Lots and lots of Chinese channels and there are a couple of shows that the Horse really likes to watch. I think I said it before but this is a very different experience here in Nanchang.
The hotel is really nice though and the breakfast buffet is good and has lots of Chinese food that is good (and American too, but not as much ).
Monday morning, we went to the Registration office to do the paperwork and have our interview for the adoption to be finalized here in Jiangxi, then to the Notary office, and then on to the Police station to get the Horse's picture taken (for what I am not exactly sure since we had the family photo and his individual photo taken at the Adoption Registration office earlier that day). We finished early so called my Mom and Dad who kept the Rooster at the hotel that morning and went to pick them up to go to Walmart. It is a nice Walmart and very busy. There we went on the first escalator that you can take a cart on that I have ever been on. We got snacks, water, drinks, jeans for the Horse (he is smaller that the measurements would indicate for sized), a suitcase, and KFC take out for lunch.
when we came out of Walmart and got on our Mini-Bus, the driver was immediately getting a ticket from the Traffic Police. James and Daddy went to help and we ended up paying the 50 Yuan to keep the peace, but no points for the driver so he was happy.
That afternoon was nap time for all ( including me who can never take a nap but who can easily here).
Tuesday we went to the Zoo and had a nice time. There have been very few large meltdowns, but right before the zoo, there was one. Daddy had to carry the Horse for a long time and he wouldn't talk, even to James, for quite awhile. When we got back, we went to the Chinese restaurant across the street from the hotel and had a really good lunch. The shrimp dish had fried corn with sprinkles on it, so the Rooster was in seventh heaven. The Horse will eat most foods and will gladly tell you when he doesn't want something. the chopsticks in the restaurant were causing quite a problem and when we left, both kids had some in their hot little hands, and I didn't know. The staff chased us outside to get them back and I was really embarrassed, but OH WELL, that's how it goes. After lunch was naps, and then we all went to the pool. Many thanks to Lynn for giving me Ethan's hand me down's because the scooby doo bathing suit fit the Horse and he had his first swim here in Nanchang at the Jin Feng Hotel. Both the Rooster and the Horse had a great time and we stayed int he water for about 1 hour. Dinner Tuesday night was in the room and consisted of the instant ramen noodles from Walmart. Everyone was happy.
Wednesday was the People's Park as mentioned above. First we walked all around and it is a really beautiful park. We saw "the elderly" per James doing dancing for the exercise, Tai Chi, Chinese Opera being practiced, lots of people just walking and doing fitness activities. It was a really nice place.
We saw the people from the plane walking with their smaller children just when we got off the Plane )Feiji in Chinese) ride which wasn't too bad. They looked a little haggard and mostly have younger children. I remember being soooo tired and sore the last adoption trip -- thank goodness I am not this one. There are definitely different challenges. Having a child who you can't understand (the Mandarin that I learned is just not enough and I'm not sure what would have been) who is very frustrated is in some ways more trying and hard than a baby/toddler crying alot and sleeping not so much. Also, he is larger and a you can't just put him is the baby carrier to control movement! Like I said he is very stubborn and really wants to get his way. We learned Sunday night that he has actually been in foster care for awhile so that he could go to school. I don't know if they spoiled him or not, but he is definitely testing every part of us on everything. James thinks that he will be fine once he knows the rules, and I do too, but you can tell just from the devilish look on his face, that he does know that he shouldn't be doing certain things, cut is seeing how far he can go. He went a little too far with Daddy earlier today, but we are all OK now.
Wednesday afternoon, I went to the supermarket for more noodles/snacks and then my parents and I walked up a pedestrian street and looked in a couple shops and then went to the Buddhist temple that is now not operating but open to the public. It was really beautiful inside. The kids and Daddy took naps.
Today, Thursday, we went back since the Park was really nice and the kids need to burn some energy - we CANNOT stay in the hotel room all day!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For lunch we went back to the Chinese restaurant and all was fine till the Rooster had to go potty. Most of you don't know this, but the Rooster is very particular about where she goes to the potty in America -- no toilets that flush by themselves, no stinky bathrooms, etc -- so when we went to the bathroom in the restaurant and there were only 2 squatty potty's, she went into hysterics and refused to go. By the time we got back to the table, the Horse was crying with his head on the table because apparently he was upset that the Rooster and I had gone to the bathroom without him. So here we are in a nice restaurant with 2 crying chinese kids; we took them both back to the hotel where there was a meltdown on both of their parts, got them back to sanity, peed and washed hands, shoes back on, and back to the restaurant where we had a nice lunch at last! Oh, and when we got there I made the waitress/hostess take all chopsticks away right away to avoid another theft incident!
James is getting our documents from the Notary office this afternoon and I am typing while everyone else takes that afternoon nap. The Horse wiggled for about 30 minutes while I was typing, but all are asleep now. James is bringing us Pizza Hut for dinner tonight so we will eat in the room for dinner again tonight. That works better. I can only take 2 restaurant experiences a day with these 2 kids! Tomorrow, James will go get the Horses Chinese Passport and we will pack up and leave at about 2 or 2:30 for the airport and James will drive us araound on the way to see more of the City. I am looking forward to getting to Guangzhou; it is nice being in the Provice where my son is from, but I am ready to move on. Our flight is at 5 tomorrow and we arrive at about 6:30 I believe and should be met by Jason. I am so looking forward to seeing him again. I hope that the other families week's have been nice and I am looking forward to meeting Hillary's baby who turns 11 months this week. She is in Chongqing and it will be interesting to see what she thought of the city.
More thoughts next time I post.