We went to Shamian Island today to finish up our last minute shopping.
This evening, we had our last group dinner. It was at a famous Chinese restaurant called Banana Leaf. Some of the food, I recognized, some I wasn't so sure of. It was all good though. It was one of those places where they play music and dance around while you eat - then they pull people out of the audience to join them. All 4 of the kids from our table, got picked (coerced) into dancing with them. Some of the dancers REALLY liked the 3 boys at our table though.
We got to try blueberry pringles tonight. (The kids and I liked them, David didn't.)
The main money here is the yuan or the RMB. The exchange rate right now is about $1 USD for 6.7 RMB. So if something costs 20 yuan, it's about $3.
Here's some more things we've learned.
The more traditional Chinese do not wear wedding rings. Some of the younger, more westernized ones do now though.
Very older, very traditional Chinese custom was that unmarried women had bangs, married women did not.
Jade can come in a variety of colors, not just green (including white and even purple).
Jade is a very hard stone. Diamond is a 10 - Jade is a 7. something.
In China, Jade is considered as valuable as diamonds.
In fact, white jade was put on the back of the gold medals for the olympics.
We’re David and Lois McBeath. We live in Point Pleasant, WV – a small town along the Ohio River on the western side of the state. We have 2 sons. Austin is 15. He’s a sophomore at Pt. Pleasant High School. Darrell is almost 12. He’s in the 6th grade at Roosevelt Elementary.
We actually began our adoption journey more than 10 years ago. I saw an ad in the newspaper about Chinese babies. We called about it, but it just wasn’t even feasible at that time in our life. All these years, it was always there, stuck somewhere in the back of our minds. I don't know why exactly – it just was. The thought never completely went away.
We also talked off and on about having another child. Our house was only 3 bedrooms, and we know the boys could have been in a room together, but we didn't want to do that if we didn't have to. In the spring of 2006, for some reason (I don't recall exactly what) - it came up again. We started thinking and talking - why not? So we started checking into it more. We did a lot of research online. The more we found out, the more we felt a calling, a desire and even a need to do this.
We started the adoption and added onto the house all at the same time. It took about 6 months to get the paperwork together. Then about another month after we sent it to China for them to translate it and 'log us in' (11/6/06). That's when we started to officially wait.
We finally got "THE CALL" on 7/13/08. It was a Sunday afternoon! After 2 ½ years, we are finally going to get our baby!
We actually began our adoption journey more than 10 years ago. I saw an ad in the newspaper about Chinese babies. We called about it, but it just wasn’t even feasible at that time in our life. All these years, it was always there, stuck somewhere in the back of our minds. I don't know why exactly – it just was. The thought never completely went away.
We also talked off and on about having another child. Our house was only 3 bedrooms, and we know the boys could have been in a room together, but we didn't want to do that if we didn't have to. In the spring of 2006, for some reason (I don't recall exactly what) - it came up again. We started thinking and talking - why not? So we started checking into it more. We did a lot of research online. The more we found out, the more we felt a calling, a desire and even a need to do this.
We started the adoption and added onto the house all at the same time. It took about 6 months to get the paperwork together. Then about another month after we sent it to China for them to translate it and 'log us in' (11/6/06). That's when we started to officially wait.
We finally got "THE CALL" on 7/13/08. It was a Sunday afternoon! After 2 ½ years, we are finally going to get our baby!
Leila Ann McBeath, formally known as Shun Xi Yi, was born on Oct 29, 2007. She had a cleft lip and cleft palate. The lip has been repaired, but not the palate. (We'll have to do that when we get her home.) She's in the Children's Welfare Institute of Shunde District of Foshan City, which is located in the Guangdong Province, in the southern part of China.
Shunde, the hometown of flowers, is one of four cities under the jurisdiction of Foshan City. Covering an area of 806 sq meters and with a population of 1.05 million, Shunde City is situated in the middle of the fertile Pearl River Delta, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It was set up as a county in the 3rd year (1452 AD) of the Jintai reign of the Ming Dynasy (1368-1644), and conferred with the administrative status of a city in 1992 by the State Council.
Foshan City is also where the actor Bruce Lee was from.
Shunde, the hometown of flowers, is one of four cities under the jurisdiction of Foshan City. Covering an area of 806 sq meters and with a population of 1.05 million, Shunde City is situated in the middle of the fertile Pearl River Delta, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It was set up as a county in the 3rd year (1452 AD) of the Jintai reign of the Ming Dynasy (1368-1644), and conferred with the administrative status of a city in 1992 by the State Council.
Foshan City is also where the actor Bruce Lee was from.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
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3 comments:
I would like to do some shopping in China!!! LOL
Are you counting down the hours in which you'll be on US ground again?
I'm sure everyone is excited and anxious to greet each of you and to see Leila! Wish I could be there! :-(
Hey,
I've been trying to send you a comment for days hoping this one gets through. Gage loves looking at Leila on the computer. He says Leila pretty girl, and I tell him thats your cousin and he says Leila pretty cousin. I have a cute story to tell you when you get back its about at&t. Can't wait to see you all.
Mandy
Blueberry pringles. That sounds worth trying because I have a sweet tooth. Speaking of that, Dalton told me the same story about the chinese throwing teeth on the roof yesterday. He said he learned that in music class.
How weird is that?
How is the baby? Is she adjusting well? I bet she is just overwhelmed with LOVE!
Not much longer and you will be home.
TAKE CARE,
Wendy
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