June 2008

My Trip to China

Tracy Janzen of  Saskatoon, SK travelled with 5 other families
in June 2008 to meet her son, Samuel. This was Tracy’s
second trip , and she offered this reflective report.

The first time I went to Beijing, my husband and I were adopting our first child, Faith.  It was a magical time; flying into China, Gotcha Day, the Great Wall and instant parenting in a hotel room, albeit a luxurious one, in a country thousands of miles away from home. Faith was nearly 22 months old and beautiful. We were a part of one of the biggest travel groups FOI had ever shepherded to China; 25 families in all. We hooked up at the Vancouver airport and Yulin and Bob played mama (and papa) duck to us little ducklings and we just followed one another. It was such a whirlwind of new experiences that soaking in the subtleties of the Chinese culture was secondary.

Nearly four years later I was off to China, this time to meet and fall in love with a four-old boy named Qian-Qian (soon to be Samuel). Marv and I decided that Faith and he would stay home and look after the jetlagged pair (Mama and Qian-Qian). Fortunately, my friend Dawn came with me to help co-parent and provide moral support and much needed luggage and Sam- carrying as I had sprained my  ankle the week before.

This time we met up with 5 other families. Five families went to Nanning and the sixth to Guangzhou.  We were all families from the Waiting Child program and the children ranged from nearly 3 years old to 5 years old.

What a different trip this was from the first!  It was still magical, there was still Gotcha Day, the Great Wall was as awe-inspiring as ever but the instant parenting took on a whole new meaning when it wasn't a baby or toddler but a full-blooded, bouncy, never stops moving four year old. Babies and toddlers present their own unique challenge but shopping and sightseeing with preschoolers was challenging to say the least. Unlike the first time where I had a Santa-list of people to buy for, I had to apologize to just about everyone for not bringing any gifts home. Nothing (for me anyways) dampens the shopping fervour than a nervous salesperson following you and your jumpy, touchy and charming preschooler everywhere.

The hotel we stayed in this time was in a less touristy area of Beijing. As Yulin put it, we saw more of the day to day lives of the people of Beijing.

We could see a hutong (an alley neighbourhood unique to China and quickly disappearing) from out hotel window and the street life that last night we were in Beijing will stay with me forever. O Tracy & Marvin Janzen ur farewell dinner was at a renowned restaurant a couple blocks from our hotel.  Walking in the humid, hot air hearing the talking, the laughter, the excitement, the sights and smells made the whole experience bittersweet. The knowledge that Qian-Qian (Sam) would be leaving this unique, vibrant and mysterious culture that was so much a part of who he and his sister are. It made me appreciate, far  more than I did on our first trip, what both my children were losing and with Canada looming before us, what Sam was gaining.

Tracey Janzen