July 2004

Guang Zhou

Brent MacNicol & Karen Mills of  St Albert, AB travelled apart from the main July group to adopt their daughter, Lianne. Brent, Karen & Lianne joined the group later in Beijing.

This is their story

Back in June when we were waiting for our referral, we heard from the other families in our travel group who got their referrals first that all their children were from Guizhou so we assumed our daughter would be too. What a surprise to find out that our daughter, Hui Fang (now Lianna) was in the province of Guangdong instead. It turns out not only were we the only family but Lianna is the first child to be internationally adopted from her orphanage. We were certainly disap-pointed to have to say good-bye to the travel group after only one night in Beijing, but we would never trade the unique experience that we had instead (and of course, we would go to the ends of the earth to get Lianna if we had to!) 

We traveled to Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong, with our FOI guide, Daisy. During our seven days there (each day was at least 35 degrees and 90% humidity), we had many adventures. Our favourite restaurant had no menu, but instead a large indoor market where we (with lots of advice and help from Daisy!) could point to the foods that we wanted cooked up. Some of the choices included every fish imaginable, turtles, roach-like bugs, and worms – all live. Daisy and Brent will probably always remember turning around one night to see them  lop off  the tail  of a  freshly  decapitated alligator!

Needless to say, we kept our own choices quite tame and, in fact, the food was fantastic.

On our second day in Guangzhou, we got our daughter, Lianna Hui Fang. While we were so deeply pleased to finally get her, that day was terrible. She was very obviously attached to her nannies and vice-director who came with her that she screamed uncontrollably for what seemed like an eternity while we all tried desperately to sort out the paperwork. By the next day, things were much better and she started bonding to us quite quickly.

We really hemmed and hahhed about whether or not we should go to the orphanage three days later. It was a three hour trip by taxi one way so it seemed a bit daunting. Thank goodness that we decided to do it as it turned out to be one of the most memorable days of our lives! 

Lianna was totally fine with the trip both ways and we had a very good driver. When we got to Huiyang, her orphanage city, we started taking lots of pictures. It was a pretty little country town with lots of interesting looking stores and lots of trees along the way. We expected to take pictures of the outside of the orphanage,  so  we were  absolutely  shocked when a driver from the orphanage met up with us and took us to the grandest hotel we've ever seen (in a little Chinese town even!). He said the orphanage directors were inviting us to lunch. We were dismayed that they would spend such money on us until we (slowly) clued in that it was really a public relations campaign. In addition to the two directors, there were also two government officials who are in charge of allocating funding to the orphanages in the region. As the first international adoption from that orphanage, we were really in the spotlight. We sure had to mind our  p's and  q's as they were all watching very carefully to see how Canadians would fare at a high class Chinese meal!  I think we did fairly well, including impressing (surprising) one government official with Brent feeding Lianna. The official said he was a very powerful man but had never fed his own child. Brent held up well with good humour when the men started toasting (with strong brandy) again and again to see how Brent would respond.

Afterwards, they took us back to the orphanage. On the way back, the vice-director told us that she had personally felt that Hui Fang was like her own daughter over the last year. About the jade pendant that Hui Fang was wearing when we got her, the vice-director explained that they had engraved the name of the orphanage on the back and had taken it to a temple to pray for a safe and happy life for Hui Fang. She and Karen were both in tears.

At the orphanage, according to government law, we were only allowed to take pictures outside. We were invited inside with the nannies and directors for tea and lycee nuts. They knew that we wanted to take some pictures so they had all the staff came outside and let us take lots of pictures of them with Lianna. We were worried that she would want to go back to them (they were very very loving people), but while she was happy to see them, she leaned back to be held by us again (phew!). They fawned over her and sang songs with her while she clapped along. The place was impeccable, but the most impressive thing was their obvious caring. The main caregivers cried as we left, bringing tears, once again, to our own eyes.

Karen, Brent, Lianna

My Sister –  the World’s Messiest Baby

Emma Davy was adopted from China four years ago at the age of nine months. She traveled back to China with her parents this Summer to adopt her baby sister. This is her account of her trip, with a little help from her mommy.

I am going to tell you about my trip to China. The plane ride was very fun but it was very long, too. I met a new friend on the plane named Josh (Hirano) who sat behind us. He was going to China with his parents (Steve and Laura) to adopt a baby sister.

Then I slept for a long time. Finally we were in China. Then the next day we had to fly to the province of Guizhoi where we were going to adopt my baby sister.

When we got to Guiyang, we stayed at the Miracle Hotel. That's where I met An who is from Regina and was also in China with her parents to adopt a baby sister. An is a very nice girl and I liked playing with her at the back of the bus.

I also met a girl named Tara (Kowalsky) and we also played on the bus a lot. We went to Guizhoi two days early so we would have time to get rested before we met our baby sister. We met a man named Wilson (tour guide) who took us to a market.

It was smelly! But it also had really nice vegetables that were clean and fresh looking. We also saw lots of little dogs in China. My mom says they were called Pomeranians and that more people are allowed to keep dogs now in China.

I liked the Miracle Hotel where we stayed in Guiyang because there was a playroom in the restaurant where An and Tara and I played.

I got a new baby sister and her name is Katie. She's very nice. She's the world's messiest baby and I love her and she loves me.

Then we went to Beijing. We stayed at the State Guest Hotel which I liked a lot. One of my favourite things about it was the  looking  elevators. That's what I called the elevators that had all glass on one side and you could see the big lobby of the hotel as you rode inside them.

On Sunday we climbed the Great Wall which was very fun but it was also really, really hot. My mom and I climbed up to two towers. My dad turned back before us because he had Katie in a stroller and it was too hot.

We also went to the Summer Palace where there was a marble boat in the lake. Our guide Fay said this girl used to have dinner on it and she used to get served but now she's in heaven.

We also went shopping at a place called the Silk Alley. Shopping was very fun because there was a lot of stuff. But sometimes the people grabbed my mom's arm when we tried to walk away and said, "How about 100 yuan?“ But my mom said to them, "we're only spending five dollars." That's how we got things for a good price. We got a winter coat for my mom and a pretty pink dress for my baby sister. Plus I got a new Chinese dress and some pink and white roller blades.

The plane ride back home was also very long. When we got to Toronto my grandpa and Auntie Iris were waiting for us. They had two balloons and took videos of us coming down the escalator.

It was after midnight when we got home and I was glad to be back in my bed. When we opened the door the dogs barked a lot.

My baby sister really likes stuffed toys so one of the first things we did was to show her all my stuffed animals in my bedroom. We piled all the animals on the bed and we parked my baby sister on top of all of them. She liked the Teletubbie the best!

I really liked my trip to China. Hope you (who are waiting to go) have as good a trip as I did!

Emma Davy   Burlington, Ontario

Guiyang

My Trip to China

Tara Kowalsky (8) travelled with her parents Sandra & Glenn Kowalsky of Calgary Guizhou in July 2004 to meet her sister Laura. Tara wrote about her impressions of the trip

At the Beijing hotel the first night, a girl who was selling stamps let me bargain. Then we flew to Guiyang to get our baby. When I got my baby sister my mom started to cry because she was so cute. My sister’s name is Laura MinQi Kowalsky. Laura didn’t cry at all when the Director handed her to us because we talked to her lots before that and gave her toys and a cookie. I was the first one to get to hold her. At the Guiyang hotel, there was a playroom and me and my friends, Emma and An always played in it. There was a ball pit there and Laura liked that a lot. An’s Dad taught us some Kung Fu moves. I thought China was really cool. But it was very hot. There was a lot of dragon stuff there. I really liked the food and drinks and didn’t have to use the plastic forks we packed at all. We went on lots of tours. In Guizhou we went to a Miao village and saw lots of traditional dances and costumes and tasted sticky rice with sugar. The Miao people had program`s and the program’s were dances. My favorite tour in Beijing was the Great Wall because it was very big. I liked it because it was like a castle. And me and dad climbed to the third tower of the Great Wall and took the roller coaster train back to the parking lot. People always wanted to touch me and take a picture of me. There was green beer in China. We went to see acrobats and they were cool. People on the street were selling cheap DVDs. There was a silk market and at the silk market people always said, “Come here lady” and grabbed your arm. And there was a pearl store and I bought pink pearl earrings. At a restaurant there was a stage and people were dancing on the stage. I liked the people who were dancing on the stage because they had on pretty dresses. I thought the summer palace was really nice because there were lots of palaces, boats, lily pads and and people. And at the Summer palace I went on a boat. And I saw a marble boat. But the best part of all was getting my baby sister, Laura. Someday we will all go back to China again and show Laura more things because we liked her birth country so much.

Tara Kowalsky

It’s a Small, Small World …

Think Beijing is a big city? Think it is across the planet? Right on both counts.

It was July 2004, Richard and I were getting ready for the trip of our life. We were getting ready to meet our little girl in China. A few weeks earlier, Mike, Richard’s colleague asked him if it was true we were going to China. They quickly realized that they were catching the same flight out. Mike and his wife Kelly were on their way to visit Kelly’s parents who work at the Canadian embassy in Beijing. We met at the airport and were able to sit together on the aircraft. It made the trip a lot easier as they were able to upgrade our tickets to business class. In Beijing, we went our separate ways, they to Kelly’s parents home at the embassy and we were off to meet our little girl. A week later, we met again as they invited us to the embassy to celebrate the arrival of our little girl with a “Baby Shower”. There, we met the whole family. We barely knew them but they showered our little girl with gifts.

As we were getting ready to leave for Beijing, we were told by family members that Richard’s great cousin, Jacinthe, whom we had never met, was also going to China to adopt a little girl. Well, on our way back from the Great Wall, we gathered for lunch at the Friendship restaurant where we met a group with adopted children who spoke French. And thinking “what are the chances?” We asked if Jacinthe was in the group. She was. She was outside in their bus and so we went to introduce ourselves. We thought “Wow, what are the chances of meeting someone from your family somewhere in China?” The end of our story?  No. Three days later, while walking in the Forbidden City, we came across the Great Wall group again and … Jacinthe’s husband. Later that same day we went shopping at the Sanlitun Ya Show Clothing Market. And met them again. We so wanted to buy lottery 6/49 tickets.

Our trip to China was memorable as we became parents to a wonderful little girl. We will cherish every moment of this trip for many reasons. We were lucky enough to have those coincidences happening to us. It is definitely true, it’s a small world after all…

Isabelle Drouin, Richard & Sara-Kim Gladu