Pictures I Couldn't Post Earlier

Update on Caleb

It is about 4:00 in the afternoon and we just returned from a very rewarding (though very cold) day out. We had an adoption orientation, visited the Temple of Heaven, and Tiananmen Square. The two sites of Chinese culture were nice, but we were just too cold to really enjoy them. The kids were great troopers, but there are only so many buildings you can expect a nine and five year old to enjoy seeing.

Just outside the Temple of Heaven we experienced what we had heard often happens to American children when they visit China: they become instant celebrities. Abbie, Collin, and their friend, Morgan, must have had about twenty pictures taken of them with some very friendly and excited Chinese tourists. It was great fun.

The highlight of the day, however was the orientation. Not only did we get some good information about our upcoming travel, tips for navigating Chinese culture, and updated itineraries, we also received some updated information and pictures of Caleb. In a nutshell he is a healthy and happy boy. He now weighs 26 pounds and is about 3 feet tall. If memory serves correctly, his height will fit right into the Harris family. He eats both regular meals and snacks continually throughout the day. I also noticed that he likes a bottle at about 12:00 PM. We’ll be working on that one. Apparently this is a “very important meal for him. If he doesn’t have it, he will cry.” We’ll be working on that one. He loves to be sung to, loves music, and is very persistent in that “if he wants to learn something, he will put all his heart into it.” He is walking fully on his own, speaks some baby babbles, is shy with strangers, and is very ticklish and giggly. Sounds perfect, doesn’t he.

Mer took some pictures of the pictures so we can post them for you. I tried to post them, but can't get pix to post right now. Will try again latter.

Tomorrow we leave for Nanjing, where we will meet Caleb in the late afternoon or early evening. I’ll see what I can do about posting some pics tomorrow night (Nanchang time.) You’ll have to do your own math to figure out what time, and what day that is for you. I’m having a hard enough time figuring out what day it is here.

God bless you all, and thank you for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement.

It's "Almost" Spring in the Harris Family

Our journeys today brought us out of the city of Beijing and into the country where we saw the Great Wall. People have said, pictures don't do it justice, and they are right. The sheer size and beauty of this place are impossible to capture on film.

However, it is not just the Great Wall that makes this place so magnificent. Mer captured that one important point for us in this first shot. At first glance, it looks like nothing to particular and exciting is happening: The Great Wall disappears over a mountain range and is framed by some cold, bare tree branches. Not exactly what you'd expect from a shot of the Great Wall.
But, look again at everything else going on. In the foreground you see a few bright cherry blossoms - the first to emerge from a long winters sleep. Look again at those bare branches. They are not bare at all. These trees are covered with buds that are such a rich and deep burgandy you could easily to mistake them for brown bumps on the bare branches from which they are emerging. The entirety of the surrounding mountainsides are covered with this scene - a few early blossoms hinting at what is to come, while the remainder of them patiently wait for their preparation to be complete. The mountains radiate with this boldly subtle burgandy hue. It sooooo wants to be Spring here. You can just sense it in the air - but it is just not quite time yet.

We are soooo ready for Caleb to be here, but it is just not quite time yet. These last few days especially have been a time when God has been busily at work preparing us and Caleb for the Spring that is just around the corner. And what a great and Spring day it will be.

Seeing places like the Great Wall have not only been great for us get over jet lag and to reconnect with each other. Our touring Beijing has also provided us with great insight into where Caleb is from. We better understand the culture that has shaped his early development and will be able to tell him from first hand experience what China was like at the time he was born.


In the following pictures you can catch a glimpse of some of what we have been up to as we are being prepared for Caleb's coming into our family. Don't you wonder what he is up do at the same time?

Lest anyone think I just scanned a post card to help make my point, I had to post a shot of us actually on the Great Wall. It actually snowed significantly (by Florida standards, anyway). I was actually glad it snowed instead of rained. We would have all been soaked to the bone in rain. The snow made it much more pleasant. Special thanks are due to our good friend JoAnne for the children's most fashionable and warm sweatshirts. Thanks, JoAnne!!













The two following shots we just had to post. Today another adopting family joined us on our tour to the Great Wall. They have a nine year old daughter who was a great friend and playmate for Abbie. She needed some girl time, and boy did she get it today. I'm not sure which set of parents were more thrilled that they got along so well.
In the final shot, you can see how exhausting today was. After dinner, Collin fell asleep in the middle of reading, and this shot was too perfect to pass up.
Tomorrow is our Orientation with the adoption agency. We will spend the morning doing that. Then we head off to Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven. If time permits, we will get to the Forbidden City. Sunday we fly to Nanchang and meet Caleb for the first time - probably late afternoon or early evening. So, for all of you at First Pres, we will have just received Caleb as you are beginning your Sunday worship service; a great reason to worship and give thanks to God for all he has done, is doing, and will do.

Thank you again for your comments and emails. It is great to hear the encouragement and support from so many friends and family.

Suddeness Happens?

What a phenomenal day! To combat the jetlag we took an active approach, and we were sure active today. After waking up at 3:00 AM because our bodies had no idea what time or day it was, we began with a great breakfast at the hotel. We were actually ready to start our day at six in the morning and were eating by 6:30. Note to self: the kids no longer have a reason to have a hard time being ready for school by 8:30. Anyhow, most hotels here include breakfast as part of the overnight rate. So, we took full advantage of it. I was reminded what an international place we are in. While there was plenty of traditional Chinese food available for our dining pleasure. There was also a very noticeable effort to meet European and American tastes. We had a rather eclectic breakfast, to say the least.

Whenever, I’m in a foreign country, I like to at least try to eat what the “natives” sustain themselves on. So, I had to try the Wanton Soup Station (very similar in concept to an omelet station). You pick what you want for your soup, the dude boils it up, dumps it on some wantons, you add your sauce and spices, and head for your table. I had no idea what I was doing, but gave it a shot anyway. As I sat there wondering how what was the best way to concoct this mixture, I received a wonderful reminder that when it comes to food the best way is the way you like it. There sat a man with an Eggo style waffle, folded in half, stuffed with cabbage, cramming the whole thing into his mouth with a pair of chopsticks, and smiling from ear to ear. It was a great start to the day.

We took a brief taxi ride to the Silk Market. This is basically a multilevel department store that contains everything from a swap meet to a grocery story to more expensive items at higher levels. We went to stock up on a few personal items, and Collin had his first experience in bargaining. He ended up with some small plastic dinosaurs – a must for every young boy going to China, apparently. Considering he wanted a giant remote controlled, grasping, stomping, dancing cross between Spiderman and a Transformer, I think I was lucky we got out for only three dinosaurs. Here’s how bargaining works in China. The merchant tells you how much something is, you offer about 25% of that, he gives you that “Are you out of your #!@% mind” look, then he says something about his poor family but that since you are his friend he wants to make a special price for you, you compliment him on the expensive looking jewelry he is wearing, and when all is said and done you end up close to half of the original offer.

Another important occurrence at this leg of our journey was our first encounter with the infamous “squatty potty” pictured below. Thank goodness for the “handicapped” stalls that house the more traditional – and frankly, more useful – western style buckets. (The picture is sideways - just in case you are wondering what on earth that is supposed to be.)

We then took off across town to the Beijing Zoo. The zoo itself was pretty depressing. Exploring the zoo with the family was priceless. We got to see Pandas, which is a must in any Chinese zoo. In addition, Collin discovered a hidden talent for rock climbing. Best of all though, we discovered the very helpful sign pictured below. Considering that, yesterday I was bemoaning a complete inability to comprehend any written form of Chinese, I ought to shut my yap and count my blessings that someone took the time both to warn me of the location of "suddenness" and to enlighten me as to how I might tame the unpredictable nature of “suddenness.”

There is much more to write about the Summer Palace, our dinner adventures, and the incredibly friendly and kind people we encountered today. But those stories will have to wait. Plus, it is getting late and I must get to my beauty rest. A full day awaits us tomorrow: Great Wall, and we will meet the other families that we will be traveling with who are also here to adopt. Thank you for you comments, checking in, and prayers.

Travel Shots

Happy Kids Waiting for the Plane in Newark
















Abbie doing well on the way to China















Collin over the North Pole. We didn't see Santa.
















Abbie's first picture in China. Beijing Airport.














Back at the hotel after dinner. One sleepy boy, two tired parents, one very wired photographer.

The Eagle Has Landed!!!

It is early Thursday morning, and we are safe and sound in Beijing. In this post I’ll bring you up to speed on our travel, share some observations and insights, and cover a few technical things about the posts (this will be especially helpful to those who are coming to China in the near future)

After about 18 hours of flying we touched down in Beijing. The kids were phenomenal on the flight and our layover in Newark. The plane was new and newly remodeled so it seemed brand new. We managed to get the seats with the power outlets, so Collin could plug in the DVD player and watch whatever he wanted – as if the 157 “play on demand movies,” and 612 assorted cartoons, sitcoms and documentaries weren’t enough to keep him occupied. Never the less – he was a happy camper. Personally, I learned that I can only withstand 2 full Austin Powers movies in any given sitting. After that, it’s just not funny anymore – oh well. Mer and I each slept for about three hours the entire flight.

Upon touchdown we were taken by our very friendly guide, Tom, to our hotel. We took some time to refresh ourselves, fighting the urge to curl into a ball and sleep on any horizontal surface, and headed out to find some authentic Chinese food. We ended up at KFC (I’ll explain that in a bit), we returned to the hotel and slept sporadically through the night. We are so refreshed that neither Mer nor I am suffering from those sporadic bouts of dizziness that accompany jet lag exhaustion. Yeah.

Here are several observations I hope you find helpful:

1. Beijing is a huge city. During our approach into the city I couldn’t help but notice how huge this city and country are. I really had no comprehension of it. The city is laid out on a plain area that rises up into the foothills of the mountains of the high desert (Gobi or Mongolian?). It reminded me of the approach into LA where one finds the city laying in a basin at the foot of the mountains. Only Beijing is full of massive buildings like New York. Basically imagine LA, only bigger and about as dense as NYC. By the way, they are still building. Now, imagine the roads all planned and wide like Orlando.

1. This is a totally different culture. In all my travels around the world, I have never felt more like a foreigner. At least in the Western world, I could recognize letters and sounds. Even in Israel, I knew the Hebrew letters enough that I could find what I was looking for. But, here I don’t even know where to start. For dinner, we were going to go to a Chinese restraint on one of the walking streets not far from the hotel. The front desk gave us the name of the restaurant, and even wrote the name down for us – in Chinese. Upon getting out of the taxi, though, I couldn’t tell one Chinese character from another. I’d hold up my little note in the air and compare it to the sign in front of a restaurant, and literally have no idea what I was looking at. We gave up on that and were about to go into a restaurant only to recognize everything was in Chinese and there was no picture menu. While people were very friendly, that’s how we ended up at KFC. It was still good, though. By the way, when in a foreign country, or trying to communicate with people who don’t speak your language, saying the same thing slowly or louder does not help – neither does saying it in Spanish. Don’t ask me why I did that – it just slipped out and really confused them.

Overall, we are blessed and thankful to be here. Right now I have a very keen sense of what it will be like for Caleb to adjust to us. Looking at my culture shock, I can really empathize with him. Coming here has helped me to “get it” in a way that only reading about it cannot.

On a more techie note, especially for those who are traveling to China soon, here is some advice on setting up your blog. From China, I cannot access my actual blog page, nor read any comments on the page. Luckily, I set up a bookmark to my “editing” page, and I set up the page to email any view comments to my g-mail account. So, while it is a shot in the dark as to what my China posts are going to look like, I can read your comments and post.

Today we play, and I will post some more pix tonight.

Greetings from Orlando

Somehow, our luggage multiplied like many many rabbits last night. Never the less, we made it to Orlando safe and sound. We are checked in and trying to get the kids down to bed. "Trying" being the operative word here. Can you say WIRED!!!!! Getting them down before midnight will be more of an accomplishment that getting them to China.

Collin has just climbed onto my lap, and wants to tell everyone this, "Dear classmates, this is Collin. I am having a great trip in China. Everything that we have is made in China. In five days we will meet our baby brother, Caleb. I am excited and happy. Bye...."

The pictures above are Abbie's first pics of the trip. I have promised her that she can be in the next posts - only if she doesn't insist on taking the pictures :). We had a great dinner at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Being from SoCal, I have to admit that I am a snob when it comes to Mexican food. And we all concur that this food was out of this world. By the way, did you notice the Panda Express logo over my right ear? Nice segway into our next post; isn't it? Way to go Abigail!!!

On a more educational note, Mer entered that "sureal" stage of our journey on the way home from dinner. It just seems so out of this world that we are finally ready to go. I can totally relate. It is both totally overwhelming and totally comforting at the same time. In a similar vein, I had a great visit with some neighbors of ours who are preparing for teaching stint at an American school in Afghanistan. They echoed that same strain of both total peace and complete confusion: not an "I don't want to do this" confusion, but a "What is this next step going to be like" confusion. What we came to realize is that we spend our lives seeking to make ourselves comfortable and secure. While things like this don't threaten that security, they present us with an unknown. What we don't know is easy for us to fear - that can cause irrational action and hence confusion. It was helpful for us to recognize this confusion and fear because in naming it we were able to get a handle on it. And it was then reminded that "perfect love casts out all fear." So, it may be a sureal moment right now, but it is a great moment to be enjoyed and embraced.

Abbie