Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Tuesday - Adoption Interviews
The White Swan is famous (among adoption families) for many things, including their western-style buffet breakfast. The scrambled eggs in Beijing looked like soup, and I'm pretty sure that the bacon was boiled. The White Swan's breakfast was mmm good, and there were no fish heads to be seen anywhere (thank goodness). We've been served fish twice on our trip so far- and both times the head was still attached.
Anyway, after a good breakfast, we went back to the "Adoption Registry Center of Guangdong Province" and had two interviews. Both were very brief, and for the most part they were uneventful. The man who did the second interview was a little curious as to why we wanted MORE children since our family was so large already. Once the interviews were over, we went to a local police station ( see photo) and applied for passports for the babies. It will take a couple of days for the passports to come in, and then we can get the visa for the baby.
Lunch was traditional Chinese again, but this was some of the better food we've had on the trip. One of our traveling companions compared last night's meal to being on "Fear Factor". Our guide knew that everyone needed a break and ordered KFC for everyone for dinner tonight.
I updated the links on the right-had side of the page, check them out when you have time. The information about the "island" where our hotel is located is interesting. Driving in, you don't feel like you're an island, you just feel like you've gone across the river... but it is actually a small island.
The Danny's Bagels link has a page about Guangzhou with some good tips for travelers. The air here is cleaner than in Beijing, but it's still smoggy.
I also made it easer to post comments on our site here, so if you visit our site, please post a comment. We'd love to hear from everyone.
Across from our hotel are several local stores and gift shops. It's fun to mingle with the local merchants. They enjoy checking out the Americans with their new babies and trying to talk you out of your yuan. Bought a nice stroller for 160 yuan (about $20) and several baby outfits for about $5 USD each.
Anyway, after a good breakfast, we went back to the "Adoption Registry Center of Guangdong Province" and had two interviews. Both were very brief, and for the most part they were uneventful. The man who did the second interview was a little curious as to why we wanted MORE children since our family was so large already. Once the interviews were over, we went to a local police station ( see photo) and applied for passports for the babies. It will take a couple of days for the passports to come in, and then we can get the visa for the baby.
Lunch was traditional Chinese again, but this was some of the better food we've had on the trip. One of our traveling companions compared last night's meal to being on "Fear Factor". Our guide knew that everyone needed a break and ordered KFC for everyone for dinner tonight.
I updated the links on the right-had side of the page, check them out when you have time. The information about the "island" where our hotel is located is interesting. Driving in, you don't feel like you're an island, you just feel like you've gone across the river... but it is actually a small island.
The Danny's Bagels link has a page about Guangzhou with some good tips for travelers. The air here is cleaner than in Beijing, but it's still smoggy.
I also made it easer to post comments on our site here, so if you visit our site, please post a comment. We'd love to hear from everyone.
Across from our hotel are several local stores and gift shops. It's fun to mingle with the local merchants. They enjoy checking out the Americans with their new babies and trying to talk you out of your yuan. Bought a nice stroller for 160 yuan (about $20) and several baby outfits for about $5 USD each.
