We're HOME!!!

Sorry... we're about to have breakfast, but I just wanted to let everyone know that we got home safely. I'll write more later, after church. ;)

Hm....

I don't know how to title this blog entry... there's too much to say to simply give it a short name! Right now, it's 11:40AM here, so lunch will be shortly, so I don't have time to contemplate a good name.

Of course, I know that you don't read this blog to hear about my problem of what I should title this blog. But, it was probably one of my favorite days yesterday.

Pearl Market vs. Shopping Mall

Yesterday, there was a planned trip over to the Pearl Market. Our family decided that the Pearl market wasn't as appealing as sticking around and doing other stuff. So, we stayed (I think someone said that only like three families went).

Some of our friends here told us about this outdoor mall on the other side of the river. We decided to go. But before you arrive there, you have to pass through the evil-medicine-market-of-disgustingness-that-nobody-should-have-to-pass-through-to-arrive-at-such-a-wonderful-place-as-a-mall (got all that?).

I won't go into details about the medicine market, but if you actually smell and look and the stuff there, it will make you nauseous (at least it does that to me). But, it was only like 5 minutes through there until we arrived at the outdoor mall!

One of the best things was that it wasn't like Americanized at all. Our family and the family we walked over with were the only Americans in there. Everyone else was Chinese. It was so awesome!

The prices there were good! I ended up spending somewhere under $100 (I don't know what I spent exactly...) But, I got quite a bit of stuff! My purchases:
- A pair of Converse All Stars (they're pink and brown! lol)
- 2 long sleeved t-shirts
- A furry white vest thingy (it's so cozy!)
- A brown coat (like a winter coat) and the hood is fuzzy! (Cass got the same one, but without the fuzzy hood... that was a little bit extra, but I liked it)
- A pink sweater thing (it's hard to explain it exactly)

We're planning on going back. I'm totally going to bring more money with me!! The only reason we left as early as we did (I think we only spent like an hour and a half there) was because we began to run out of money (well, at least my sisters did).

Picture time!

After we returned from the mall, it was time to get all dressed up and get the pictures taken of our travel group. Every family had a picture taken of just their family and then there was a picture taken of everyone all together. After those were taken, there was a picture of all the kids being adopted in our group.

Our family decided, though, as we were already dressed up to take a picture over by the waterfall in the hotel. So, that's what you're seeing in the picture.

It's hard to see in the picture, but Josh's hat is really amusing. It's one of the hats that has a braid sewn on the back. It's a really long braid, too.... quite amusing.

Riverboat cruise

At 6:40PM, everyone met downstairs for a riverboat "cruise". It was only like an hour an a half, but it was really fun. And it was so beautiful! The lights on the different buildings all looked awesome in the night (it was really easy to see them from the boat). And it was so relaxing...

This is our hotel. See how close it is to the river? Our rooms unfortunately don't have a view of the river.

On our way home from this expedition, a little white car tried to squeeze past our bus, but did so with unwanted results. When this happened, everyone on the bus could hear the loud scraping noise.

When this happened, the bus obviously had to stop. The police and some other people had to come and check out this accident (in all honosty, there was basically only a few dings on the car and the bus only had a few scratches).

We waited probably close to an hour for another bus to come and pick us up for the short 15 minute drive back to the hotel.

But, it was a good day. Extremely good, in fact.

Tomorrow, we have the swearing in for Amy... and then the next day, we are heading home! I can't wait to return to the United States! I mean, China is gorgeous and I would definatly come back, but I miss my home!! Luckily, it's only 2 more days!!!

Guangzhou- day 3

Greeting from Guangzhou! Another beautiful day here, I must say. I'm not used to wonderful weather in November!! Haha when we get back to Colorado, the November weather will be a shock! But, I'm going to enjoy this weather for all it's worth!

Right now, we're watching this TV show called "Just Go!". It's like this show where a bunch of people try to get through different obstical courses. It's pretty funny! The whole family is watching it... we all like it.

But, today wasn't about the TV. Just so everyone knows, my day (and Cassie and Nikki) was pretty different than our parents and Josh and Amy... at least for most of the day. Oh, and see? I got some pictures!!! Too bad I didn't think to take many pictures today.... tomorrow will be better!

The Morning

This morning, my parent had to go get some pictures of Amy for her paperwork. So, Cassie and I had to work on some more homework (bleh). I had to e-mail some of my teachers, since I'm feeling rather lost in the subject (if there's any Trig lovers, I don't get it!). This part of the morning was pretty dull...

After my parents did that, my dad had to do some paperwork. One of the people in our traveling group didn't have anyone to stay with her baby, so Cassie and Nikki went over and watched little Jack. But, my dad was done before everyone else, so we decided to go look at some stuff while Cassie and Nikki babysat.

We headed out... the best part of the morning? I GOT STARBUCKS!!! Yes, I may be in China, but my Starbucks was calling me. I got a Dark Cherry Mocha Frappachino... oh, it was delicious! My dad also got Starbucks... (my mom, Amy, and Josh all got tea or soda from 7-Eleven).

After we got our drinks, we headed over to this little store called "Jordans". There, I got some chopsticks.

Later

This afternoon, my parents had to take Amy to a medical examination. They took Josh, too, and said that us 3 girls were welcome to look around the island (Guangzhou is technically an island, just so you know... but it's surrounded by a river!).

We were happy for this offer, and headed out almost as soon as they were gone! We spent our time doing some souvenier shopping, which was really fun.

The people in the shops are so eager to sell to you! Their favorite phrase must be "I give you special price!" If you show any interest in a product, they catch on and try to sell it. More often than not, you can get a pretty good price. (I really stink at the haggling thing, so I don't- the price they offer is pretty much what I take).

I spent way more than I intended today! And yes, I did find something to add to my musical collection (oh, no surprise here). Today's purchase was this set of cool looking bells. I like it a lot! I also bought some bracelets and fans...

We must have been out for over two hours just looking around in the shops (multiple times per shop) and talking and laughing. We had so much fun!

Tonight

After dinner today, we all headed over to this shop called "Home for Love". It's like our favorite spot! The people that work there are so nice and love Josh. We take our laundry there, too.

But, on our way home from dinner (we ate at this Italian restaurant... the BEST 4-cheese pizza ever!) we stopped over there. My parents got Josh this toy (can't think of what they're called right now- but you kick them around).

One of the girls that work there took Josh outside and began playing with him. Pretty soon, us Flatt sisters joined their game. After that, our parents joined. We had quite the game going! Before long, some people from our travel group joined us, too. We had so much fun!

Josh kept kicking it behind him. Cass was being a major spaz. Nikki and I kept like flinching whenever it would come to us. It was so much fun! There was this car that was behind us and the toy kept hitting it... no scratches though! But we were in constant fear!!!

Conclusion

So, this marks the end of my Monday post. I did include a picture of my musical collection (minus the bells). Sorry, the picture is sideways.... The Chinese violin is the long thing, the bamboo flute is in the front, and the last thing is the bamboo calabash.

Miss ya and love ya all!!! We're leaving on Friday.... almost 3 days!!!!

Yay!!!

Today was day 2 in the beautiful city of Guangzhou! Seriously, I'm wearing shorts today! (for you California people- you don't know the awesomeness of wearing shorts in November!). I still can't put my pictures on here, but I have them all stored away on my camera. I must say, this is my favorite part of China so far!

The city tour of Guangzhou was today. For the most part, it was pretty fun. In my personal opinion, there wasn't enough shade, though. But that's ok! I'm enjoying the sunshine.

The Buddhist Temple

We started out by visiting a Buddhist Temple. Seriously, it was strange watching the local people come in and bow down to the idols. Our group was there sight seeing, but other people sure weren't! Even Amy told Nikki that she was supposed to bow- luckily, Nikki tried to set her straight (I don't know if she understood why we weren't bowing... I'm sure she'll know soon!)

The area that the temple was in was pretty. It was very green and had a relaxing feeling! I think that instead of going to worship the gold idols at the temple, it would be better to sit outside and read! I wished I had a book.... it was just that sort of setting, you know?

Old Chen House

It was very pretty inside. I'm not sure exactly how to explain it, though. It was like a bunch of rooms that had different sorts of old art stuff (ivory carvings, wood carvings, etc.)

It had a lot of cool things in there.... for instance, there was this room that was full of embroidered pictures. My favorite was this picture of like a pond with these trees. And then, the shadows from the trees were on there. It was hard to believe that the picture was made out of thread!

Provincial Art Crafts Shopping Center

I love shopping, so this was a fun part of the day. We only went into two different shops (and one of them was 7-Eleven). The main shop that we were in was so cool! It had SO much stuff! And it was all sorts of Chinese stuff... everything from Jade jewelry to classic Chinese clothing to the painted tea sets!

I didn't buy anything here, but both Cassie and Nikki got Jade bracelets. They were so pretty! I didn't get one for myself, because I always have a habit of losing jewelry... also, I wanted to save my money for other things (as will be noted later).

Eating experience

My favorite thing that I had today was my snack! We went down to 7-Eleven and I got (you are going to laugh at my American-ness): a vanilla Coke, and Kraft saltines with Jiffy peanut butter. It was so good! I've been like craving peanut butter ever since we left (that's what I get for eating it every day at lunch!).

But the STRANGEST eating was at dinner. A whole bunch of people that came with CCAI went over to the Cow and Bridge Thai Restaurant. That doesn't sound strange... but it gets strange, I tell you!

Nikki and I both ordered Thai Style Pizza. I ate a small piece... but then it wasn't cheesy! And it tasted rather strange (it was chicken filled). Speaking of chicken, some friends of ours ordered some chicken. When they ordered chicken, they got chicken! I found it rather gross, but everyone else thought it was amusing when they found a whole CHICKEN HEAD IN THEIR FOOD! Sadly, that ruined my appetite for dinner.

Shopping

We went around Guangzhou some more and looked at the local shops. I love it! They're all these little shops full of awesome things.

Ok, when I tell you what you bought, I'm sure anyone who knows me will not be surprised at my purchases. The only things I bought today were (there's 2 of them): a bamboo flute (it's so awesome) and the Chinese violin! I can play like the simplest of songs on it so far. But, I will improve!!! I can't wait to put pictures of it up!

The End

Well, it's like 9PM here and my parents are about ready to get into bed (and if you read my last post, you'll remember that I'm not on my computer... *insert tears of sadness*). Hopefully, I'll put some pictures on tomorrow.... I'll just have to have more time so I can delete the pictures from their computer after they're posted!!!

Adios! Luv ya all!

Goodbye Zhengzhou!

Today, we left Zhengzhou... now, we are in beautiful Guangzhou! Seriously, it is GORGEOUS here! It's warm (today it was in 80's mostly). Too bad we didn't bring much warm weather clothes!!!

I would put pictures up, but I'm stuck using my parents computer. Our hotel (the White Swan Hotel- very impressive) doesn't have Wi-Fi! And then, you have to pay per computer for the internet access (300RMB per week per computer). So, I will use their computer unless I get desperate.

The plane from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou was Amy's first plane ride. Most of the time she slept or just listened to her MP3 player. But, Nikki and I had a blast! Apparently, the hour and a half was too long. We took out my camera and took some awesomely dorky pictures. But, I can't put them up since this isn't my beautiful pink laptop!!! (yes, I am finding this whole computer situation quite disheartening).

What else is there to say... hm....

So, for dinner, we headed over to this place called Lucy's. The food was like American!!! So, Josh and I got quesadillas.... I must say, they were delicious. After we were done with our delicious food, we got ice cream!!! I got strawberry and it was delicious! (are you getting the point that the food was delicious? lol).

The scenery surrounding the restaurant was beautiful! There was this tree above where we were sitting (we were outside, you see) and the flowers kept falling. I must admit, I was kinda afraid that the flowers would fall right into my beverage! (they didn't, luckily.) We actually saw about 3 couples coming in to take pictures in their wedding attire. It was so pretty! And then there was a river running through behind.... amazingly pretty place!

After we were done eating, we headed down the main street where we checked out the shops. I seriously could have spent longer on that strip! We weren't intending on buying anything yet, but I ended up getting this bamboo instrument. I also got to try playing a Chinese Violin, and now I have decided that I want to bring one home with me!

Well, that's all for now!!! TTYL!

ALOT to say!!!

Ok, I'm sorry!!! I will warn you that this post will be full. Hopefully, I won't become to wordy and talkative (as I tend to do). But, since I forgot to blog yesterday, I have a lot to say! Feel free to skim through if you're short on time... I will not be offended!!! Oh, and also, I apologize for the spacing farther down... Blogspot and I aren't getting along too well with that issue.

So starting out with....
Yesterday (Wednesday)

The Orphanage

The first thing on the agenda for yesterday was that we were going to visit Amy Meng's orphanage. I wasn't expecting what I saw.

I have no clue what I was expecting. But when we got there, the place looked like it was literally falling apart. The paint was peeling, the buildings were cold. And honestly, the place looked like a prison. There was even the bars on the windows!

But the people there were so nice. You could tell that the director and the nannies at the orphanage were doing the best that they could with the situation. They all seemed content with it, too.

The hardest part of the day was when we were about to leave the orphanage... Amy and all the people that worked at the orphanage began crying. I think everyone around them (my family and the other family with us, too) was crying also.

It was obvious that the people there all loved Amy just as much as we do. But saying goodbye is never easy.... it was really proven yesterday. I think that was the only day I've cried about the adoption at all.

Guess it's gonna have to hurt

Guess I'm gonna have to cry

....

Starts with goodbye

The School

Right after going to the orphanage, we headed over to her school. As soon as we got there, she was off running to her old classroom, leaving us in the dust.

When she arrived in her class, we could all tell because there was cheering!!! After about a minute, they all began rushing outside, where we were.

There were so many of them!! We were told that in Amy's class, there was 49 kids. Haha, and I thought my class with 35ish kids was huge!!! And apparently, this school is a smaller school!

While we were there, apparently we were an interesting sight for the kids. Seriously, it wouldn't have been a good situation for a claustrophobic person- they were swarming us! But they were all so cute!!! What most of the kids would do is run up to us and say "Hello!" and then if we'd respond to their greeting, they'd run away, giggling.

The Markets

After we got back from the orphanage and school, and after we had lunch, we decided to take a walk down to some of the little shops nearby.

It's unlike any shopping experience in the USA. Obviously, the shopping would be easier if it weren't all in Chinese ;)

Oh, btw this picture is of an alley-like thing that sold produce... not actually part of the shops, but it gives you an insight on how Zhengzhou is- a little bit on the poor side. But, it's interesting to see the differences in our cultures.

The only thing we bought on this outing was a Tupperware (yes, the ACTUAL brand) for Amy Meng's noodles, so we don't have to keep borrowing a bowl from the buffet downstairs.

The end to yesterday....

Today!!!

The Museum

Today, our main adventure was heading down to some museum. It was pretty cool!!! But, I can't remember what it was called.... I seem to forget a lot of things, just a warning.

This is us outside of it. Well, I think that's obvious.... oh well though.

My favorite room in the museum was this room that was all displays of the calligraphy and ancient art. I could have looked at them forever! It was one of those things that really makes you wish you could write using the Chinese characters.

The Park

This was by far the most fun I've had in a while! When you get to this park, it seems all quiet and calm. There's a lake in the middle and the whole place is full of greenness.

But, when you cross the street into the other side of the park, there's a public workout place!!! Seriously, it was awesome!! Pretty much, there was everything except a treadmill! But, it was made of mostly mettle... and it was yellow... but besides that, it was awesome!

Honostly, I think the best part about it was attempting to use it. There was this one thing (oh... I forget what they're called... but the thingys that like move with your legs??? They swing... I can't believe I don't remember what they're called!) which we looked like complete dorks using.

Seriously, I had like no control over my legs. So they're like swinging all over and I couldn't stop them!! My mom and Cass were doing this at the same time, and they had better control than I did. But, apparently like everybody behind us was watching us and giving us these weird looks (or so I am told by Nikki). On the other side of the fence around the park, there was a guy with his camera. Us Americans must be quite amusing!!

We had a bigger crowd later though, when a whole bunch of people began talking to my dad and Amy Meng. I would tell you what the conversation was about, but I couldn't understand like any of it. I do know that they were asking our ages... when I was asked, Amy had to tell me what the lady was asking. Nikki, Cass, and my dad were all asked that, too.

Overall, it was a pretty fun day. Tomorrow, so far, we have no plans. I suppose Cassie and I will work some more on homework (I've completely finished my Civics and Spanish homework... and I'm getting closer to being done with my Trig/Pre-Calc homework, my Biology homework, and my English homework! Yay!! lol)

Well, ttyl!

Another day... of HAPPINESS!!!

Today, our adoption was made official by the Chinese government- Amy is officially a Flatt in their eyes!!! Of course, she fits right in (observe her lovingness to read- that's a book that she's so into).

Can you believe we're a family of 7??? S-E-V-E-N!!! To me, that number is mind boggling. I remember the days when we were a family of 5!! I liked our family then, but this is way better (no offense meant).

Today, we went to the Lotus market, which is basically like a Wal-Mart, except it's WAY cooler!! Seriously, they have like escalators!! (which I managed to trip on... multiple times... while I was in the middle of them... don't even ask how).

And then, it has like everything. Seriously. Like, I think I could wander around there for hours and still not come across everything. It's like the most amazing supermarket thing in the world!!! (I think I'm being overly excited about such a small thing, but who cares? Life is better if you can choose to be amused by the small things!)

I actually bought stuff there. For my own personal use, I bought like 3 awesome notebooks, a CD that's in Chinese (haha you have to know the whole story behind getting this), a DVD that's in Chinese (goes along with the same story behind the CD), and a book. Those were all of my

purchases!

All I wanted to say about this picture is: aren't my two little sisters cute??? I mean, they're both 12, but I still think they're pretty cute!!! (don't tell Nikki I said that... she'd most likely tell me to take that statement off!)

And here is a picture of our family (minus our dad). I'm so happy!!! I love our family!!!