Home, sweet home

It is great to be home and after what seemed like a very long Friday we were all so glad to see our beds. We slept soundly.......until 02:30hrs when Martha and Esther woke up. Gra and I tried to doze a bit while they excitedly got dressed up, played with toys and rediscovered books, but after I'd adjusted Esther's fairy wings three times, we gave up and got up too! I had all the washing done by 07:30hrs!!
Despite the early start, we felt quite reasonable on Saturday, enjoyed watching Esther dance at the village fete and caught up with family and friends. Today though, we feel shattered.
Well, we are all back to school and work tomorrow, with lovely memories of a fantastic trip. Thanks for travelling with us!
A few more photos...

Civil Affairs 2002 and 2009

Sofa in Scitech Hotel, Beijing. 2002, 2005 and 2009

A final picture of the inspiration for the title of this blog ...

Our last post from China

We flew back into Beijing this afternoon and the landing was one that we wouldn't want to repeat again in a hurry!!!
The girls cheered with delight when we drew up outside the Scitech Hotel, saying " Yippee, we've come back to our normal one!" They immediately started madly spinning around in the revolving door and playing with the water fountain. Just a final trip to the Silk Market and Friendship Store to do and then we will have a final meal at the duck restaurant. We have a really early start in the morning to catch our 10am flight home and then we will lose 7 hours on the 11 hour journey. I think it will be good to get home to Holbrook!!
We feel so proud of the girls. They have coped amazingly with a busy and demanding schedule and have been as good as gold throughout. They are both able to recite great long sections of "The Incredibles" by heart and have made a lot of friends along the way.
We will post one more time from home and look forward to seeing you all soon.

Message from Martha to Year 2
I have had a fantastic time in China but it has been a bit too hot! Actually, I'm getting used to the hotness. I have got loads to tell you when I get back. I am looking forward to seeing you on Monday. Love Martha xxx

Message from Esther to Shannon and Megan and Becca
i mis yo
love esther
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Janet and the girls

Pig tripe fungus for breakfast!

Pig tripe fungus was on offer for breakfast.....I gave it a miss and stuck to toast and jam! I must say, I'm yearning for a bowl of Crunchie Nut Cornflakes and cold semi skimmed!!!

Esther's message to Foundation.
Hello all my teachers and friends. Thank you for your lovely message. I am having a good time in China, although I am missing you and keep wondering what you are all doing. Ted has been a good boy and he had fun climbing the Great Wall and visiting the Pandas. I can't wait to see you and I'm looking forward to dancing at the village fete.
Lots of love,
Esther
xxxx

A busy day

Last night we ate at a quite upmarket restaurant, over the road from the hotel, and it was, ironically, probably the most expensive meal we've had since we've been in China. We ate some beef which was quite fatty and unfortunately Gra was quite sick during the night. The girls and I have been fine thank goodness, but poor Gra woke up feeling pretty washed out and a bit achey. I tried to persuade him to stay in bed, but he dosed himself up and did brilliantly on what was a busy but really fun day.
Today was another scorcher...about 34 degrees! After breakfast, we went to a Buddhist Monastery and Temple in the centre of Chengdu. It was in a lovely part of town, with lots of old Ming-style buildings and a street market. The girls bought a few bits and had a horse made for them out of melted sugar.(Subsequently eaten by Esther!)
We had explained to the girls that religion in China is quite strictly controlled, but that a lot of people follow the Buddhist faith. Janet is a Buddhist and so it was excellent when we got to the temple, because the girls were able to watch her carrying out her incense burning and bowing to Buddha rituals. Martha is going to give the photos and film we took to Mrs Coombes(her RE teacher at school) and show her how people bow to Buddha. We also saw some Buddhist monks and where they eat and study. A lot of Chinese people go to the temple to give thanks to their ancestors and so while I was there I just stood quietly for a moment to say my thank yous to Martha's and Esther's ancestors.


After the temple, we took a taxi to a children's adventure park on the other side of the city. It was the middle of the day when we got there and Martha was already wilting fast. I sat next to her in the taxi and she had her head on my arm - I couldn't believe the heat coming off her head!! So, we sat in the shade in a tea garden for an hour, had some popcorn and a cold drink and cooled off a bit. When we got to the park area with the rides, it was deserted because of the heat and also all the local children were in school. So we pretty much had the place to ourselves and enjoyed ride after ride without any queuing. It was brilliant fun, although as we trundled along rollercoaster tracks that had obviously seen better days, I didn't dare think about health and safety!!!!
Eventually, we got the hot, sweaty and tired girls in the taxi and took them back to the hotel for a most welcome swim.
We also played it safe with food tonight and ate at Pizza Hut! Graham is starting to feel a bit better luckily!
Tomorrow we are back to Beijing for a last bit of shopping and then it's home! Two more sleeps in China. Can't believe it's gone so quickly, although when I think of all we've done and the ground that we've covered, it seems that we've been here ages. Graham and I were playing cards last night and were talking about how mind blowing the trip has been. It's been both physically and emotionally tiring and it is hard to find words for some of our experiences. It has been sobering to see the girls back in the land of their birth and we can but hope that we can help them find a real sense of belonging both with us and within their heritage. At dinner the other night, Marthie said to us, "It's funny really because I'm English and Chinese". We said to her, "You're the best of both".

Message from Martha, "At the pandas I saw some red pandas. They are very rare and they are the same as Mr Shufu in Kung Fu Panda"
Message from Esther (to Becca as usual!)," I went on some rides but I didn't like the big splash on that boat slide....it went in my shoes. I love you very muchxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
Message from us all "Have a wonderful visit Mrs Coppin!"

Random question to the Southside girls..."What time does the village fete start?"

With lots of love from us all.

The Pandas!

We went to the Panda Reserve in Chengdu today, much to the delight and excitement of the girls. It was a really hot day and so luckily quite a bit of the reserve was shaded by bamboo trees. There was one bit which was out in the open and Martha was pouring water on her head to keep cool! The pandas were so cute and it was hard to believe that we were standing within arms reach of them as they munched away on endless bamboo. The cubs were adorable, although they were all mostly indoors, lying on cool floors, due to the heat. There had not been any new arrivals recently, so the incubators were empty, but we watched a film of some of the pandas giving birth and looking after their tiny cubs. After we'd been there a little while, Esther said to me "Mum, can we go now - this is so boring just looking at pandas all day long!". You have to laugh!!


We really like Chengdu. It's a comparitively small city which has a nice relaxed and laid back vibe. However, we did see a motorcyclist come off a lot worse in a collision with a car at a junction yesterday. The roads here are as mad as ever!
This afternoon, the girls swam with Gra while I had a back massage...it's a hard life! Actually, I was hoping for a nice relaxing back massage, but after having my pressure points pummelled and pressed I felt quite bruised!

Tomorrow, we are going to go out into town and hope to go to a Buddhist temple so the girls can see this part of Chinese life.

Martha says, " I went to see the pandas today and I loved the baby cubs the best."

Esther says, " I am missing you Becca but I will be ok when I see you and we have an ice cream together at the beach side."

Tomorrow will be our last day with Janet as she will say goodbye to us when we fly up to Beijing on Thursday. She is so lovely and we will miss her keeping on saying "You very be careful" and to Graham (every five minutes) "OK Check! Check bags, check money, check babies, check wife ... you need to very be careful."

Back from the Yangtze

Well, after 3 days cut off from the internet whilst on a boat in the Yangtze we made our way to Chengdu.

The boat trip was fantastic. Partly for cost and partly for timings we ended up on a locals’ (Chinese people only) boat, so we really got to see China! No comfy cabins but at least a shower and no squatty potty. For this we had taxi'd to Yichang and boarded another bus and then onto the boat just past the 3 Gorges Dam.



The Yangtze Gorge is amazing, and no photo or video will ever capture it. We went on a small boat trip on Saturday down Shennong Stream with local Taijing people rowing and singing to us. It was simply beautiful. Most of the rest of the time was spent on the main cruiser enjoying the view and chatting (via Janet) with the Chinese tourists. They loved M+E and they made a few friends.



We came to Chongqing this morning and took a train to Chengdu. Lovely train and enjoyed the endless spectacle of farmers managing their plots, sometimes on the smallest and most uneven ground. It's easy to see how embedded the Chinese culture is with agriculture and the seasons.

Tomorrow, we're off to the Panda reserve so we're obviously very excited about that.

G


Dear Rebecca,
Looking forward to our play date, having a sleep over and then going to the beach to have an ice cream,
Lots of love,
Esther
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Megan,
Enjoyed going to Wuxue and meeting my foster mother and having a ride on her scooter.
Lots of love
Martha
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello Mrs Coppin

To Mrs Coppin,
Esther liked watching T.V on the plane and she said she liked padington bear the best.
I haven't seen any pandas yet but I will see some after the boat.
I bet you are getting ready for your boys.
Love from Martha xxxx

An extra day in Wuhan

It's Thursday today and we are still in Wuhan. Stayed an extra day here due to a little mix up with dates on our boat booking. It was actually good to have a rest day after yesterday and we all slept soundly and didn't wake until 9am!! It has rained a lot today so we just chilled in the hotel and went for a swim. I taught Marthie to play Patience and she must have played it about 50 times since!!

We went shopping tonight so Esther could see the fish(!) and to stock up on supplies for the boat trip. We are going on a boat that is "not the one the foreigners go on"(Janet's words!) so won't have any Western food, hence stocking up on crisps and biscuits for Het. There's only so much noodles and clean rice that even this girl can eat! Marthie loves trying all the unusual stuff and has had amazing things for breakfast each morning.

Been reflecting quite a lot today on our trip to Wuxue. I keep thinking of things I wish I'd asked, but I'm confident now that if we keep up the contact with e mails and photos, future trips back when Martha is a bit older will build on all that happened yesterday. Martha has talked very matter of factly about it all....she said "the goodest bit was going on the motorbike". I'm sure her memories of yesterday will be important as she grows up and tries to understand her story.
(Note to Lesley and John.. I tried asking about Ali's foster Mum but they were very reluctant to tell me anything. They kept saying,"Yes, lovely Australian family! They came last year." )

So, off on the boat trip tomorrow. We have a 5 hour road journey to get to the boat....bit more Mulan 2 and Mamma Mia!!
We will be on the boat until Monday morning. We hope to have internet access on the boat, but if we go silent on you you'll know why! Can't wait to see the gorges and the beautiful scenery on the boat-it's the bit of China I've always dreamed of seeing.

Grahamtwohands- we have been thinking of you and hope your op went really well.

Thanks to all who have put comments on the blog...it's great to read them and brilliant for the girls to have contact with home.

Lots of love from us all.

Messages from the girls

Dear all my Friends, I've been to the Great Wall of China and it's really long.Yesterday I went to my orphanage, I saw my Foster Mother and had a ride on her motorbike.Wan Mae, I saw your Foster Mother.I told her that we are still friends but I don't steel your bisects(biscuits) any moor. Thanks for sending me comments I love getting them. Love Martha xxx


Deu rebecca i mis yo i can hav u pladat but one rtu China.(Dear Rebecca I miss you. I can have a playdate but only after China). luv estherxxxxxxxxxxx

A day in Wuxue

Today was probably the day we most anticipated with all sorts of jumbled up hopes and fears. We were glad that we were at least going with some form of permission from the Hubei province government officials, but Janet (our guide) prepared us that we might still not be allowed in by the orphanage director. The permission might at least get us an opportunity to meet them outside in say a restaurant.

The first 14 months of Martha's life have always been distant and we wanted to touch them properly - and so today was that chance.

We headed off early (8am) for the 3 hour bus ride. Thanks goodness for portable DVD's and snacks. I loved the journey. The landscape was full of paddy fields, tended by farmers with water buffalo. The red earth mixed with the green vegetation, punctuated with flat-top houses with their red couplets around the doorways. Motorbikes were ridden by men with mobile phones and sometimes more than 1 passenger. I quite fancied a go on one, but I'm not sure I'd handle the randomness of the road junctions.

When we got to Wuxue, we were taken to a hotel lobby and within a few minutes, 4 officials from the orphanage arrived. The male director, 2 'other' female directors and Martha's foster mother. It was all a bit uneasy at first, and no-one seemed sure what we should be talking about. We launched into giving pictures and gifts, and they duly took them and responded politely. Fortunately, a meal was going to help settle us and we spent over an hour sharing food and passing messages to and fro through Janet.

Martha's foster mother seemed to relax over time. As she sat next to Martha I sensed she was pleased to be here, and she shared a couple of her memories of Martha with us.
Wan Mae's foster mother also joined us for the meal, along with her daughter. (Note to Phil + Wan - Alex managed to pass on the photo's + note successfully!).

After the meal M's foster mother was about to take her to the orphanage on her scooter. We settled for a quick spin around the front of the hotel, followed by a ride for Esther as well (of course!). Although we asked several times whether we could go to the orphanage, were were not going to get beyond the front gate, so we had to settle for a final visit with our hosts there.

We were told that Martha actually spent most of her time with the foster mother, so inside the orphanage was actually not as important to see. We asked whether we could see the foster mother's house, but this was also not allowed. They promised to email photos, and who knows, maybe another day in years to come we could visit.

Being outside the orphanage was probably the most moving as this was also Martha's finding place. Just over 7.5 years ago, someone either known by or part of her birth family brought her here to be looked after. No parent can do or allow that without pain. They will always carry some sense of loss and wonder what happened to her. I wish I could have turned around from that spot and nodded to them that she was OK. We will do our best for her and give her the family you were not allowed to.

We said our goodbyes.

We travelled off for a couple of minutes. I asked to stop for a photo of the Yangtze. We climbed a ridge and could see the famous river through some houses. I hope that we can come back here again and go a little bit further next time.

Martha has not said much about the visit. She seemed happy to get back to a Mulan2 DVD in the bus. I didn't expect her to really. Today has been a lot to ask of a 7 year old.

I love you Martha and am so proud of you for facing your world.

G


Picture outside Wuxue orphanage : L to R
Foster Mother, A, E, G, director, Wan Mae's Foster Mother, M, 'other' director

Marthie and Het at the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan

Martha with the lovely lady at Civil Affairs - she oversaw our adoption on Christmas Day 2002

An emotional roller coaster!

We travelled down from Beijing to Wuhan yesterday(Monday). It is rainy and cool, but's actually a relief after the heat of Beijing.It felt amazing to touch down in Martha's home province and we were remembering how emotional we felt when we flew her out of Hubei 6 and a half years ago. Chris's sister Tao Qui (Janet) met us at the airport. She is just the same...larger than life and has kept us laughing! The girls were shattered and fell asleep as soon as we got in the mini bus. Once we had them in bed, Janet had a chat with us. She said that unfortunately, on Friday, the authorities had issued a decree to all the orphanages in China that no adoptions were to be carried out and no orphanage visits allowed because of swine flu. She and Chris had both spoken with Wuxue orphange about us visiting on Wednesday, but the director was afraid to disobey the rule, so we would not be able to visit. He said he would not even be able to meet us off site.
The only way that he would agree to the visit would be for us to get "special papers" from Civil Affairs giving authority for it. Janet seemed doubtful about us getting it but said we would go to Civil Affairs on Tuesday am to "plead with them". We felt so downhearted when we went to bed!!
I woke up at midnight with jet lag and had a good old cry. Wuxue orphanage will relocate and shut it's current building in a few months and so this is Martha's last chance to see it. That is why we came now.....I couldn't help feeling,"You owe her this!" I've rarely prayed so hard!
Weds
The girls slept thro for the first time and Marthie woke up full of beans, asking me excitedly...."Are we going to my orphanage today Mummy?". I tried to explain what is happening and how important this morning was. Bless her, she put her best dress and shoes on and held her head up high.
When we got to Civil Affairs, Janet set to work talking with one of the officials.(I think she told them we've been in China for 3 weeks and nobody has been ill!!! )While she was talking, I noticed a lady walking into a neighbouring office. I recognised her as the lady who did our adoption of Martha and remembered her especially because she was very caring and had told us that the adoption was special for her because Wuxue was her home town. Janet called her over and she and Martha had a lovely reunion. She then joined in the negotiation and after a lot of talking, looking at our adoption certificate and Janet telling them they were the best Civil Affairs dept in China(!) Janet was given a form to fill in. As she filled it in she looked over at us, grinned and put her thumb up. I wanted to shout out with relief.
So.... the orphanage will receive faxed authorisation today and then it's up to them if they let us go into the building. The worst outcome will be a meeting off site, but compared to where we were last night, I'll settle for that! Janet is phoning the director later to ask if we can go inside, see M's foster parents, look at her orphanage file and go to the abandonment site. For all of you who said big prayers - THANK YOU!

We spent the rest of the day chilling as we have a long day tomorrow as the journey is 3.5 hours each way. We took the girls to a local supermarket to get supplies for tomorrow. It was wonderful to watch them having their fruit weighed and choosing sweets. Martha is not put off in the slightest when people jabber away to her in Chinese - she just smiles away and says what she can in Chinese back to them, She seems so proud to be here, but I'm sure there are a whole range of emotions and feelings buzzing about. We feel pretty emotional so can't imagine what it must be like for the girls.

Het is a lot happier today and has even started saying hello and goodbye in chinese. Still off her food a bit, but that is the bit that always goes haywire if she is out of sorts. She made us laugh in the Supermarket. There were lots of live fish swimming around in tanks as well as live turtles and frogs. She was delighted and we couldn't get her away...I think she thought she was in Seapets!!

Martha says," Hope Auntie Brennie's wedding went well and I liked it at Civil Affairs"

Esther said (to Gra) "It's my fault it's raining Daddy. Yesterday when I was so hot, I said a little prayer to God to ask him to make it cold. He listens to me doesn't he!"

We all send lots of love!

Sunday morning ... half an hour after the alarm!

We're in China!!

The South Family on Tiananmen Square

The Great Wall!

The girls (and travelling Ted!) on the Great Wall

Guess where we are going!

An update at last!

Hi everyone,

We're alive and well and settling into a new time zone! This morning we were all drinking tea and watching Mulan 2 at 01:30am!!!
It's really hot, so Martha is running between bits of shade whenever we are out.
Yesterday Chris took us to the Forbidden City and Great Wall which was fun. It has been great to see Chris again and he is amazed at how the girls have grown. Chris has also got a group of Dutch families out here who are adopting....... it's like deja vous!
We have not been able to log onto the blog out here so Alex's Mum is kindly going to do it remotely for us.
We're just off to do some shopping in the silk market and then this afternoon we fly down to Wuhan. Chris has said that "a lady" (presumably at Civil Affairs) has told him..."Just go to the orphanage"...so we are going to give it a go!

Martha says....."Today we are going to Wuhan on an aeroplane and I'm going to play UNO on the way. I think China is great but a bit hot!
Mummy is the only person with blonde hair that we've seen!"

Esther says..." Today I feel a bit funny...my tummy feels funny"
( I think the shock of the journey and being away has caught up with Het today...she's a bit off her food and tearful)

Anyway, we will report again from Wuhan!

Take care

The Souths

Hi, it’s Martha here.I’m so exited because tomorrow I’m goning to china for a holiday for two-week’s.I am goning to enjoy seeing the pandas.Love
from
Martha.

Esther says.....

"I'm looking forward to the aeroplane and seeing the pandas. Becca...I will be really missing you."

Swine flu!

We are getting packed and sorting out last minute things, but having a bit of stress because we have been told by Chris(our friend in China)that he has been informed by the Civil Affairs(the local government) in Wuhan that we will not be allowed to go to Martha's orphanage because of swine flu precautions. Bit of a blow really, as this was the main reason for our trip! We aren't giving up though,and Chris is continuing to negotiate with Civil Affairs for us. We may have to meet the orphanage staff off site, but we so wanted Martha to see the building and where she stayed as a baby, before they relocate. When we are in China, we are going to the Civil Affairs Office(this was where we met Martha when we adopted her). This will be on the day before our planned trip to the orphanage, so we might just have to BEG!

Esther had her plaster of paris taken off today(broken elbow!) and had her Hepatitis jab, so she's much more excited about the trip now! She does not want to go to visit her orphanage on this trip and "will do it when I'm seven".

So...two more days of school. Martha has a hard goodbye to say on Thursday.... her wonderful teacher is leaving at the end of the week (to become a mummy!)... M is going to miss her dreadfully!

I looked at the weather forecast forBeijing the next 5 days are 31 degrees and sunny(aka smoggy!). Yippeee!

6 sleeps to go ...

Welcome to a little journal of our family trip to China.



We love China, where Martha and Esther were born and have been hoping to go back for some time. We were inspired to go now since hearing that Martha's orphange in Wuxue is relocating this year. We are hoping to visit it together as a family for the first time.

We've also lined up plenty of other fun things including a 4 day boat trip on the Yangtze, a train journey, visit to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, a Buddhist temple, a trip to see the Pandas in Chengdu and of course, plenty of shopping !



So a few more days at school and work, a bit of packing and we'll be off !



Hope you enjoy the journey !