MingGe is full of energy and very bright. On Monday we figured out she knows many of her colors and some common words. She also has a little independent streak. We spent several hours at the Civil Affairs office. It was several hours of waiting and tough on the adults who had no idea what the guides and officials were saying, so it must have been tough on the kids. There were at least six different families in the same room with their kids, families and guides.
We were very happy to meet Tommy from Texas along with his wife, three daughters and new son. One of Tommy's daughters was adopted from China, so they knew the drill. I think he met Elaine through his work with charitable organizations and Yahoo group but he had called me in the states before we left when we figured out we would be traveling at the same time.
Towards the end of the morning we had to go down a few floors and get pictures taken for the official adoption paper. MingGe was done and wanted nothing to do with it. John had to grab her and carry her over - boy was she mad! Tommy to the rescue - a pixie stick saved the day. Yes, we resorted to sugar in a stick!
At that point we figured out that bribery works. We took MingGe to KFC for lunch, as that is where she wanted to go for dinner Sun night with Elaine and Migyeong, but we made her go for Chinese food. Jack has had KFC once in his life in the states, but we needed to cheer our little girl up!
After lunch the time change and early wakeup hit us. Mama took a 4 hour nap, MingGe took a 3 hour nap and Jack took a 2 hour nap. After that we saw a different girl. She was so happy. We took a walk to Tessco and grabbed some supplies. MingGe also found a plastic tea set she could take in the tub. We had dinner in the hotel and played in the room. It was a great night! MingGe went to bed without any problems and slept solidly all night!
I should mention that the first night MingGe slept like a soldier - arms straight by her side. Making sure not to touch brother Jack on one side or Mama on the other. Mon night there were arms and legs everywhere! At one point Jack woke me up and asked if I could get MingGe off him as he had to go to the bathroom and he did not want to wake her.
Observation of the day. "Mom and Dad, I know why the cars are so skinny in China, that way they can drive on the sidewalk without hitting any buildings."
The roads are really a free for all and almost impossible to describe. There are many cars and almost no rules. If you are turning left when the light turns green, simply move directly into oncoming traffic so you block their access to move forward. They will still try to go around you to the right, including going on the sidewalk, but if you are good you can block their path and continue your turn. Sidewalks are a little bigger than NYC and are fair game. People, bikes, motorscooters all fight for the right of way. We have seen police. They drive around with their lights on all the time, so it would be hard to tell if they wanted you to stop. But this is not a problem, they do not stop anyone! I think they are there only if someone gets into an accident that cannot be settled with a payment or I'm sure of there is a fatality!
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