Sunday, February 19, 2006
SHOPPING & PING PONG

We have learned that WenYan gets carsick which was not too surprising....riding in a car is not a common occurrence in her former life. Today we did some shopping at a large department store mall which happened to be the same place we bought a stroller for Sophie at 2 1/2 years ago. We ended up right across the aisle from the shoe and baby department that we shopped in then which was fun to remember. Since she didn't feel too well after riding in the car, it was hard for her to keep trying stuff on or even be excited about it I think and she pretty quickly said, "no more trying on!" She knew what size she was and did not want to have to get in and out of her clothes anymore. We got her a few things and then left right away to return to the hotel. She and I spent the afternoon wrapping gifts for her return to Chenzhou tomorrow and just being together. Michael went on a lone outing as he likes to do so he was gone for several hours but we did okay without him although she asked me a few times where he was.

When he returned we got a much better look into WenYan's real personality. We figured it was time to do some kind of activity so we pointed to the translated phrases we have which include Ping Pong.. she said yes but then looked a little confused and typed into babelfish "don't know how hit" so Michael and I kindly told her we would teach her. Well, we get down to the ping pong rooms that you can rent by the hour in our hotel, and he and I start playing and slowly trying to explain how to do it to her and she takes the paddle and promptly shows us that she was completely pulling our leg.. it was obvious that she has played before and pretty well too. She is quite the competitor and she and Michael had so much fun playing together. I was included too when either of them needed a break from the competition, but it was definitely a bonding time for daddy and WenYan. It was priceless to see her huge grin when she won a point and she matched Michael trick for trick. The language barrier seemed to melt away for a little while. We are thinking that a ping pong table may be just what our unfinished basement needs when we return home.

After dinner we returned to our room and WenYan and I put all the gifts and treats into a small suitcase to carry to the Chenzhou orphanage tomorrow. She took great care in arranging everything so it would fit. We have dum dum suckers for the small children, a large box of Hershey bars, other chocolates and treats that she picked out at Walmart that she said the older girls like.. some kind of spicy looking meat thing. We spoke to our guide by phone later and had him explain a few things to her and ask her if she wanted to walk to the store to buy some more treats for herself in the car and she said, "my mommy and I already packed all the treats for tomorrow". When our guide translated that to us, it just really warmed my heart to hear her say that kind of simple phrase. She is not a girl to waste anything either so I don't think buying more treats is anything that would occur to her to do since we already have so much to give to her friends. She and I broke out the travel Blokus game that I brought from home and it was again something we could do that didn't require a lot of language and it was fun to do together. We should be going to sleep early as it will be an extremely long day tomorrow. Keep a good thought for us as the details weren't worked out too well ahead of time. It is a 4-5 hour drive each way but we are determined to go and so is she. We are not spending the night but coming back here so our next update may be delayed depending on how excited we are to share the big day. We are really looking forward to this and so is WenYan. We are so looking forward to seeing where she has lived for so long and meeting her teacher Ling who was not able to come to Changsha with her. She considers this woman to be more than a teacher as she cared for her daily. Today at the embroidery factory which is the specialty here in Hunan, WenYan asked to buy Ling a special scarf to express her love for her. We will also meet her English teacher hopefully and maybe see her school. Well, Michael just returned after cleaning out the little mom and pop store around the corner of all their pencils and pens to take to her friends at Chenzhou.

Love,
Susan, MIchael and WenYan

Wen Yan in front of tree in lobby


Wen Yan playing ping pong

Daddy & Wen Yan.. ultimate competitors


Mom & Wen Yan playing ping pong


WenYan & Ping - new daughter of Mike