A note from MADDIE....

Hi! This is Maddie! I am going write about my perspective (my mom’s word!) about China!

My mom is writing all this sentimental stuff, but what is really happening isn’t so warm and fuzzy… (Well, a lot of it is fun, but that isn’t the point!) I am going to tell you what really happened…

When we first arrived in China I was EXTEREMLY excited! Who wouldn’t be?! It was fun walking through the airport and listening to the conversations people were having as my family walked past. I couldn’t understand any of it though! We got our bags and did the normal “leaving the airport routine”…A bathroom stop, passport control, collecting bags, another bathroom stop, and declining all those offers for a taxi ride…you know, the normal routine…So after all that we met our guide Penny. It took an hour to get to the hotel because the airport is outside of the city. While in the car Penny said we would meet Nicholas thirty minutes after we got there! Brandte went crazy and started talking in his pie voice…When we arrived at the hotel my dad checked us in and my family went up to the rooms. At 4:30 we went to the meeting room and saw Nicholas for the first time. I probably said something really stupid like “Uh, that’s him right?” I mean it wasn’t like there were any other little Chinese four-year olds in the room! While my mom and dad were signing paperwork Nicholas and I played with the etch-a-sketch and his Tonka trucks. When all the signing paper work was done we went back to the rooms. Nicholas cried for about an hour, so we took him down to dinner. If you ever go to Fuzhou, China and stay at the Lakeside hotel, ask for the menu! Unless you like to eat baby octopus with its suckers still attached!! After dinner we went back to the rooms and had tickle time! Nicky Qing (pronounced Ching) has one of the most awesome laughs! It is SO SO SO CUTE!!! At about eight Chinese time I fell asleep…stupid jetlag! The next day (Monday) we went to go sign MORE PAPERWORK!!! After all the signing we went and had lunch at a traditional Cantonese restaurant. Their Calamari was AMAZING!!! Their tea was also amazing. I had like fifteen tiny cups! After lunch we walked back to the hotel and rested (did homework.) For dinner Penny ordered KFC!!! I was SO happy! There was only one problem, it didn’t come with french-fries. Apparently they don’t like french-fries to be take away because then they aren’t hot enough on delivery. I know…It’s weird. Then we watched the movie “Cars” and everyone went to bed. On Tuesday we went to the orphanage and had lunch with the director and two ladies from Seattle. They were volunteering. We traveled on a high speed train. It is like an airplane except it doesn’t fly in the air. Obviously! Also while we were at the orphanage we had a tour.The orphanage was VERY clean, but there wasn’t anything soft-…even their little beds were wooden with NO MATRESS OR PILLOWS. After lunch we went outside and took pictures. When it was time to get back in the van Penny opened the door. The director of the orphanage saw Nicholas’ new stroller and Nicholas loudly and proudly declared that the stroller was his. When we were all in the van we went to the hospital where Nicky Qing was found. After that we went back to the train station and waited for our train. While waiting we played with rubber band catapult airplanes and drove Nicholas around in his stroller. On the train I read my book and Nicholas put more goldfish in his plastic water bottle. Thirty minutes into the ride a Chinese person’s cell phone went off. I bet y’all would never be able to guess the ringtone…It was Justin Beiber singing ‘Baby!’ It was SO random and EXTREMELY funny! Once back at the hotel we ordered room service and everyone went to sleep. On Wednesday morning we all woke up and then went and had breakfast. Nicholas had been talking a little bit on Monday and Tuesday, but he really started talking on Wednesday. If we didn’t know he was Chinese my dad and I agreed he could be talking Ewok. (from Star Wars) Nicholas also likes to sing. I think the only song both my mom and him know is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I have tried to teach him The Ants Go Marching, but that effort failed miserably. Not really, but he won’t sing it, which is really frustrating because he will repeat almost anything my mom, dad, or brother says! Anyway, on Wednesday it was a waiting day. So we went to the park. The day we went I think it was fieldtrip day for the Kindergartens. There were LOTS of kindergarteners. Every time we saw a group of Kindergarteners Nicholas got extremely quiet and clung to my mom and dad. When we went back to the rooms he turned into a little wild man!! He is a normal four-year old!! While Nicholas was going crazy I tried to do homework. I only accomplished a little bit. Why did Ms. Cutbirth give me SO much homework!! Oh well…For dinner we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. This time we asked for the menu! My burger was DELICIOUS!!! Nicky Qing kept stealing MY french-fries!!! I can understand why, the french-fries were delicious! After dinner we went back to the room and watched baseball. The Brewers played the Cardinals if you didn’t already know! After we watched baseball and ate dinner we all went to bed. On Thursday we went sight-seeing. First we went to Panda World. I had never seen a Panda before so it was cool to see one in China. We saw Giant Pandas, Lesser Pandas, and Asian black and brown bears. We also went to the Panda World museum. I don’t suggest you go there. At the museum we learned about Panda reproduction and panda anatomy. I got to see an actual Panda stomach (EWW!) and some…other things…After that experience I will never look at a Panda the same way again. (They are still cute though!) After Panda World we went to three lanes and seven alleys. It is shopping. I got some cool chopsticks as gifts. They also sold ice cream, but my mom wouldn’t let me get any!  After shopping we went to a tea house and a lady preformed a traditional tea ceremony. It was cool. She poured all the excess tea over a little Buddha. She did that because she wanted to…not necessarily worship, but to give Buddha a drink. I found that piece of information interesting because she kept doing it over and over and over again. We had Black Dragon, Green, and Jasmine tea. The Jasmine and Black Dragon are my favorites. My mom bought A LOT of tea! (My mom can buy a lot of tea, but I still don’t get ANY ICECREAM!) After the tea house we went back to the hotel. I did Algebra homework… L I also did my Spanish :D I LOVE Spanish! Anyway, after I did my homework my family went for a walk in the park. Any time we went to the park EVERYONE would stare at us and watch us. My mom, dad, and I are convinced we are the ONLY Americans in Fuzhou. It’s funny. After the walk in the park we came back and had dinner. I will never look at Wonton soup the same again. I ordered it and when I got it there were little baby shrimp looking back at me-with eyes and legs still attached!!! (My mom says they look like Sea Monkeys!) Let’s just say I ate French bread and French-fries for the rest of the meal. After dinner we went back up to the room and I watched “Cars” again. Today (Friday) we had nothing to do until 2:30, so we watched a Chinese version of Hannah Montana, Wonder Pets, and we watched snowmen defeat an evil monkey on the Chinese PBS channel. While watching that I started on this blog post. My parents decided we should go take a walk so we went an explored a part of the park we hadn’t seen. This time we explored we didn’t get lost! That was good. When we got hungry we went and ate at a Chinese restaurant. Then we went back to the hotel and I stated working on this blog post again! So now I am at the hotel sitting on a couch waiting for the Police officer to bring Nicky Qing’s new passport so we can fly to Guangzhou tonight!

I bet when I come home my teachers are going to ask me what I have learned. I have been thinking about it and so far, after one week in China I can honestly say…I learned that I don’t miss driving in front of oncoming traffic (Doha Days) and honking at old Chinese ladies crossing the road. I also learned that I like to eat French-fries with chopsticks and when I get home I plan on adding a frosty to the French-fry chopstick experience! I cannot wait to come home, until then…BYE BYE!-as my littlest brother says :D

Maddie                                                                                                                                                                  Jeremiah 29:11