Nanchang Day 2

Success! I have finally figured out how to gain access to the blog on my computer! I am not going to explain how....for I am certain that we are being monitored on a regular basis.... and you know how I love a good conspiracy theory.

Baby Leah had her doctors appointment today as a part of the adoption and will have to have one more when we get to Guangzhou next week. She is in great health with a little bit of a cold in her chest... but appears mild. I guess it is a good thing when your appointment is much shorter than the rest of babies. Tomorrow is a big day for everyone because we are all getting to go and visit the actual Orphanage where the babies have lived for the past year or so. We are told that less than 50% of the families that adopt get to actually visit the orphanage. We have some mixed feelings about bringing Leah so if I go, I will probably stay outside. Just think it would be too confusing for her to see her nannies again.... it's hard.

Today was the first day that we have had the chance to go out and explore Nanchang! First the kids and I and then Jan and I went out in the afternoon. The streets were adventurous to say the least. We found it best to find some kid at the crosswalks and follow him very closely across the street.. I mean, who is going to hit a kid right? Second safety tip: pick a line and don't stop moving. You stop for someone and it messes the whole ballet up! I almost had a head on with an electric bike cuz I stopped to let him by. I think he invited me to dinner to meet his wife by the angry sounds and hand gestures.

We found what appears to be some sort of local Fred Meyer... a little of just about everything. Kids and I walked around and picked up a few things didn't pay much attention and as we turned around to head out there was a group of about 30 locals just standing in a big group staring at us. Lauren was sure a wilding was about to break out at any second. We just try and smile and not make too much eye contact if possible. It's worse when we have Leah with us... all the women stop what they are doing and circle us so that they can touch her. Everybody is extremely pleasant and smiley.... it's just that personal space thing again. Funny.

I do have to give the chinese a great deal of credit because they have totally figured out the " who pays what" issue for adults and children:



That's right... they don't charge by age, they charge by height! There is actually a line on the sign at 1.4 M. Anybody over about 4 foot 6 inches tall pays full fare. I have a sneaking suspicion this is aimed directly at us 3X Americans.

There are more pictures at Flickr if you want to go to the Butz Family link on right. We want to thank everyone for the nice emails and notes you have been sending, we all enjoy them very much.