China Day 5

What a busy day we had on the previous day, but was so heartwarming to see and hear all that happens when those in need are given just a little in life to continue on with their daily lives.  Made me continually think how thankful I was for my own situation and all that my family has and wished I could have brought so much  more than I did as gifts.  But as I always tell everyone else, I was able to be happy knowing I made a difference being there that day and supporting from beyond.

Today's agenda was to visit an orphanage.  When we arrived, we were greeted by staff and lead inside. I think we were all surprised to see such an amazing orphanage.  The program Director with us told us this was the top of the line facility for China.  The tour of the facility was very impressive.  Programs included therapeutic services, hydro therapy, physical therapy, heat and aroma therapy, tactical therapy and so on.  It was very up to date on everything.  It even had a separate nursery, a movie theater, cafeteria, all state of the art.
Mini cars for the kids:

Movie theater:

Children were grouped together according to age and in separate rooms as form of a family.  When we visited one room during lunch, all the kids were so happy and smiling to all of us and very much wanted to interact with us.

We were lucky enough to meet and play with three kids that were in need of a family.  It takes everything in me to not be sad during these times, but I push thru and play with the kids.  My one buddy really liked me and wanted me to put in the colorful pegs into the board with him.  When someone else tried to engage in our activity, he wanted nothing to do with them.  So sweet and such normal behavior for a child.  We all continued to play with all three kids and they kept us very busy!  We are to be advocates for these kids and help spread the word that these kiddos need a family.  I swear, if we were age eligible, we would have jumped right in!  Was great seeing our group interact with these kids and give them the love and attention they deserve.
My buddy:
He is 8 years old.  He is currently in a loving foster family.  He goes to the activity center at the orphanage for education Monday-Friday.  He is outgoing and lively, (which I witnessed very well).  Gets along well with other children.  He often helps his teacher with tiding up the toys.  he cooperates with his teachers to help other kids to complete the activities.He likes the toy car and books.  he knows common items of life such as fruits, vegetables and so on.  He also knows many colors and can express himself in words.  He can sing and dance.  Has good self-care ability.  He is able to eat with a spoon and dress himself.  He is toilet trained. His physical condition is the absence of the parietal bone.

He had a blast playing ball with hubby and others.  He kept them busy!

This 5 year old lives in this orphanage.  She is able to understand the instructions and follow them.  She can speak simple sentences and is able to express herself and daily needs.  She enjoys reading the picture books and drawing.  She sings songs and able to recite poems.  She knows three colors and can count numbers.  Gets along well with other children and is willing to share the snacks and toys with them.  She is able to feed and dress herself.  She walks alone thru rehabilitation.  Her physical condition, cerebral palsy.

This young boy is 10 years old and is in the 4th grade in a public school.  He is a shy and optimistic boy.  He likes to stay with the familiarity.  He has good language ability and expresses himself well.  He often helps other children and is willing to share snacks and toys with them.  He is very fast at learning and can grasp new poems and text in a short period of time.  he likes to watch TV  he has good self-care ability.  He washes his own clothes and washes face and brushes teeth by himself.  His physical condition:  MRI showed white matter demyelination or hypoplasia could not be completely excluded.  Lower limbs need surgery tho he is able to walk by himself in short spurts.  He currently uses a wheelchair to get around.

What an amazing young man.  Very smart and very personable.  He has seen many families come to the orphanage to adopt kids and he would very much like a family to adopt him.  He is very curious about the United States and it's his dream to see America.

Please pray for these kids and others that wish for a forever family.

China Day 4

Very busy day, I'm hoping I can remember it all...

It was decided after breakfast that we would check out of this hotel and head out later today for the next city rather than leave at the crack of dawn the  next morning.  We all couldn't pack fast enough, leaving this hotel was the best decision.  This hotel was what available after the government officials took over the entire hotel that we were originally scheduled to stay in.  The Deputy Mayor of the city was very apologetic, thus the she treated us to the very elaborate dinner last night.

The first stop of the day was to visit a foster family.  The little girl in this foster family has cerebral palsy and has delayed learning abilities.  She was a very happy and engaging little girl.  Her foster mother was 72 years old and so loving and welcoming.  Our group gave gifts to both and watching the little girl's expression as she took the items out of the bag was priceless.

The foster mother was more than happy to share with us all the baby pictures of this precious girl.  She had stated that this girl struggles in school due to her slow ability to learn and keeping up with everyone was tough due to the cerebral palsy.  We asked what would make it easier for her to walk and she stated a walker.  Our group decided on the spot to help pay for the walker.

When the foster mother was going thru pictures, she came across pictures of her former foster child.  She began crying and saying how much she loved her and was so worried about her after she left to be adopted in the United States.  Of course that made me cry.  This is the little girl, she just wants to know that she is ok.

The foster mother then said to please do not take her current 'daughter' away from her because she loves her so much and since her husband passed away years ago, she's the only thing she has in her life.  More tears...

The next family we visited, the foster mother was ill and was in the hospital so the foster father and family was taking care of this girl.  This girl was beautiful and bright, was doing very well in school.  We could all see that her foster father was very proud of her.  She even sang us a song, beautiful voice.  She loved all the gifts we had given her.  We were told that this little girl goes to the hospital everyday to visit her foster mother and sometimes stays overnight to keep her company.

Our next visit was to a family taking care of a 12 year old boy with cerebral palsy and was blind.  He looked more like he was 8 years old.  He was very interested in our van we came in and liked touching the side of it.  I was able to hold his hand for a little bit.  His whole foster family was so loving towards him.

The final family visit was to an area that was truly heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.  The 13 year old boy was being taken care of by his grandfather because the boy's father had been suffering from cancer for six years and passed away.  The mother had left during this time so the grandfather had come from a different province to help take care of his son and grandson and was now currently taking care of him.  The grandfather sold practically everything to be able to come take care of his son and grandson, tho he stills has his land in the other province.  To make money, the grandfather takes this little cart and collects recyclable items to sell:

The entire size of the house they were both living in was smaller than my walk in closet.  I've seen conditions like this before, but it's always shocking to see.  Really puts life into perspective.  It amazes me the love of this grandfather and the sacrifices he has endured to make sure his grandson has a chance at life.  His grandson was a top student in his school.  We were told that the grandfather was very proud and actually dressed up for us.

These families were all great examples of Holt's work with fostering children and family strengthening.  I love seeing these programs.

After lunch, we went to a middle school where Holt sponsors 31 students.  Elementary school in China is free, but once in high school, one must pay tuition.  So why sponsor students in middle school if it's free?  Because these students come from families that cannot afford the cost of supplies, books, pencils, uniform and/or lunches.  This school is a top middle school and all students are excellent students.  Here is the group of students:

A mother of one of the students spoke on behalf of the parents.  Oh...my...word...I was crying so hard.  She talked about how her family of five share a very small space and can't afford much let alone the cost of supplies for her son to attend school.  She thanked us for sponsoring her son.  Her son later stood up and thanked us too.  He wakes up every morning at 4:30am to get ready to go to school.  His mom would give him bus money, but he would rather give the money to his family and then walk 40 minutes to school.

One of the students spoke on behalf of the students.  She talked about how her mother works as a cleaning lady to help support them.  She thanked us for sponsoring her and how much it meant for her to see foreigners care for her and the other students.  Guess these students had never seen foreigners before or heard English being spoken in person.  Side note, we were in a small city near northern China called Meihekou.

During the Q&A session, some of the students stood up to ask us basic questions.  One student thanked us for sponsoring him and said that because of us, he was determined and confident that he would be very successful and would not let us down.  So heartwarming when we heard from another student that said before he was getting our support, he was ranked number 20 in his class and now because of our support, he was ranked number 1.  Amazing students!  We passed around our gifts we had for everyone and had individual time with the students before taking a group picture:

The plan now was to drive to the next city rather than wait until morning.  Another long drive...but this hotel was worth it, The Shangri-La!

China Day 3

Today's agenda was to go see The Great Wall of China in Dandong.  This location is not as well known or as popular since it had been destroyed and rebuilt.  Good thing I brought along my workout clothes for this activity, tho I still wore my flip flops.  My feet are still so sensitive that I can't wear regular shoes for a long period of time without getting major blisters.

Of course, since it was still morning, I had to use the restroom before climbing the Great Wall, so we all caught the tram and the driver took us to the restroom.  I was happy to see that there was a western style toilet, but was quickly disappointed to see there was no seat attached to the bowl.  Guess it was still better to hover above rather than use the squatty toilet??  Was a tough feat since I left my bag on the tram and I needed toilet paper.  Someone ran to get it for me, but I ended up getting my squatting exercise in while waiting.  One thing for sure, I will not miss the Asian restrooms and searching for western toilets or the major smells of it all...ugh, enough, I'm making myself sick just typing about it again.  I don't do well with public restrooms anyway.

After we all used the restroom, we jumped into the tram so it could take us to the entrance.  We all had a good laugh because it was literally right next door!

Here we all are getting ready to climb:

You can see the wall behind me:

The steps leading up were very steep and varied in height which made it even more of a climb!  Needless to say, I was exhausted and hot, so I had to rest and couldn't make the rest of the climb.  I was very over heated and was thinking I need to burp or fart, something to make me feel better so I wouldn't throw up.  I know, so lady like, but I did't want to throw up!  Once I drank some water, I felt better and finally burped.  I also had a wet washcloth on my neck and worked my handheld fan to cool me down along with my hiding under my umbrella.  Such the ajumma!  Old Korean lady, but that's ok, I have labeled myself that.

My hubby did make the last of the stairs to the top and here is the view:

I was so close, but really, I know my limits and was happy just to have gone as far as I did.  Not everyone can say they have been to The Great Wall of China!

By the time we sat down for lunch, I was more like myself, but still hot.  We had to pack up our luggage and load up the van as we would be traveling to a different city after lunch.  As we sat at the table at lunch, my hubby was busy texting our son, who was on his cruise in Rome, rough huh?  The Director of the China program was explaining some things to us and the van driver came in to join us for lunch after he packed our luggage into his van.  As my hubby is busy texting and not paying attention, I notice the van driver, who is sitting to the left of my hubby, sitting with his shirt rolled up his belly to cool off.  I nudged my hubby to look, but he thought I was nudging him to pay attention so I nudged him again and tilted my head towards the driver and when he noticed, we started laughing.  We just thought this was a funny way of cooling down, but had seen many of the Chinese men doing this thru/out the day so of course, my hubby had to join in and say he was going to bring this practice back to the states and make it a trend and call it 'Hansoning' like the pic trend, 'T-bowing'.

Another couple in our group thought this cooling method was pretty funny too and they had noticed the driver doing this and we all started laughing, as in the church laughing because we were all trying to be respectful of the Director talking.  My hubby was laughing so hard, I told him to take the wash cloth that was provided for cleaning our hands before the meal, so he took it and covered his entire face so he could laugh into it.  Seriously, it was the funniest thing, but guess you had to be there.  Here's hubby Hansoning on the bus:

Time to load up the van for our trek to Meihekou, a five hour drive, tho the driver said it would be more like 3 1/2 hours.  Let's just say it was a very LONG five hour drive being all cramped in a ten passenger van, tho two of the seats were taken up for the luggage...ugh!  And to top it off, my hubby needed to use the restroom and was depending on getting to our destination in 3 1/2 hours.  And to top off the whole trip, the driver was getting sleepy and began swerving and driving slower so we all told the Director to keep him awake!  We made sure to keep an eye on him the rest of the trip.

Reading the road signs of how much further, he thought he was ok waiting, but the waiting dragged on and on and on.  I kept asking him if we should stop and he kept saying no!  Once in the actual city, it took forever to find the hotel.  I informed everyone once we pulled up to the hotel to stay clear of the door so my hubby could get out quickly.  I felt so bad for him!

And the 'fun' continued as we checked into our hotel rooms...let's just say the hotel was not up to our standards, really anyone's standards as our room was smoke filled, the carpet leading into the bathroom was wet and moldy with the black mold very obvious on the wall.  The bed was as hard as the floor, no wifi or internet.  This hotel was in place of our original hotel we were booked at, but the government was holding a meeting at that hotel and took over the entire hotel so we got bumped to this hotel...our loss for sure...

Having dinner at the hotel was a shock when we walked into our own private room, this is what we saw:

The food was amazing and there was so much of it! After dinner, we all had to sort thru our donations we brought and sort into gift bags for the next day.  During the business, I made sure we would be moved to a different room since I knew my hubby was not a happy camper with our current room.  While I was busy packaging bags, hubby moved our things to our new room.  Once I was done and saw our new room, it was amazing to see such a difference.  The one annoying thing about hotels in China, smoking is allowed in the rooms and the smell is horrid!  But at least we had a better room than previous.  I then got the other person a different room since her room was horrible too with the wallpaper torn and shredded halfway up the wall, seriously?  Why would they even consider giving these rooms to guests??  So disgusting.

China Trip Day 1

After two weeks in Korea, I flew to Shenyang, China. 

 I needed more time in Asia, don't ya think?! But I would be meeting my husband in China so was well worth the extra trip.  My husband flew to Beijing to meet the rest of the group and then fly out to Shenyang.  The start of his trip in Beijing was frustrating for him.  I received a text from him while I was in Korea stating the shuttle had not showed up to pick him and another couple up at the airport as stated in the itinerary.  I had about a 15 minute window to communicate with him and try and help him before I left for dinner.  The person I was traveling to China with was also in Korea with me...but he wasn't answering his hotel room phone.  So now what??  I sent a message to our tour guide in Korea via Facebook.  If all else fails, try Facebook right?  At least she had cell phone numbers, but still no answer immediately.

Communicating via text from Korea to Beijing in a short amount of time is feeling of helplessness.  The situation for my husband was not getting any better.  Now the hotel was saying there was no reservation for them, no listing of foreigners were listed...oh good lord...AND all the contact numbers listed on the itinerary, for such occasions, were not working and there was no contact number for anyone in China.  Not looking good at all...After about 40 minutes of frustration and no one in the hotel speaking English, they found the reservation.  It was written in Chinese and not in English...REALLY??

But now we were finally on the same time zone, almost.  At least we were on the same area of the world.  Also at this point, my family was spread out on four different continents: Asia, South Africa, Italy, and the United States.  Just a typical summer for the Hanson's!

I didn't mention that prior to leaving for Korea, our original flight from Seoul to Dandong had been cancelled and thus the rest of the group's flights from Beijing to Dandong were also cancelled, so more scrambling occurred to get us all to Dandong!  Hence, the reason the flight into Shenyang.  Guess the Dandong airport was undergoing renovations so was closed.  Good timing!

After arriving in Shenyang, I finally reunited with my husband, crazy to meet my husband in China after two weeks of separation!  I met the rest of our group and we were all loaded into a 15 passenger bus to travel to Dandong.  A three hour ride along with a tour guide.  Dandong was considered a small village since the population was a mere 900,000 people!!

After getting settled into our hotel rooms, we were off to find some dinner.  Thank goodness we had someone along that spoke Chinese and knew what to order for us.  This was the first of our round table meals.  Walking into the restaurant was an intimidating experience when faced with the fresh seafood laid out in front.

View out our hotel is the bridge connecting into North Korea, yes, we were that close:

Jet Lag

So many things are doing a number on my psyche.  With jet lag, there has also been other factors leading me to be very confused.

First of all, my window in my hotel room faces another building.  And it's very close.  And it's black.  So all I see, all of the time, is black.  I had a tough time thinking it was actually morning yesterday when I was to wake up.  I kept looking out the window and it was just black.  No light coming in and it made me question if it really was morning.  I checked the clock in my room, checked my cell phone and checked my computer.  They all stated it was morning...but still.

Then there's my calendar on my cell phone.  On the home page, it states the correct day and date, but when I click on the calendar icon, the date showing is the day before.

And one more thing, my fitbit flex that is on my wrist.  It has been recording crazy sleep patterns and the steps taken show up then disappear. This has been going on for two days now.

But don't fret, I figured out the calendar and the fitbit.  The time zones do not change automatically...duh thought it would since my cell phone changes automatically.

Needless to say, I am not the brainiest of people, but I'm also not the dullest knife in the drawer.  This whole jet lag stuff on top of these things just really did a number on me.

Travel Tips 101

I don't count myself as an expert on traveling, but I have traveled enough to give a few do's and don'ts. I have traveled to quite a few cities across the U.S. and I have traveled internationally to Korea several times, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Do pack your own pillow for the plane.

Don't use the ones that are available, even on the international flights, they are used over and over again.

Do use the blankets provided by the airlines, if they are wrapped in plastic, should be ok, but I still don't use them.

Do use the slippers provided by the airlines on international flights because when you have to use the oh so big restroom, walking in there is something you would see in a men's locker room and who wants to have that mess on your own shoes!!

Do use the toothbrush and toothpaste provided by the airlines on international flights for yourself and for God's sake, for the sake of the person almost sitting right on top of you in your row.

Do bring a tiny portable fan with you for international flights, why must they keep the temperature at a balmy humid temperature to stir up all the body heat and odors of 300+ passengers even in the middle of summer??

Don't be shy about disturbing the person next to you to use the restroom, you don't want to be miserable the whole flight!

Don't drink anything if you cannot do the above.

Do wear compression socks or sleeves, these are the footless ones.  They are life savers for cankles.  I wish I could wear a head to toe body sleeve!

Do use a backpack for carry on items.  The stylish throw it over your shoulder or across your body bag just gets too heavy and really cuts into  your neck and shoulder!

Do use said backpack as a footrest while seated.  This is for short people, they'll understand.

Don't leave the window shade up when it's blasted sunny out.  It's hot and it's burning my retnas.  Just because I wasn't able to get the window seat to do it myself doesn't mean you have be selfish and blind others.

Don't, no matter how much you hurt, please don't release your gas while sitting in your seat.  That's just plain disgusting and I don't want to breathe that awful stench in.  I hold my gas in and I even had a plate of nachos before the flight!

Do place your hand around a lemon when squeezing it onto your food.  Or it will end up on the leg and arm of the person next to you.  Thanks, kid at least I was lemony fresh for the remainder of our flight.

Aging

Now that I am three years away from being 50, I'm trying my best to age gracefully. I'm actually using sunblock on my face after years of baking in the sun. I've also switched to using Korean cosmetics because who would know best to treat Korean skin?! I have to admit, two years with the Korean cosmetics and my face has felt awesome. 

Now to try and reverse the sagging without cosmetic surgery because I've had enough surgery in my life, no facial surgery unless you count my brain surgery which encompassed half of my face so a slight half facelift?

I have started using this:

Copper is said to help regenerate the elasticity of your skin. I've been using it for a month now and yes, I do feel a difference in the texture of my skin. Maybe it's because I've really been taking extra care of my skin, washing twice a day and the sunblock and the Korean cosmetics combined with this new treatment. Who knows, but I will continue using all of the above and see what happens.