A walk in the park

Tonight, while Kayla merrily spent 4 hours on MySpace, Becca, Rachael, Shagang and I took a walk in a local park. It was very nice enjoying the beautiful scenery and peaceful surroundings with family. We bought ice cream for Rachael and GangGang, and watched them eat it while we were slowly surrounded by over 3 dozen curious Chinese locals. A few of them spoke a couple words of English, and my broken Mandarin got me through the rest.

As an aside, the Pimsleur CD course I took has proven very helpful, and many people remark how I speak excellent Chinese, because my intonation is very good. Unfortunately, my vocabulary is very limited, so I say a few things very well, and can't say much else. Because my intonation is good, they presume that I'm fluent, and I then have to say, "I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're saying. I don't speak very well." It's rare I can't get by with my broken Mandarin and gestures, and only was an issue last night when Shagang appeared to have a stomach ache, and we couldn't understand what he was trying to tell us... if his stomach was full, his stomach hurt, he was hungry, or if he didn't like us tickling him. It turns out that, near as we can guess, he was telling us he was constipated, but we couldn't tell. This is where I really wish I knew Mandarin better, so I could better interact with my son. We can't even figure out how to ask if he needs to use the bathroom, though my Mandarin is good enough to ask if he's hungry or thirsty.

Anyway, it was interesting soaking up the local scenery and culture in the park, and we had a good chat for about 1/2 hour. They were amazed that we were adopting children from China when we had biological children, and also that we'd adopt a special needs child. However, that really was secondary -- they talked to Shagang quite a bit, and just treated him like a regular kid, and we talked about Rachael and Robby's adoption experience.

When we got back to the room, Becca fed Rachael and Shagang some fruit and buns we'd purchased yesterday, while Kayla and I went for a walk to get dinner for the rest of us. It was a neat bonding time with Kayla, and we had a good discussion while we went and got some good Chinese buns, bread and donuts. By the time we got back, it was full dark, and we were pooped. Quick dinner and off to bed. (will backfill with pictures once we get a spare moment)