A few preliminary matters: First - Happy Anniversary Moparman and Moparmamma! Wow! I'm glad your doltish behavior was forgiven on that first date, Dad, or I might be Britney and Kevin's kid or something like that!
Second - I can read all your comments but I can't respond for some reason!Keep them coming! I appreciate all your warm wishes. Jacob, you crack me up even in China.
Third: The back - I did go to a clinic here in Guangzhou which puts most Western hospitals/clinics to shame. The doctor made sure I didn't have a herniated disc or something, gave me some Ibuprofen then made me get acupuncture and massage. After years of medication and physical therapy, my back feels better than it ever has, and I never took the Ibuprofen. I'd over-analyze it, but then maybe it wouldn't work.
Fourth - the hands wiping thing. My friend Mae e-mailed me and said that it's pretty common in this culture for moms/nannies to constantly wipe their kids hands. Song Song will have to get used to being kind of grubby, though, because I just can't keep up with all that cleanliness.
For the past twelve years or so I've loved trying to find the oddest souvenirs I can come up with on my travels to give to my friend Margaret. (MCS).
Once I was in Fredricksburg, Virginia, the site of a famous Civil War battle. I only had two hours by myself to sight see. I wandered into an antique shop and found a box of old postcards. But they weren't postcards of normal things like parks and statues and landscapes, they were postcards of weird stuff like sewage treatment plants and the dining room of grange halls. So I started sending MCS postcards of public works projects and highway systems from around the world. I can't find any such postcards here.
When MCS and I were in Mexico last year, we discovered that the people in Mexico love phallic souvenirs. Debbie - you might be reading this to Em, so I'm not sure how you'll explain that word, Sorry!!
This place is a gold-mine of weird and strange oddities. But the problem is this: every time I go into a souvenir shop to hunt for something for MCS, I nice Chinese girl follows six inches behind me saying in a little girl sing-song voice, "very traditional," "very beautiful," etc. It is really wrecking my concentration. How am I going to shop for the giant ceramic peanut or the Chairman Mao cigarette lighter with all that racket? I don't know what do do. Perhaps just steal my nerves and focus on the task at hand, sort if like I do when I'm reading all of your blogs and my daughter is hungry and trying to get my attention.
Song Song has decided we're o.k. She runs to us, burying her head in our laps, laughing. She has had a lot of love in her short life so far, it's clear. Georgia had a small break-down the other night when Song Song threw a toy at her. She told me she was homesick and I guessed (correctly) that the reality that Song Song is here to stay started to sink in. I told her I understood how she must feel, that I am homesick too, and it's quite alright if she doesn't like having a little sister all the time. I think if she's given permission to feel whatever she feels she'll decide on her own that things are going to be o.k. The next morning Georgia was just fine, and we haven't seen any more regrets, although they may arise from time to time. Deb, she misses Emily, Monique, Maddie and her friends fiercely!
All the best to you, friends. You're awesome.
Second - I can read all your comments but I can't respond for some reason!Keep them coming! I appreciate all your warm wishes. Jacob, you crack me up even in China.
Third: The back - I did go to a clinic here in Guangzhou which puts most Western hospitals/clinics to shame. The doctor made sure I didn't have a herniated disc or something, gave me some Ibuprofen then made me get acupuncture and massage. After years of medication and physical therapy, my back feels better than it ever has, and I never took the Ibuprofen. I'd over-analyze it, but then maybe it wouldn't work.
Fourth - the hands wiping thing. My friend Mae e-mailed me and said that it's pretty common in this culture for moms/nannies to constantly wipe their kids hands. Song Song will have to get used to being kind of grubby, though, because I just can't keep up with all that cleanliness.
For the past twelve years or so I've loved trying to find the oddest souvenirs I can come up with on my travels to give to my friend Margaret. (MCS).
Once I was in Fredricksburg, Virginia, the site of a famous Civil War battle. I only had two hours by myself to sight see. I wandered into an antique shop and found a box of old postcards. But they weren't postcards of normal things like parks and statues and landscapes, they were postcards of weird stuff like sewage treatment plants and the dining room of grange halls. So I started sending MCS postcards of public works projects and highway systems from around the world. I can't find any such postcards here.
When MCS and I were in Mexico last year, we discovered that the people in Mexico love phallic souvenirs. Debbie - you might be reading this to Em, so I'm not sure how you'll explain that word, Sorry!!
This place is a gold-mine of weird and strange oddities. But the problem is this: every time I go into a souvenir shop to hunt for something for MCS, I nice Chinese girl follows six inches behind me saying in a little girl sing-song voice, "very traditional," "very beautiful," etc. It is really wrecking my concentration. How am I going to shop for the giant ceramic peanut or the Chairman Mao cigarette lighter with all that racket? I don't know what do do. Perhaps just steal my nerves and focus on the task at hand, sort if like I do when I'm reading all of your blogs and my daughter is hungry and trying to get my attention.
Song Song has decided we're o.k. She runs to us, burying her head in our laps, laughing. She has had a lot of love in her short life so far, it's clear. Georgia had a small break-down the other night when Song Song threw a toy at her. She told me she was homesick and I guessed (correctly) that the reality that Song Song is here to stay started to sink in. I told her I understood how she must feel, that I am homesick too, and it's quite alright if she doesn't like having a little sister all the time. I think if she's given permission to feel whatever she feels she'll decide on her own that things are going to be o.k. The next morning Georgia was just fine, and we haven't seen any more regrets, although they may arise from time to time. Deb, she misses Emily, Monique, Maddie and her friends fiercely!
All the best to you, friends. You're awesome.
3 comments:
I was into collecting condoms from various parts of the world, when there was a time where I could say I was in a "various part of the world." I found the kinkiest in Asia.
Regarding the meltdown, it's gotta be hard being so far from home. And yeah, a new sibling "sinking in feeling" will do the trick. I suffered a little guilt, but then over time, I'd catch moments of sheer joy shared only between the two siblings and would breathe a big sigh.
It was tough for me to be in Asia as a young adult at times, and I understood the language, wasn't foreign, and could handle the food. It's a feeling beyond homesick, it's very other worldly. If you were to ask me, I'd say Georgia is handling it with grace and beauty.
I'm glad your back is feeling better and that you and Georgia had a good heart-to-heart. Adjusting to a new sibling is a tough thing regardless of whether they're biological or not; I would imagine it's even tougher when you're in a foreign country. When my mom brought my sister home from the hospital, I told her I'd decided I wanted a brother instead. And we never even left Pennsylvania.
Your updates are my favorite thing to read all day. Thank you so much for including us all in this journey. And happy anniversary to Moparparents!
You should have Georgia draw what she thinks the sewage treatment plants of China look like. That would probably be something amazing. I applaud her for only having one break down so far. Even though you prepared her and she wants a sister, I'm sure it's got to be tough for her right now.
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