Thank-You So Very, Very Much !!!!

It's official - Paul completed his last day at his office today ! Tomorrow, February 1st, will mark the first day of his paternity leave. We are both so fortunate to be able to stay at home with Maya when we return to Canada. We are also thankful for the flexibilty which his office has provided to our family throughout the adoption process.

The photo is of the beautiful gifts which Paul received this afternoon at his office party. We were both deeply touched by the gifts and the well-wishes offered to us by Paul's co-workers. Their generosity and thoughtfulness were deeply appreciated !
Thank-you !!

We also want to take this opportunity to thank all of our family and friends who are following us on this journey. A special thank-you to Ruth and Alf, and to their daughter Janet, for their friendship, kind words of reassurance and thoughful gestures. You are kindred spirits indeed - and we thank you !!

We know we are not making this journey alone, and we sincerely hope that each of you will follow us on our journey. We will endeavour to post daily, but on occasion, there may be a few computer snaffoos to deal with. (Also, I've been told that Blogger is in Chinese, in China - imagine that !!) We will look forward to reading your comments - don't be shy !! Click on the 'comments' section beneath the post. If you don't have a google account, simply post under 'anonymous' and include your name in the body of the comment.

From both of our hearts - we thank you.

Warmest regards,

Paul & Angela

A Story of Jade

The Chinese regard jade as both sacred and divine. It has played an integral role in Chinese society and culture for thousands of years. To the ancient Chinese, it embodied the qualities of nobility, perfection and immortality. Even today, many believe the gemstone confers good health and great fortune upon anyone who wears it.

When I was in college in the early eighties (around the time the earth's crust cooled!) I had a dear friend named Ha Lin Chiu. Ha Lin was born in Hong Kong, and I remember that she always wore a beautiful polished jade bracelet. The deep green bracelet was a gift from her mother. (As an aside, I also remember Ha Lin's mother giving her a bottle opener to bring to Canada - perhaps because her daughter was traveling to a hinterland where such things might not be readily available. Come to think of it, I have a cork-screw and a few other 'necessities' packed in my suitcase - because 'you never know what will be available in China'. The irony that almost 90% of what we are bringing to China was actually made in China has not been lost on me! )

But back to jade.... Ha Lin and a few other friends have provided me with stories about the protective qualities of jade. These stories and anecdotes all traveled along a similar path :

"A story about my mother: When I was a child in Hong Kong, she, a passionate collector, wore a jadeite amulet as a pendant around her neck. Steep staircases were common in Chinese buildings in the sixties. One day my mother fell down one of these long flights of stairs. Amazingly she emerged unharmed, except for a few bruises on her arm and leg. The amulet though smashed into pieces. Jade's toughness exceeds that of a diamond - 50 tons of pressure must be applied in order to break one cubic inch. We believed that the jade pendant deflected bad fortune away from my mother and allowed itself to be broken in her place..." ( An excerpt from 'The Black Book - Beijing')

In the photographs of our daughter Maya, she is wearing two tiny bracelets made of jade. These gifts of love, and protection, were made by her foster mother's hands. Maya's 'sister' Olivia wears similar bracelets. If I ever required proof that Maya is loved by her foster mother, proof I have been given. I am sure that these bracelets will count amongst Maya's most treasured possessions.

Just A Few More Days !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maya's Foster Mom and "Foster Sister" Olivia

This is a photograph of Maya's foster mother Xu Xiang Feng. She is holding a beautiful little girl named 'Olivia'. Maya and Olivia lived together in early 2006, and now Olivia resides in the United States. We really hope that our girls will become pen-pals - and hopefully they will meet each other again in the future. It really is a 'very small world' after all.

We're Going to Need Really Good Shoes !!!!!!

Beautiful Chinese Artwork

Our Unofficial Itinerary

Feb. 2 : We leave for Beijing
Feb. 3 : We arrive in Beijing and check into the Beijing International Hotel (See photo at right - yes, George Jetson stayed here !!!!
Feb. 4 : We're off to Jiangxi Province via China Air, and we'll arrive at 2 p.m. We will meet Maya in the afternoon !!!! We'll be staying at the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Nanchang.
Feb. 5 : Civil Affairs Office for adoption registration and to start the passport process.
Feb. 6 : Continue the notarization process.
Feb. 7 : Go to department store to buy daily necessities for Maya. Can anyone say 'WalMart' ?????
Feb. 8 : Visit the People's Park
Feb. 9 : Pick up Maya's Chinese passport. Leave Nanchang for Beijing
Feb. 10 : Maya's medical and take her official photo.
Feb. 11 : Visit the Great Wall of China
Feb. 12 : Go to Canadian Embassy to apply for Maya's visa.
Feb. 13 : Visit Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. In the evening it's Beijing Duck dinner (yum!yum! for Paulie - "yuckie-poo" for me !!)
Feb. 14 : Pick up Maya's visa
Feb. 15 : Leave Beijing for our lonnnnnggg flight home with LOTS of babies !!

We don't know when we will be able to visit Hengfeng SWI - possibly Feb. 6th or 7th ?
We are just hoping that China is not as cold as Toronto is at this particular moment in time - Brrrrrr !!!

Maya's Room

Hengfeng SWI - Maya's Orphanage

This is the main building at Hengfeng Social Welfare Instsitute (SWI). Maya is in foster care, and lives with her foster family. We don't know at this point if she has ever physically been in the orphanage.

The following is an excerpt from a site called www.gurrad.com written by a family who adopted a child from Hengfeng in 2003 :


2004-09 - My husband and I adopted our daughter from the HengFeng SWI on January 7, 2003. She was born April 3, 2002. She was and is very healthy and developmentally on target in all areas. The only puzzling item that our group of 5 families encountered is that all the girls had an elevated level of lead detected when having their first exam back in the States. It doesn't seem to have affected any of them.

Cen Qi was her name upon referral. We have named her Anna - she is terrific.

We did visit the HengFeng SWI. The orphanage was in a separate building from the retirement home. We were happily surprised to find the building clean and cheerful. The director held a ceremony for us and presented all five girls with tiny silver bracelets. All the former caretakers were very emotional during the visit and had to touch and talk to all the babies. (Most of the caretakers were crying) The girls had only been away from them for a few days at that point.

We only saw the first floor of the orphanage. There was a main, large play area. On each side of the play area was a nursery with 4 cribs and a cot for a caretaker. I was originally against going to the Heng Feng SWI, afraid of what I might see - but I was so relieved to see the building and the people caring for my daughter. We were told that she had been in foster care for all but the last month before we adopted her. I never received proof or absolute confirmation of that. (J.H.)

Paul and I will do everything in our power to travel to Hengfeng and visit Maya's foster mother and the orphanage director. It's going to be a 'journey of a lifetime' !

Maya's Homeland

We will fly to Beijing on a 14 hour direct ( Yeah !!!!) flight from Toronto. Next, we will fly to Jiangxi Province (in the southeast section of China) and stay in the capital city of Nanchang. We have been told that we will finally get to meet Maya either Sunday evening or early Monday morning. We can't wait !!!!!