We're back from Germany and booked solid til Monday, so here's a quick version of the Germany trip that I will flesh out later (why write when there's still traveling to do?).
Monday night - Springsteen - great show - trams not running when we got out - walked from Meir to KonigAlbertPark - JieJie had tried to wait up for us...yikes
Tuesday - drove to Cologne (Koln) - hostel ok but noisy - saw famous Cathedral, couldn't find easy way to river view
Wednesday - drove to Koblenz - train to Bacharach - picturesque doesn't begin to describe - KD boat trip down the Rhine back to Koblenz - great dinner - this day was best of trip - Hotel Brenner a definite keeper!
Thursday - drove to Trier - GPS couldn't get us to hostel - ditched car at car-park and walked - hostel spartan but clean and comfortable - walked around old city, took little tourist tram to major sites - Roman and medieval remnants truly impressive - girls got to go to a big carnival put on by one of the churches in town
Friday - bfast at hostel - walked to car - drove back to Antwerpen via Luxembourg, passing through the Ardennes on the way - lunch at a sweet cafe along the way - European rest stop facilities are WAY nicer than we have...healthy food for sale!!!
Today - PLOPSALAND!
Tomorrow - MeiMei turns 5 and we spend the day on our friends' boat in southern Holland...yeah, just like my 5th birthday, John & I said to each other...sheesh!
Sorry for the short entry...just didn't want you to think we'd fallen into the Rhine or something.
LG
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
A Week Gone Already
We're already a third of the way through our trip! The weather's been fine and with so much to do, writing has taken a back seat to doing, as it should be.
In the year since we've left, a few things have changed here and there. We've noticed some restaurants have closed and new ones have opened, streets that were ripped up last year are now open and vice versa, the trams have new advertising painted on them, and some buildings that were being cleaned last year (on Leysstraat and at Franklin Rooseveltplaats) are looking great. The train station Antwerpen Centraal is covered with scaffolding all over the front facade and looks to be in for a major cleaning/restoration. In addition, the dome is being covered with copper. It will be beautiful when it's done, before the copper gets its green patina. Inside the train station, more levels are open, and the high-speed Thalys train now goes from here to Paris in half the time it used to take.
Two major changes for the better, one small, one big: the closest playground to the faculty flat got a major makeover and went from concrete/graffiti/chainlink to a wide open grassy space with the playground eqipment resting on that recycled rubbery stuff that makes jumping fun and safe. It's fantastic! We would've been down there every day last year if it had been so nice. The other change? Don't laugh...they cleaned up all the dog poo! Last year we learned to watch our step because it was just everywhere. I don't know whether it's a summertime tourism cleanup or a public health effort. Who cares? The sidewalks are no longer a doggy-doo minefield.
Friday night John went to the Antwerp American Club meeting near Brussels and had a good time, followed by watching European Cup Soccer (Turkey/Croatia, a real nail-biter). I brought the girls over to our friends' house to make pizza and hang out. Saturday our friends came down from The Netherlands and we went to a restaurant that is a parent's DREAM: Sensunik, on Molenstraat (Tram 7 to the Gounodstraat station).
Here's the deal: make a reservation first and tell them you want your kids to be in the kids' room. Then you get to the restaurant, your kids pre-order their food and go scrambling up to the third-floor No Parents Allowed supervised playroom (they pay high school age girls to play with and watch the kids). Then you are escorted to your table in an intimate dining room to settle in for a good old fashioned 3-hour Belgian meal. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! We could peek at the playroom on a closed-circuit tv across the room if we felt like it, but most of the time we just enjoyed our delicious meal. For appetizers we had some dim sum, loempia (spring rolls) and salad, John had steak with an out-of-this-world pepper sauce for dinner, mine was white asparagus with shrimp in butter sauce, M had Asparagus Vlaamse Weij (in the Flemish way) which is with crumbled egg and butter sauce, and R had a great looking pasta dish. We had wine, we had dessert and coffee (my panna cotta was incredible), we had a blast. The kids didn't ask for us ONCE. They didn't want to leave when it was time to go, either! They each chose a prize (light-up dolphins for JieJie, MeiMei and V, one whoopee cushion for older brother S) and we were off on the tram back to hotel / apartment.
Yesterday we met at Aquatopia, a favorite of the kids' from last year. Our friends were staying right next door at the Astrid hotel. They were able to get tickets at a sizeable discount, which was great, though Aquatopia is worth full-price as well. It's a really well-designed aquarium complex that takes you through all different biomes, from the rainforest to an Australian canyon to coral reefs and shark tanks, complete with lighting and sound effects. When we got to the snack area, K3 was playing and our girls were singing along...quite funny. We had our snack while watching sharks, rays, and grouper swimming around in a tank. When we went to the catwalk over the shark tank, it was feeding time--so cool! I've never seen sharks and rays come up out of the water to be fed before. Every once in a while the employee threw some chum over toward the spectators and we all got splashed by the ensuing feeding frenzy. Lots of laughs.
After Aquatopia we took a stroll around the train station and diamond district, had an ice cream and said goodbye, heading back to the apartment for a rest. It's been really important to make time for resting so the girls can put their best feet forward. I'm not sure why I think so, but I think if we had been here a semester this year instead of last, it would've been harder for the girls to adjust. Last year, at 4 and 3 years old, they just assumed that whatever we were doing was what we were supposed to be doing. This year, at 6 and soon-to-be-5, they have much more of a sense of what they might rather be doing, and it makes a difference. They're still great little travelers, but what a difference a year makes.
Bruce Springsteen at the Sportpaleis tonight!
In the year since we've left, a few things have changed here and there. We've noticed some restaurants have closed and new ones have opened, streets that were ripped up last year are now open and vice versa, the trams have new advertising painted on them, and some buildings that were being cleaned last year (on Leysstraat and at Franklin Rooseveltplaats) are looking great. The train station Antwerpen Centraal is covered with scaffolding all over the front facade and looks to be in for a major cleaning/restoration. In addition, the dome is being covered with copper. It will be beautiful when it's done, before the copper gets its green patina. Inside the train station, more levels are open, and the high-speed Thalys train now goes from here to Paris in half the time it used to take.
Two major changes for the better, one small, one big: the closest playground to the faculty flat got a major makeover and went from concrete/graffiti/chainlink to a wide open grassy space with the playground eqipment resting on that recycled rubbery stuff that makes jumping fun and safe. It's fantastic! We would've been down there every day last year if it had been so nice. The other change? Don't laugh...they cleaned up all the dog poo! Last year we learned to watch our step because it was just everywhere. I don't know whether it's a summertime tourism cleanup or a public health effort. Who cares? The sidewalks are no longer a doggy-doo minefield.
Friday night John went to the Antwerp American Club meeting near Brussels and had a good time, followed by watching European Cup Soccer (Turkey/Croatia, a real nail-biter). I brought the girls over to our friends' house to make pizza and hang out. Saturday our friends came down from The Netherlands and we went to a restaurant that is a parent's DREAM: Sensunik, on Molenstraat (Tram 7 to the Gounodstraat station).
Here's the deal: make a reservation first and tell them you want your kids to be in the kids' room. Then you get to the restaurant, your kids pre-order their food and go scrambling up to the third-floor No Parents Allowed supervised playroom (they pay high school age girls to play with and watch the kids). Then you are escorted to your table in an intimate dining room to settle in for a good old fashioned 3-hour Belgian meal. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! We could peek at the playroom on a closed-circuit tv across the room if we felt like it, but most of the time we just enjoyed our delicious meal. For appetizers we had some dim sum, loempia (spring rolls) and salad, John had steak with an out-of-this-world pepper sauce for dinner, mine was white asparagus with shrimp in butter sauce, M had Asparagus Vlaamse Weij (in the Flemish way) which is with crumbled egg and butter sauce, and R had a great looking pasta dish. We had wine, we had dessert and coffee (my panna cotta was incredible), we had a blast. The kids didn't ask for us ONCE. They didn't want to leave when it was time to go, either! They each chose a prize (light-up dolphins for JieJie, MeiMei and V, one whoopee cushion for older brother S) and we were off on the tram back to hotel / apartment.
Yesterday we met at Aquatopia, a favorite of the kids' from last year. Our friends were staying right next door at the Astrid hotel. They were able to get tickets at a sizeable discount, which was great, though Aquatopia is worth full-price as well. It's a really well-designed aquarium complex that takes you through all different biomes, from the rainforest to an Australian canyon to coral reefs and shark tanks, complete with lighting and sound effects. When we got to the snack area, K3 was playing and our girls were singing along...quite funny. We had our snack while watching sharks, rays, and grouper swimming around in a tank. When we went to the catwalk over the shark tank, it was feeding time--so cool! I've never seen sharks and rays come up out of the water to be fed before. Every once in a while the employee threw some chum over toward the spectators and we all got splashed by the ensuing feeding frenzy. Lots of laughs.
After Aquatopia we took a stroll around the train station and diamond district, had an ice cream and said goodbye, heading back to the apartment for a rest. It's been really important to make time for resting so the girls can put their best feet forward. I'm not sure why I think so, but I think if we had been here a semester this year instead of last, it would've been harder for the girls to adjust. Last year, at 4 and 3 years old, they just assumed that whatever we were doing was what we were supposed to be doing. This year, at 6 and soon-to-be-5, they have much more of a sense of what they might rather be doing, and it makes a difference. They're still great little travelers, but what a difference a year makes.
Bruce Springsteen at the Sportpaleis tonight!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Sleeping success!
After a lovely dinner in Linkeroever (the left bank of the river Schelde) last night, we got home, put the girls to bed at 9, John fell asleep at 10:30, and after three hours of tossing and turning and listening to that infernal clock, I finally got up, stood on a chair, took the clock down and laid it in the linen closet on top of some towels. MeiMei wanted company at 2am, so I slept between the two girls in their dark, quiet room until morning. And so did everyone. So perhaps we are back to a normal sleep pattern (please?).
JieJie and MeiMei are at their old school today, so we've had a chance to do some heavy duty walking, and also went to the museum of contemporary art here in Antwerp. How was it? Meh. Would you rather see some in-your-face, humorless painting of a naked woman with a grotesque male appendage, or spectacular rooms full of the old Flemish masters? I know my answer...wish we'd gone back to the Museum voor Schone Kunsten to see the classics again. Ah well, the walk along the river was nice.
LG
JieJie and MeiMei are at their old school today, so we've had a chance to do some heavy duty walking, and also went to the museum of contemporary art here in Antwerp. How was it? Meh. Would you rather see some in-your-face, humorless painting of a naked woman with a grotesque male appendage, or spectacular rooms full of the old Flemish masters? I know my answer...wish we'd gone back to the Museum voor Schone Kunsten to see the classics again. Ah well, the walk along the river was nice.
LG
Thursday, June 19, 2008
A Stop-Start Day
Bad night's sleep and a herky-jerky day...
Somewhere around midnight, 3 of us woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. MeiMei slept through the whole thing, true to form. I'd forgotten about the "donut hole" aspect of jet lag, the being awake from 1-3am and sleeping in til mid-morning. In the apartment we have a wall clock that ticks especially loudly between 1 and 3 am...I laid awake coming up with literary descriptions for the cacophony...
...a homicidal toy robot stalking my pinky toe
...an artificial heart left behind on my bedside table
...marionettes reenacting the French revolution with tiny guillotines
...a mouse weaving Kente cloth
Finally, we switched beds so that JieJie and John were on the pullout and MeiMei and I were in the back bedroom. I fell back to sleep and JieJie talked to John for about 3 hours.
We woke up at almost 11:00am. You're not supposed to do that when you're trying to whip your body into adjusting to the new time. Oh well.
We sat around, dazed, for a while, then decided to walk to the girls' old school and say hi, hoping they would be more ready to spend the day there tomorrow. It's a good thing we did - at first, both girls literally hid behind my skirts in terror. Of course, having all these children come crowding around excitedly calling their names and staring doesn't help! The best moment was when JieJie found Sarah, her buddy from last year. You should've seen Sarah's face! She recognized JieJie immediately and the sweetest, richest smile spread across her face. By the time we said goodbye after a short visit, JieJie and Sarah hugged. We hope they will enjoy staying tomorrow but are prepared for whatever happens.
It was raining when we left, so we trammed it to the Groenplaats and stopped in a croissant shop for a mid-afternoon snack before walking back to the apartment for a little hanging out. Mr. K is coming at 5:30 to join us for dinner by the playground across the river. If the weather holds, the girls can play there, get good and tired, and (please God) sleep through the night.
We were hoping to play with the little girls who are in our old apartment, but the older one has a sore throat that might be strep, so they're a bit quarantined at the moment.
Cross your fingers that we sleep well and the girls can have a day full of playing and laughter tomorrow at their old school. Weather here is so nice and cool...nice respite from the awful heat wave in Virginia!
Still, our friend I said last night, "WHY would you want to spend your vacation in Europe??!!!" It's all a matter of perspective.
LG
Sorry for the lack of photos - I haven't taken pictures yet and then will have to have them backed up to a CD at a photo shop...forgot the cable AGAIN!
Somewhere around midnight, 3 of us woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. MeiMei slept through the whole thing, true to form. I'd forgotten about the "donut hole" aspect of jet lag, the being awake from 1-3am and sleeping in til mid-morning. In the apartment we have a wall clock that ticks especially loudly between 1 and 3 am...I laid awake coming up with literary descriptions for the cacophony...
...a homicidal toy robot stalking my pinky toe
...an artificial heart left behind on my bedside table
...marionettes reenacting the French revolution with tiny guillotines
...a mouse weaving Kente cloth
Finally, we switched beds so that JieJie and John were on the pullout and MeiMei and I were in the back bedroom. I fell back to sleep and JieJie talked to John for about 3 hours.
We woke up at almost 11:00am. You're not supposed to do that when you're trying to whip your body into adjusting to the new time. Oh well.
We sat around, dazed, for a while, then decided to walk to the girls' old school and say hi, hoping they would be more ready to spend the day there tomorrow. It's a good thing we did - at first, both girls literally hid behind my skirts in terror. Of course, having all these children come crowding around excitedly calling their names and staring doesn't help! The best moment was when JieJie found Sarah, her buddy from last year. You should've seen Sarah's face! She recognized JieJie immediately and the sweetest, richest smile spread across her face. By the time we said goodbye after a short visit, JieJie and Sarah hugged. We hope they will enjoy staying tomorrow but are prepared for whatever happens.
It was raining when we left, so we trammed it to the Groenplaats and stopped in a croissant shop for a mid-afternoon snack before walking back to the apartment for a little hanging out. Mr. K is coming at 5:30 to join us for dinner by the playground across the river. If the weather holds, the girls can play there, get good and tired, and (please God) sleep through the night.
We were hoping to play with the little girls who are in our old apartment, but the older one has a sore throat that might be strep, so they're a bit quarantined at the moment.
Cross your fingers that we sleep well and the girls can have a day full of playing and laughter tomorrow at their old school. Weather here is so nice and cool...nice respite from the awful heat wave in Virginia!
Still, our friend I said last night, "WHY would you want to spend your vacation in Europe??!!!" It's all a matter of perspective.
LG
Sorry for the lack of photos - I haven't taken pictures yet and then will have to have them backed up to a CD at a photo shop...forgot the cable AGAIN!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Medicines to China update
I just heard that the two duffel bags full of medical supplies made it safely to Beijing, hooray! Now a representative from Half the Sky Foundation will pick them up from my friend P and take them to Sichuan. I'll let you know when I hear more. LG
So Far So Good
Our bodies have arrived in Antwerp! We're working on the brains.
Thunderstorms delayed our departure from Dulles by two hours. It turned out fine, because instead of arriving at 7:30am, we got here at 9:30 yesterday. Mr. K picked us up and was so glad to see the girls, who each got U. of Antwerpen bears with little mortar board hats. Then he said "welcome to Antwerp and happy anniversary (our 13th)" and presented us with a huge assortment of Leonidas chocolates, enough to last us the whole trip here! (Last night John had a dark chocolate filled one and I had a pink heart-shaped marzipan).
He asked whether we wanted to do any shopping for essentials while we had access to his truck, and we decided to go to the Super GB on the Groenplaats. So odd to be there again, and so great! The girls got a mix of little cereal boxes in the Carrefour sweet cereal line (Crocc Chocc is their favorite) and we got some sandwich spreads, salad makings, things like that.
JieJie had to use the bathroom as we drove back to the apartment, and we were stuck in a bit of traffic, so we hopped out and cut through the neighborhood by the Carrolus Borromeuskerk and used the facilities at a little cafe where the girls and I had had a great quiche last year. All of the street construction they were doing on St. Katelijnevest is done and the corner by our old tram stop looks spiffy-new.
So many familiar things already! Dinner at 't Injaske as I had expected, and John had Artisaanal Trappistenijs--BEER ICE CREAM! Only in Belgium. I tried it, and actually it was really good...I would order it myself. I had coupe verse aardbeien (a dish of strawberries), also good, and the girls had dame blanche for dessert (vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce). On the way back to the apartment the proprietress of 't Keizerke came out to say hi, and said she recognized us right away & welcome back.
I couldn't decide for much of yesterday whether I was re-experiencing a memory or whether we were actually here. Then I pinched myself, and it actually hurt, so I believe we are back.
We are now ensconced in our apartment and I'm listening to the bells of St. Jacobskerk as the girls watch kids' shows on CBeebies (BBC backwards...so clever). The girls want to go to school more than just Friday so we will have to see if that's ok, but if it works out, that gives me and John three whole school days to do the museums etc knowing the girls are having an equally good time...bonus! school goes through the end of June here.
More later - gotta get out there and see some sights!
LG
Thunderstorms delayed our departure from Dulles by two hours. It turned out fine, because instead of arriving at 7:30am, we got here at 9:30 yesterday. Mr. K picked us up and was so glad to see the girls, who each got U. of Antwerpen bears with little mortar board hats. Then he said "welcome to Antwerp and happy anniversary (our 13th)" and presented us with a huge assortment of Leonidas chocolates, enough to last us the whole trip here! (Last night John had a dark chocolate filled one and I had a pink heart-shaped marzipan).
He asked whether we wanted to do any shopping for essentials while we had access to his truck, and we decided to go to the Super GB on the Groenplaats. So odd to be there again, and so great! The girls got a mix of little cereal boxes in the Carrefour sweet cereal line (Crocc Chocc is their favorite) and we got some sandwich spreads, salad makings, things like that.
JieJie had to use the bathroom as we drove back to the apartment, and we were stuck in a bit of traffic, so we hopped out and cut through the neighborhood by the Carrolus Borromeuskerk and used the facilities at a little cafe where the girls and I had had a great quiche last year. All of the street construction they were doing on St. Katelijnevest is done and the corner by our old tram stop looks spiffy-new.
So many familiar things already! Dinner at 't Injaske as I had expected, and John had Artisaanal Trappistenijs--BEER ICE CREAM! Only in Belgium. I tried it, and actually it was really good...I would order it myself. I had coupe verse aardbeien (a dish of strawberries), also good, and the girls had dame blanche for dessert (vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce). On the way back to the apartment the proprietress of 't Keizerke came out to say hi, and said she recognized us right away & welcome back.
I couldn't decide for much of yesterday whether I was re-experiencing a memory or whether we were actually here. Then I pinched myself, and it actually hurt, so I believe we are back.
We are now ensconced in our apartment and I'm listening to the bells of St. Jacobskerk as the girls watch kids' shows on CBeebies (BBC backwards...so clever). The girls want to go to school more than just Friday so we will have to see if that's ok, but if it works out, that gives me and John three whole school days to do the museums etc knowing the girls are having an equally good time...bonus! school goes through the end of June here.
More later - gotta get out there and see some sights!
LG
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Departing Soon for Belgium
All four of us, John, JieJie, MeiMei and I, are looking forward to three weeks away.
John is looking forward to walking around Antwerp, seeing things we walked past so many times in 2007 but never actually went into, like the giant guild halls on the Grote Markt. He reminded me also that we'll be in town the last week of the month of June, and museums are free the last Wednesday or Friday of the month (I can't remember which).
JieJie is excited about flying on a plane again. She seems to have caught the travel bug, and no doubt will be disappointed that our trip to Germany will be by car, not by train, because she loves trains (truth be told, she loves the snack cart best, and it is pretty cool). I asked her what she is looking forward to tasting again, and she said "dark chocolate!"
MeiMei is looking forward to her 5th birthday. She couldn't decide whether she wanted a cat party or a K3 party. It just so happens that K3's latest movie is "K3 en de Kattenprins" (K3 and the prince of cats) so perhaps we can combine the two. We wonder how much she will remember about Antwerp, since she was only 3 when she was there last. We have no doubt that her older sister will fill her in...JieJie no doubt remembers exactly how to get to Bart Smit, the big toy store!
And me? I'm looking forward to the way a trip unfolds, moment by moment. Seeing friends. Tasting delicious food. Taking ourselves out of context and remembering what is essential about ourselves, as individuals and in relationship with one another. A break from work, a chance to see the election news from a different perspective, cooler weather (70's/50's instead of 90's/70's), good coffee, great chocolate, inspiring surroundings. Taking walks. Going to parks with the girls. Seeing Bruce Springsteen live for the first time...wow! Seeing the Rhine and Mosel River valleys for the first time...whoa.
We will arrive the morning of our wedding anniversary. I think of our marriage, in many ways, as a series of memorable trips, of sightseeing together, of getting away together and coming back enriched. We went to Europe for the first time (individually and as a couple) before we even got married. We celebrated our engagement with a spontaneous trip, a long weekend in Chicago. We took a 3-week honeymoon in Mackinac Island, Michigan and northern Minnesota. We spent our first anniversary in Florence, Italy escorting a study abroad group from JMU. We became parents by traveling, twice, to Chongqing, China. We commemorate those adoptions by traveling with the H family. When we are home, our conversation often drifts to memories of past trips--Banff; Quebec City; Carmel/Monterey; Montana; Florida; Alabama; Accra, Ghana; St. Louis; Hannibal; Charleston Lake Ontario; Maine--and dreams of trips yet to be taken.
As for the girls, there is a sense in which "teaching them to travel" (a concept I learned from my Dutch friend M, who really made me see that we do indeed learn to travel) is very intentional. It's not just that WE want to go, though of course we do, it's that we know our daughters may someday want to go to China, to Chongqing, to see, hear, feel, touch and taste the culture they were born into. How sad it would be for them to be afraid of the traveling itself, and have that be an obstacle to such an important journey. When we think back on our first trip overseas, it was so overwhelming just to encounter the new languages, food, ways of doing things, the jet lag...I remember feeling one step removed from where we actually were, and I committed some faux pas that I regret. Still, the more we've traveled, the more we look forward to the slight jarring at the beginning of a trip, the signal that this is a time apart.
We saw parents on both of our adoption trips who seemed to think of China as though it were the moon. They had mental spacesuits on, trying to keep their American-ness wrapped around themselves for protection. They barely strayed outside the hotel. They ran to the bus, peered out the windows at China. They said things like "I just want to go home...I wish we could go right now" with a week to go. Yes, I understand, of course I understand...it's precisely why I don't think China should be the girls' first trip overseas. They need a chance to separate the shock of travel from the inevitable oddness of encountering Fuling or Liangping for the first time.
John is looking forward to walking around Antwerp, seeing things we walked past so many times in 2007 but never actually went into, like the giant guild halls on the Grote Markt. He reminded me also that we'll be in town the last week of the month of June, and museums are free the last Wednesday or Friday of the month (I can't remember which).
JieJie is excited about flying on a plane again. She seems to have caught the travel bug, and no doubt will be disappointed that our trip to Germany will be by car, not by train, because she loves trains (truth be told, she loves the snack cart best, and it is pretty cool). I asked her what she is looking forward to tasting again, and she said "dark chocolate!"
MeiMei is looking forward to her 5th birthday. She couldn't decide whether she wanted a cat party or a K3 party. It just so happens that K3's latest movie is "K3 en de Kattenprins" (K3 and the prince of cats) so perhaps we can combine the two. We wonder how much she will remember about Antwerp, since she was only 3 when she was there last. We have no doubt that her older sister will fill her in...JieJie no doubt remembers exactly how to get to Bart Smit, the big toy store!
And me? I'm looking forward to the way a trip unfolds, moment by moment. Seeing friends. Tasting delicious food. Taking ourselves out of context and remembering what is essential about ourselves, as individuals and in relationship with one another. A break from work, a chance to see the election news from a different perspective, cooler weather (70's/50's instead of 90's/70's), good coffee, great chocolate, inspiring surroundings. Taking walks. Going to parks with the girls. Seeing Bruce Springsteen live for the first time...wow! Seeing the Rhine and Mosel River valleys for the first time...whoa.
We will arrive the morning of our wedding anniversary. I think of our marriage, in many ways, as a series of memorable trips, of sightseeing together, of getting away together and coming back enriched. We went to Europe for the first time (individually and as a couple) before we even got married. We celebrated our engagement with a spontaneous trip, a long weekend in Chicago. We took a 3-week honeymoon in Mackinac Island, Michigan and northern Minnesota. We spent our first anniversary in Florence, Italy escorting a study abroad group from JMU. We became parents by traveling, twice, to Chongqing, China. We commemorate those adoptions by traveling with the H family. When we are home, our conversation often drifts to memories of past trips--Banff; Quebec City; Carmel/Monterey; Montana; Florida; Alabama; Accra, Ghana; St. Louis; Hannibal; Charleston Lake Ontario; Maine--and dreams of trips yet to be taken.
As for the girls, there is a sense in which "teaching them to travel" (a concept I learned from my Dutch friend M, who really made me see that we do indeed learn to travel) is very intentional. It's not just that WE want to go, though of course we do, it's that we know our daughters may someday want to go to China, to Chongqing, to see, hear, feel, touch and taste the culture they were born into. How sad it would be for them to be afraid of the traveling itself, and have that be an obstacle to such an important journey. When we think back on our first trip overseas, it was so overwhelming just to encounter the new languages, food, ways of doing things, the jet lag...I remember feeling one step removed from where we actually were, and I committed some faux pas that I regret. Still, the more we've traveled, the more we look forward to the slight jarring at the beginning of a trip, the signal that this is a time apart.
We saw parents on both of our adoption trips who seemed to think of China as though it were the moon. They had mental spacesuits on, trying to keep their American-ness wrapped around themselves for protection. They barely strayed outside the hotel. They ran to the bus, peered out the windows at China. They said things like "I just want to go home...I wish we could go right now" with a week to go. Yes, I understand, of course I understand...it's precisely why I don't think China should be the girls' first trip overseas. They need a chance to separate the shock of travel from the inevitable oddness of encountering Fuling or Liangping for the first time.
So this is for us, it's for them, and let's face it, it's for the pure joy of it. Flight attendants, prepare the cabin for departure.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
China Relief Shipment
Well, after about a month of collecting relief supplies to send to orphanages in Sichuan, China, here's what we've gotten together:
Busy week ahead - the next post will likely be from Antwerp. Cool!
LG
- *update* a box of syringes, gauze, surgical masks and gloves just arrived, donated by another adoptive family, who requested supplies from their doctor's office--great!!
- 500 doses of CeraLyte electrolyte rehydration solution, 20% of it donated by a fantastic company called Cera Products, based in Maryland. They wanted to donate more but had already sent thousands of doses to Myanmar. If you are ever looking for powdered rehydration solution, this was the only one I could find in this hemisphere. You can buy it from them online at www.ceraproductsinc.com
- 4 cases of Poly-Vi-Sol infant vitamins, donated by Mead Johnson.
- antibiotics for diarrhea, which can quickly become dangerous in babies and young children
- antibiotics for garden-variety infections, everything from an infected cut to a respiratory infection
- a few small toys and other items tucked in around the edges
Busy week ahead - the next post will likely be from Antwerp. Cool!
LG
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Good Thing We Booked Early!
I just checked airfare.com to see what our plane tickets would cost if we booked them today. Of course my worst fear is that I'm going to see a lower price than we paid, but with fuel surcharges going up and up, and travel dates getting closer, no need to fear. If we booked today, we wouldn't be able to find a direct flight. We'd have to connect through Frankfurt. And if we booked today, we would be paying $100/ticket more in fuel surcharges. In fact, when you look at the fare vs. taxes/surcharges, it's a 2-to-1 ratio now.
The euro continues to stay below the 1.60/1 ratio, at around 1.56/1. For those of you who followed our travels in Jan-May 2007 with our university students, don't look for as many restaurant reviews...it's on our dime this time! Still, our friends S & I just found a place we'll have to try. Upstairs from the dining room, there's a supervised play area with games and activities for kids. S & I said THEY were the ones saying "come on, it's time to go" to their girls...at 10pm!!! We are so excited to see our friends again...S & I, Mr. K and his wife Dr. vanH, and the parents we met through the girls' school. I'm actually bringing JieJie's teacher an iPhone. She asked me to bring it because they're over twice as much in European stores, and she wants to give it to her husband as a surprise. For us, it's a kind of fee-less currency exchange. This teacher also invited us to visit her town, Lier, which looked really sweet when we passed through it once on the train.
Between now and departure day, the usual to-do list awaits...stop the paper, hold the mail, brief the house sitter, "eat down the pantry" as we say, get the neighbor boy to mow, and involve the girls in packing. I don't know whether we'll bring the LeapPads for such a short trip, though they were really great to have last time. I'm reluctant to cross the line from LeapPad to LeapSter (more of a hand-held video game) though they are so much more portable...I dunno.
One note I want to write myself from this side of the ocean, and this side of the trip: don't forget to bring home a BIG box of chocolates from Chateau Blanc, and don't forget to get the bicycle panniers from Apotheek/Kitsch Kitchen. Exchange rate be damned...they're too cool.
LG
The euro continues to stay below the 1.60/1 ratio, at around 1.56/1. For those of you who followed our travels in Jan-May 2007 with our university students, don't look for as many restaurant reviews...it's on our dime this time! Still, our friends S & I just found a place we'll have to try. Upstairs from the dining room, there's a supervised play area with games and activities for kids. S & I said THEY were the ones saying "come on, it's time to go" to their girls...at 10pm!!! We are so excited to see our friends again...S & I, Mr. K and his wife Dr. vanH, and the parents we met through the girls' school. I'm actually bringing JieJie's teacher an iPhone. She asked me to bring it because they're over twice as much in European stores, and she wants to give it to her husband as a surprise. For us, it's a kind of fee-less currency exchange. This teacher also invited us to visit her town, Lier, which looked really sweet when we passed through it once on the train.
Between now and departure day, the usual to-do list awaits...stop the paper, hold the mail, brief the house sitter, "eat down the pantry" as we say, get the neighbor boy to mow, and involve the girls in packing. I don't know whether we'll bring the LeapPads for such a short trip, though they were really great to have last time. I'm reluctant to cross the line from LeapPad to LeapSter (more of a hand-held video game) though they are so much more portable...I dunno.
One note I want to write myself from this side of the ocean, and this side of the trip: don't forget to bring home a BIG box of chocolates from Chateau Blanc, and don't forget to get the bicycle panniers from Apotheek/Kitsch Kitchen. Exchange rate be damned...they're too cool.
LG
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Countdown to Belgium!
We are so close to departing for Belgium I can taste it (the chocolate, that is). MeiMei finishes preschool Friday, JieJie wraps up a great kindergarten year next Thursday, and not long after that, we're off to Antwerpen and three weeks of invigorating travel. The house sitter is lined up, the reservations are awaiting confirmation, I'm finishing the freelance work I've committed to, John is enjoying the last few weeks before his responsibilities at the university accelerate, and right now my folks and aunt are visiting and doing LOTS of helping with odd jobs. A thank-you dinner is definitely in order.
Donations for China continue to arrive. I'll let you know the final tally of what we're sending sometime next week. If you want to keep up with the latest news from the organization we're sending supplies to, go to Half the Sky Foundation's earthquake updates in HTS Journal. While you're there, why not make a donation? :)
LG
Donations for China continue to arrive. I'll let you know the final tally of what we're sending sometime next week. If you want to keep up with the latest news from the organization we're sending supplies to, go to Half the Sky Foundation's earthquake updates in HTS Journal. While you're there, why not make a donation? :)
LG
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Bumper Stickers
I saw my new favorite bumper sticker today (it was "when Jesus said 'love your enemies' I think he meant DON'T KILL THEM"). On an old beater of a car, I saw
Come over to the dark side
We have cookies
We have cookies
LG
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Fundraiser Success
Tonight was the pancake supper at our church to raise money to buy antibiotics to send to Half the Sky Foundation. I'm happy to report that we raised $500+!!!!! More thanks are in order, too: Thanks Cera Products for donating a case of CeraLyte powdered electrolyte solution (treats diarrhea-related dehydration). And this was their way of saying "sorry, we can't really give you anything." I should say that their product is the only powdered rehydration solution I could find in the U.S. because Pedialyte no longer comes in powder form, and Kaolectrolyte's factory is not producing it right now as they were purchased by another company. As you can tell, I've learned a lot about the pharmaceutical industry in the last couple of weeks. If you're in New Zealand, you can get something called Gastrolyte, but otherwise you're looking at Gatorade, baby.
Donations should start arriving day by day as we fill up the suitcase bound for Chengdu. Even our Congressman, Bob Goodlatte, supports our efforts - his office offered to call TSA and give a heads-up to the Dulles Airport TSA luggage screening manager so nobody gives our courier the business when he checks the bag. Nice to have everybody on board.
Except the guy at the pancake supper who cornered our pastor to ask a theological question that began, "Now, China is technically a Godless country, right? So how do you explain..." I didn't hear the rest because I just really didn't want anything to dim my happiness about the many good people who are so eager to help. And the theologian probably gave a donation anyway, so there is hope for his soul after all :)
LG
Donations should start arriving day by day as we fill up the suitcase bound for Chengdu. Even our Congressman, Bob Goodlatte, supports our efforts - his office offered to call TSA and give a heads-up to the Dulles Airport TSA luggage screening manager so nobody gives our courier the business when he checks the bag. Nice to have everybody on board.
Except the guy at the pancake supper who cornered our pastor to ask a theological question that began, "Now, China is technically a Godless country, right? So how do you explain..." I didn't hear the rest because I just really didn't want anything to dim my happiness about the many good people who are so eager to help. And the theologian probably gave a donation anyway, so there is hope for his soul after all :)
LG
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
7,000 hits and 5 continents!
Every time we hit another 1,000 hits, you get a multimedia treat. Today's is grainy YouTube video of JieJie, MeiMei and a group of adorable little ones doing their first ribbon dance as part of JMU Chinese Student Association's culture show last semester. Just click on the title of this post to go to the video. (And then come back!)
According to the map, we just need someone from Africa to happen upon this travel blog, and we will have readers on all populated continents! (Anyone know someone in Antarctica you can send a link to? That would be too cool.)
Three weeks from now we'll be in Europe, so check in again soon for posts from Belgium, the Rhine and Moselle Valleys, and The Netherlands.
Collection of donations for Chengdu is progressing smoothly. We'll see what comes in the mail today. Our church is having a pancake supper Wednesday and taking a freewill offering for Half the Sky Foundation. Let's hope people are generous--aftershocks continue.
LG
According to the map, we just need someone from Africa to happen upon this travel blog, and we will have readers on all populated continents! (Anyone know someone in Antarctica you can send a link to? That would be too cool.)
Three weeks from now we'll be in Europe, so check in again soon for posts from Belgium, the Rhine and Moselle Valleys, and The Netherlands.
Collection of donations for Chengdu is progressing smoothly. We'll see what comes in the mail today. Our church is having a pancake supper Wednesday and taking a freewill offering for Half the Sky Foundation. Let's hope people are generous--aftershocks continue.
LG
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Crystal Ball, Anyone?
Just checked the exchange rate as we look forward to our departure in mid-June...not lookin' good.
Friday, May 23, 2008
100 x 100
In China, you'll often hear people speaking of symbolic numbers. We knew a Chinese student whose phone number had too many 4's in it. The word for 4 in Chinese sounds like the word for death. This student's mother said she should get her phone number changed...too much "si"...too much death.
The Olympics are starting on 8.8.08, and 8 is an auspicious number, usually. 8.8 is also Father's day in China because 8 is pronounced "ba" and the word for Father is ba-ba (but the character is a different "ba"). Some people say that the fact that the earthquake happened on 5.12 (5+1+2=8) is a bad omen for the Olympics.
In the adoption community, there's an activity people often do while they are waiting, which is to make a "100 good wishes quilt" by trading quilt squares across the country with their "DTC group" (DTC stands for Dossier-To-China, the day they sent their application to the China Center for Adoption Affairs).
So what I am hoping, when I hear from people who still want to send donations toward my little 100 pound mini-shipment of relief, is that they might take the amount they have and build it up to their own 50 or 100 pounds of help, and that through the internet we can find people to hand-carry these donations to China, a little at a time, in checked luggage. There's a whole egroup dedicated to Carry On Only adoption travel...think of all the 100 pound allotments there are! If each person traveling to China carry-on-only could bring a suitcase of formula, medicine, blankets, a tent, anything, that would add up.
Why not set a goal of 100 people x 100 pounds each over the next 100 days and see what a difference we can make?
I'll let you know if it catches on.
LG
our next trip begins in a little over 3 weeks!
The Olympics are starting on 8.8.08, and 8 is an auspicious number, usually. 8.8 is also Father's day in China because 8 is pronounced "ba" and the word for Father is ba-ba (but the character is a different "ba"). Some people say that the fact that the earthquake happened on 5.12 (5+1+2=8) is a bad omen for the Olympics.
In the adoption community, there's an activity people often do while they are waiting, which is to make a "100 good wishes quilt" by trading quilt squares across the country with their "DTC group" (DTC stands for Dossier-To-China, the day they sent their application to the China Center for Adoption Affairs).
So what I am hoping, when I hear from people who still want to send donations toward my little 100 pound mini-shipment of relief, is that they might take the amount they have and build it up to their own 50 or 100 pounds of help, and that through the internet we can find people to hand-carry these donations to China, a little at a time, in checked luggage. There's a whole egroup dedicated to Carry On Only adoption travel...think of all the 100 pound allotments there are! If each person traveling to China carry-on-only could bring a suitcase of formula, medicine, blankets, a tent, anything, that would add up.
Why not set a goal of 100 people x 100 pounds each over the next 100 days and see what a difference we can make?
I'll let you know if it catches on.
LG
our next trip begins in a little over 3 weeks!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Progress
Thanks to Mead Johnson Corporation for a promise to donate baby vitamins.
Thanks to CVS for saying "no" by giving us $100 store credit as a consolation donation.
Thanks to B at church for saying she couldn't attend the dinner next week, and then pressing a $20 bill into my hands.
Still waiting to hear back from the pharmacist at the hospital, and from a source of powdered kaolectrolyte (like Pedialyte)...I want to buy in bulk, not pay $5.95 for four packets!
LG
Thanks to CVS for saying "no" by giving us $100 store credit as a consolation donation.
Thanks to B at church for saying she couldn't attend the dinner next week, and then pressing a $20 bill into my hands.
Still waiting to hear back from the pharmacist at the hospital, and from a source of powdered kaolectrolyte (like Pedialyte)...I want to buy in bulk, not pay $5.95 for four packets!
LG
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
100 Pounds of Help
People are helping already. Here's where we stand thus far:
June 10: deadline for collecting 100 pounds of medicine for orphaned children in the earthquake-affected area.
Our church is doing two very important things:
I was turned down by a local pediatric clinic because they no longer get samples of antibiotics, BUT (and this is the key...I don' t mind "no" if it's "no, but...") one doctor who has solicited donations for relief work in Honduras advised me that we can buy antibiotics at cost from the pharmacy at our area hospital if we get approval from the pharmacy manager. I will go see her tomorrow.
I also asked Costco for a store card to use for buying over-the-counter children's meds...awaiting response. CVS has a highly bureaucratic process that is not suitable for a short-term emergency appeal. National chain stores are NOT very nimble at a time like this! In contrast, Kate's Natural Foods may donate baby multivitamin drops, and I'll go to Sue's Supernutrition tomorrow as well. Both are small, locally-owned health food stores, so I may have better luck. MeiMei's orphanage had access to liquid baby vitamins to add to rice porridge, and we can attest to the difference it made in her health.
And the big unknown...I put messages up at several adoption-related e-groups I belong to. Who knows? I may have more than 100 pounds' worth of donations coming in the mail over the next week, though I doubt it if people run into the same problem I've encountered today.
Priority order for the 100 pounds:
1. prescription antibiotics
2. over the counter children's meds
3. filler like cotton balls, latex gloves, gauze/band-aids
Any money left over after we fill the luggage will be donated to Half the Sky Foundation through Global Giving.
Cross your fingers - I'll keep you posted on the progress of this mini relief effort. It is such a blessing to be able to do something other than sigh at the television! If you feel moved to action, I again encourage you to send funds to Half the Sky through Global Giving. Tell a friend you're giving...maybe you'll inspire them too.
LG
June 10: deadline for collecting 100 pounds of medicine for orphaned children in the earthquake-affected area.
Our church is doing two very important things:
- giving a monetary donation from the social ministry fund
- donating the proceeds from next Wednesday night's community meal
I was turned down by a local pediatric clinic because they no longer get samples of antibiotics, BUT (and this is the key...I don' t mind "no" if it's "no, but...") one doctor who has solicited donations for relief work in Honduras advised me that we can buy antibiotics at cost from the pharmacy at our area hospital if we get approval from the pharmacy manager. I will go see her tomorrow.
I also asked Costco for a store card to use for buying over-the-counter children's meds...awaiting response. CVS has a highly bureaucratic process that is not suitable for a short-term emergency appeal. National chain stores are NOT very nimble at a time like this! In contrast, Kate's Natural Foods may donate baby multivitamin drops, and I'll go to Sue's Supernutrition tomorrow as well. Both are small, locally-owned health food stores, so I may have better luck. MeiMei's orphanage had access to liquid baby vitamins to add to rice porridge, and we can attest to the difference it made in her health.
And the big unknown...I put messages up at several adoption-related e-groups I belong to. Who knows? I may have more than 100 pounds' worth of donations coming in the mail over the next week, though I doubt it if people run into the same problem I've encountered today.
Priority order for the 100 pounds:
1. prescription antibiotics
2. over the counter children's meds
3. filler like cotton balls, latex gloves, gauze/band-aids
Any money left over after we fill the luggage will be donated to Half the Sky Foundation through Global Giving.
Cross your fingers - I'll keep you posted on the progress of this mini relief effort. It is such a blessing to be able to do something other than sigh at the television! If you feel moved to action, I again encourage you to send funds to Half the Sky through Global Giving. Tell a friend you're giving...maybe you'll inspire them too.
LG
Monday, May 19, 2008
Giving to China
It suddenly dawned on me today that I know people heading for China in the next several weeks! Half The Sky Foundation published a list today of medicines that are sorely needed in orphanages in the Chengdu area, especially children's antibiotics and antidiarrheal/rehydration medicines like Pedialyte.
I called my friend P to see if he would be willing to hand-carry items to Chengdu, and he said he can take up to 50 pounds. He is also asking the students who are heading to China with him if they would be willing to take items as well. To think we could be of help, any help at all...I'll be calling doctors' offices tomorrow to see whether they can give any samples, and I will also be making the rounds of places like Costco to see whether they might donate powdered Pedialyte, baby vitamins, anything.
Did you know there have been thousands of aftershocks from this earthquake, some very severe? Apparently the Chengdu orphanage is making plans to evacuate because their building was fine but as things continue to shake, they just don't want to take any chances. They will be moving into tents. Tents. Can you imagine trying to care for dozens of babies and toddlers in a tent city? The people who make it their life's work to care for these children deserve any help we can give.
If you have any connections to sources of children's antibiotics (powdered is best--it can be reconstituted overseas) can you please post a comment and let me know? We've got until mid-June to get this box together, and maybe if the students are willing to make room in their luggage, we can help. They are simply out of these medicines in Chengdu at this point.
Thanks--I'll let you know how the medicine collection goes. In the meantime, I encourage you to visit www.halfthesky.org to keep up with what's going on in China and to support their efforts. They are on the ground in China, ensuring that the money will be used where it is truly needed.
LG
I called my friend P to see if he would be willing to hand-carry items to Chengdu, and he said he can take up to 50 pounds. He is also asking the students who are heading to China with him if they would be willing to take items as well. To think we could be of help, any help at all...I'll be calling doctors' offices tomorrow to see whether they can give any samples, and I will also be making the rounds of places like Costco to see whether they might donate powdered Pedialyte, baby vitamins, anything.
Did you know there have been thousands of aftershocks from this earthquake, some very severe? Apparently the Chengdu orphanage is making plans to evacuate because their building was fine but as things continue to shake, they just don't want to take any chances. They will be moving into tents. Tents. Can you imagine trying to care for dozens of babies and toddlers in a tent city? The people who make it their life's work to care for these children deserve any help we can give.
If you have any connections to sources of children's antibiotics (powdered is best--it can be reconstituted overseas) can you please post a comment and let me know? We've got until mid-June to get this box together, and maybe if the students are willing to make room in their luggage, we can help. They are simply out of these medicines in Chengdu at this point.
Thanks--I'll let you know how the medicine collection goes. In the meantime, I encourage you to visit www.halfthesky.org to keep up with what's going on in China and to support their efforts. They are on the ground in China, ensuring that the money will be used where it is truly needed.
LG
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Watching the Euro
We continue to watch news from China and encourage readers to donate to Half the Sky Foundation's Earthquake Relief Fund.--LG
We're in that end-of-the-public-school-year busy time right now, with dance recitals, farewell picnics, and pool openings right around the corner. Much to do before we head to the airport in mid-June. Still, the planning phase is over. We know where we'll be on which days and we have even reserved our rental car for our little excursion to the Rhine Valley. We'll be picking up our little VW Golf (or similar model) at Europcar on Plantin en Morituslei in Antwerp, which is just a bit further past the girls' school.
What we are doing in the next month or so is watching the dollar-to-euro exchange rate. The worst it's been so far is $1.60/EUR 1.00. Right now it's 1.55/1. When we were in Antwerp in 2007, it was about 1.33/1 for most of that time. One of the choices we had when booking hostels and rental cars and looking at train tickets was whether to pre-pay or hold off. My friend P, who is a financial analyst in Manhattan, said hold off, since the Fed isn't going to lower interest rates any further so things should stabilize. Today's International Herald Tribune reported a slight spike in the euro because of oil prices.
Dare I hope that we could be looking at 1.50/1 a month from now? Please???
LG
We're in that end-of-the-public-school-year busy time right now, with dance recitals, farewell picnics, and pool openings right around the corner. Much to do before we head to the airport in mid-June. Still, the planning phase is over. We know where we'll be on which days and we have even reserved our rental car for our little excursion to the Rhine Valley. We'll be picking up our little VW Golf (or similar model) at Europcar on Plantin en Morituslei in Antwerp, which is just a bit further past the girls' school.
What we are doing in the next month or so is watching the dollar-to-euro exchange rate. The worst it's been so far is $1.60/EUR 1.00. Right now it's 1.55/1. When we were in Antwerp in 2007, it was about 1.33/1 for most of that time. One of the choices we had when booking hostels and rental cars and looking at train tickets was whether to pre-pay or hold off. My friend P, who is a financial analyst in Manhattan, said hold off, since the Fed isn't going to lower interest rates any further so things should stabilize. Today's International Herald Tribune reported a slight spike in the euro because of oil prices.
Dare I hope that we could be looking at 1.50/1 a month from now? Please???
LG
Friday, May 16, 2008
Word from Liangping SWI
The Liangping parents' list just got an email directly from the orphanage. It sounds as though some kind of retaining wall or exterior wall in a courtyard collapsed, but the buildings themselves have only minor cracks in the walls. They are all thankful that the people are ok. A bit of good news in the midst of so much bad.
LG
LG
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