Friday, May 27, 2011

Scenes from the park

This morning our group went to a local park here in Nanchang. Our guide said the park is always filled with older retired people and young children. Here's a group of ladies who were practicing some type of choreographed dance routine.
All of the babies from Tonggu SWI.

The beauty of China.

Men playing Mahjong.
Young children practicing their English. They all told us "hello" and "bye bye".
Our guide said some of the older people practice "mental exercise" by writing poems on the pavement with water.

One sweet old man wrote this for our group.
We draw a crowd wherever we go. The locals in Nanchang aren't used to seeing westerners. Let alone a bunch with Chinese babies. So far the response has been positive. They comment on how beautiful the babies are. Of course, many mention how chubby my girl is and they all seem very happy about that. A few have just given me the universal signal of approval by pointing to her and giving me a thumbs up.
These ladies were doing a fan dance. It was quite beautiful to watch.
Another older gentleman getting his exercise with some kind of spinning a toy on a string game. One of the dads in our group gave it a try. Not nearly as easy as it looks.
This little girl was adorable. When my sister pointed the camera at her she cheesed it up with a big grin.
Ergo baby who drools and spits up... hence the protective blanket. Although later she got me good when the blanket wasn't there and it went right down my bra. Nice, right? Thank goodness for cheap Chinese laundry service.

Mia and Aunt Carla
China is such a mix of old and new.

Crazy koi fish.






These ladies sang for us. It was really touching. They loved the babies.
Napping Ergo baby.

11 comments:

The Redhead said...

Congratulations on your new family :) I have enjoyed reading/catching up on your blog, and now you're over there right now.
The pictures are beautiful of life there, and your daughter is gorgeous as well ;) Thank you for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I guess you cannot consider that a flash mob. Cool though. I hope you are enjoying every minute of it. These days will fill your dreams for years to come. I often check back to my adoption trip for happy thoughts. Kiss her for me.

Johnny said...

The last picture had me thinking of the phrase, "All your dreams come true".

Elisa (Change it up & Maison Elevenses). said...

Ok so I am just catching up from Gotcha day till now, she is a darling!
OMG he cute little chubby thighs and that picture of her snuggling her blanket so cute!

Gosh all of these pics you have takes me right back to 2007 when we went to get Zoe!

Congrats to your new family!

KJS said...

When we were there, the ladies were dancing to a Michael Bolton song. Enjoy Nanchang, I loved it there.

Livi blows Mia kisses every time she sees her picture. I can't wait to see them together.

Kayce said...

Great pictures!! I'm so glad you get to enjoy Nanchang's beauty. It rained our entire time there and we didn't venture out much at all so I'm loving seeing other parts of the area through you. I would love to go to a park here in the states and see what we see in China's parks. :)

Abby's Mom said...

Looks like Sissy is taking you all to all of the same places she took us in 2008. Your pictures bring back such wonderful memories :) Am loving watching you and Mia's story unfold. Sucha sweet wee one she is!

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

Isn't it the MOST amazing experience... I found the Chinese to be the nicest people...

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I have been following your blog for a while and it is just a joy to follow your journey in China. Mia is absolutely adorable. It is great to see these pictures and hard to believe that it has been almost 4 years since we were at the very same park. It brings back so many wonderful memories and we live it again through you. Nanchang is a treat and a true connection to the country and culture. We look forward to following the rest of your trip. Enjoy your time in China!
Jami and Annie (4 years old from Shangrao in the Jiangxi Province)

Donna said...

Fun pics! These will be such a treasure when you sit down with Mia in the years to come and talk about her home country. Looks like you're having nice weather there too!

Donna

kitchu said...

what an amazing experience. i love seeing how you are truly soaking up her culture and taking in her homeland. these photos are incredible, so different than where we were in province (huge city, bustling, loud, etc, not much greenery). plus i was so sick with jet lag and E couldn't handle leaving the grounds of the hotel so we didn't see anything outside of that really.

we were in an area where children hadn't really ever been adopted from either so i was bestowed the largest bouquet of flowers i'd ever seen (along with a fruit basket) from one stranger and then spit on by another. never offended by that, but fascinated by the cultural responses to this phenomenon- and i'm not sure who the man was spitting on or aiming at- me, or my daughter, and i suspect E. :o(

anyway, on a tangent and didn't meant to focus on my own stories, but seeing your photos i guess is bringing back some memories. i wish i'd kept some kind of journal :)

your girl seems so content and happy. such a blessing Krista. my heart is so happy for you.

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