Today's picture of the day is from our visit to Nathan's school. We were not given permission to visit his orphanage and instead took the opportunity to spend 15 minutes with his classmates and teachers.
But let's rewind to the beginning. This morning Nathan took full advantage of his opportunity to sleep in and finally dragged himself down to breakfast with me at 8:00. The schedule the orphanage gave me says he gets up at 6:00. I'm sure he does. But not today!
I remember Ty doing this too.
After breakfast we went to the civil affairs office to complete the adoptions. There was some brief paperwork (most of it was completed yesterday) and a funny little certificate ceremony where they presented us with our adoption certificates.
But I enjoyed most the enthusiasm Nathan had when completing his "desire to be adopted" letter for the paperwork. It was nothing elaborate. Only one line. But there was no hesitation or question. He knew exactly what he wanted to write and signed with the date without direction.
Almost a snuggle! I'll take it. With teenagers you have to sneak it in whenever you can... I don't remember recording before my adventure with pink eye. You can see my eyes are a bit swollen and red. It was the worst bout of pink eye I have ever had. It was fun to see the doctor in China though. Definitely a unique experience.
After the civil affairs office we went to the notary and back to the hotel. The guide took us to a Chinese restaurant and I was excited. Nathan was not. He told the guide he did not like the Cantonese food we had yesterday and he was having trouble finding something on the menu at this new Chinese place he wanted today. The guide asked Nathan where he wanted to go for lunch and he said the American restaurant we ate at last night. So Nathan and I got lunch without the guide and then met our guide again to visit the school. Glad to know he won't have trouble with American food...
Nathan was very eager to see his friends and say goodbye to everyone at school. We were only allowed a 15 minute visit during a break between classes. But Nathan was absolutely swarmed by his classmates during that time. His teachers all came to wish him well and they posed for pictures with him. A few of his friends came to me and tried to speak a few English words. Nathan was clearly very happy to be there and have the chance to say goodbye.
We had to take the subway and walk quite a ways to get to the school and back. By the time we made it back tot he hotel it was dinner time.
Flat family on the subway. They have been in a lot of subways...
Having spent the day out of he hotel room and on our feet I thought tonight would be the perfect opportunity to pick up some $1 noodles for dinner and just stay in watching a movie. But when I took Nathan to the store and asked him to pick which one he wanted he told me we should not eat them because they are very unhealthy. I tried to convince him but he would not have it. So we ended up walking to dinner after all.
We met our friends again and they took us to a Mexican restaurant. Yes, I'm in China, but so far I have eaten very little Chinese food. Sigh. The Mexican place was great. It felt like home. But Mr. Choosy didn't like his selection and barely ate. I can't say I am surprised that Mexican cuisine did not impress him. But being the third strike of the night I felt bad for him.
We went back to the room and watched a movie together before bed. But that was the extent of our day.
Tomorrow we have some sight seeing planned. Hopefully the boy can find some food he likes.
It has been another great day. Even despite the food failures and extensive walking Nathan has been super pleasant and fun. I am suddenly getting very excited and anxious to meet Aiden. Just two more sleeps.
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