Day 8 – And the beat goes on…

Day 8 – And the beat goes on…
Last night Maylie slept from 8 PM to 7:30 AM without waking for a bottle. WOW! Did we feel refreshed! and everyone is happy.
When we got Maylie’s she had two bottom teeth, as you can see from this photo, she now has 4, with another quickly advancing!

Today we went to the Yun Tai Garden also known as the "Green Spot" of Guangzhou. It’s an amazing garden complex that you have to experience to appreciate. It was chilly, so we had to bundle up our little girl and told her, "Get used to it kid. You’re heading to Wisconsin."
We are enjoying Maylie more and more each day, and both Rachel and I feel we’ve bonded to her and Maylie to each of us. This is a huge answer to prayer.

I (Doug) am ready to come home. This has been a fun and eye opening adventure, but I’m ready for a burger from The Hilltop, a Coke Zero and a slice of my mom’s cheesecake! Now, I’m a huge fan of Chinese cuisine, but it is true that you can have too much of a good thing. No more menus advertising "fried intesuine" (intestine) or eel toenail, thank you.

Rachel and I are also beginning to grow weary of day to day commerce here. As Americans, anytime we walk past a store, an employee runs out and literally yells, "Hello! Hello! You like? You come in maybe for a minute? Look around? Hello? Hello?" We’re ready to be ignored again when we walk into a store – or at least given some room. Fixed prices? Yeah – I’ll take that too. That way I can look at the price, shake my head and say, "I’ll think I’ll check half.com first"

China has become more paradoxical to me than I would have imagined prior to coming here. Currently the CBS miniseries "Jesus" is on HBO in our hotel room (it ends with the crucifixion – no resurrection) and there are "Merry Christmas" signs all over the place.

Oddly, in the U.S. only is "Happy Holidays" displayed, but here in communist China, the signs remind us that it is Christmas. As we walk through the Marriott to Starbucks, instrumental Christmas music is playing – "What Child is This?", "Joy to the World", "Little Drummer Boy". From what I’ve read, Christmas is celebrated here more because it’s good for the economy (gift purchasing and giving), and yet the Beat goes on...

So.. a few more days to go and then we’ll be home. Hope many of you saw the video we sent yesterday. Tomorrow is a paperwork day and then more window-shopping (and perhaps some real shopping).

D