Friday, 23. September 2005, 07:53:04
"My head is spinning" is something I and my fellow adopting travel companions are saying a lot these days. There are 6 couples in our group (using the same agency) and we are all travelling to pick up our babies at the same time. We now have 4 weeks to prepare. We just got updated information on our kids and can now buy clothing and equipment appropriate for their sizes. I'm feeling the same stress I felt during the last few weeks before our wedding!
We are going to give Lin Yan an "English" name: Risa, and retain her Chinese name as her middle name. Many have asked about the meaning of Risa. It actually came out of Marise which I found on a Japanese names website. Raymond was cool to it, however, and after many months of wrangling we finally agreed on a shortened variant, spawned while brain-storming over tea and cake one afternoon.
Risa, we would later find out, is Spanish for "laughter". There is also a French version, Rise (accented e). Most interestingly, Risa is mentioned in the Japanese anime movie, "Spirited Away" - in the opening scene, Chihiro holds a bouquet of flowers with a card signed by her friend, Risa. There are Chinese characters for Risa which are pronounced Li Sha in Chinese but we are not sure of the meaning. Raymond is of Japanese heritage and I am of Chinese heritage, and we have a Spanish speaking sister in law! Risa has turned out to be an international name that works on many fronts!
Saturday, 17. September 2005, 03:45:16
This is Lin Yan. Her estimated birthdate is Aug 25, 2004. She was found wrapped in a rug at the gates of a city water reservoir in Xiaogan on Sept 3, 2004, taken to the local police station, and then to the district orphanage where she was given her name. After being examined she was then placed in foster care with an experienced family. I believe she has been returned to the orphanage now to await our arrival at the end of October.
The referral contains only a few details and there is no description of the foster family that has taken (apparently excellent) care of her. I can't imagine what she has experienced so far. I also can't imagine what went through the mind of her mother who held her for approximately 10 days before giving her up. While I'm thankful for the events and circumstances that will soon place Lin Yan with us, and for the chance to give her the "happy life" her caregivers wish for her, I think of the fact that the social problems that connected all of us are not solved. In our application letter to the China Center for Adoption Affairs that we submitted last year, we had to state that we promise to love (whatever child we got) and never leave her, and now I see this is a promise we are also making to Lin Yan's birth mother.
Lin means tree or forest, and Yan means beautiful. We can see why she was named thus! We are in the process of sending her a little care package of a small teddy bear, a disposable camera for the orphanage to take more pictures of her, and a picture of us so that she will get to know our faces. We hope that she bonds with the teddy so that it may ease her transition to being with us.
Monday, 12. September 2005, 01:56:40
What an exhausting day. I'm just drained. After a nail-biting 2 day wait, I was paged at work last Thursday and informed that the referrals are in. Our proposed baby! Now, since adoption agencies on both sides of the Pacific are very sensitive as to what information is posted on the internet ahead of due course, I can't say what info I've been given. Until the files are all translated into English from Chinese, technically I don't know anything.
Oh yes, so why was today so exhausting. Our agency held a travel meeting for our group this morning. There are 6 couples in our group and it's the first time we have all met together. From the timing of the referrals, we set a tentative travel date: we are all to meet in Shanghai by Oct 28, just 7 weeks from now. Raymond and I plan to go to China early with my parents to visit relatives before we pick up the child so we'd be leaving at least a week before. We went through an avalanche of more paperwork and were given lists of things we need to accomplish over the next few weeks before we go. It's making my head spin.
Then in the afternoon we attended a support group for families who are waiting to adopt from China. Last year we were the newbies seeking information and today it felt strange to suddenly be the authorities in recounting our experiences. It seemed to be encouraging and exciting for others to see that we are very close to getting our baby. I talked so much my voice is hoarse.
We have less than 2 months!! Until we find out the height and weight of the baby we can't even buy much right now (car seat, clothes, etc). However, we hope to have things finalized by the end of the week and I will post her picture and tell you a bit of her story.
ciao for now!
Sunday, 4. September 2005, 17:19:39
The topic of disaster planning is hot once again. New Orleans city officials have long been talking about planning for the "Big One" which is a catastrophic hurricane. Here on the west coast we also have a Big One: a Richter 8+ earthquake which could put a big chunk of my city under water. Personally we are slowly putting together a survival kit but we are far from ready.
Raymond asked me what I would do in the event of a disaster and I realized the only thing I've been trained to do is go to work. In the event of a disaster I will be called into the hospital to work. Other than that, I don't know what else I would do.
Another thing I've been thinking about is the complete loss of property. Somehow, it doesn't strike fear in me to lose a lot of what I own. If, after a few days, I had an opportunity to go back and salvage anything from my home, what would I want? My gut answer was first, my laptop, and second, any one of my cameras (preferably my Nikon D70). And then I thought, really? that's it? Not my photo albums? Or my books or journals or music CDs? Not even my palm pilot? Whoa - I only just now remembered we have an original painting by a famous dead guy! I think I might view my possessions as a Tibetan sand mandala, a work of art made of coloured sand that is left to be blown away by the wind. I can enjoy it while it's there, and when it gets blown away I can make another one. I think I'd want my computer and camera for the writing and photographing that I still have yet to do.
K4's
http://my.opera.com/KayFour/journal recent post about a temporary lack of water does make us take stock of what's important to us. Who knows, if something really did happen, I could be out on the sidewalk blubbering, too.
Saturday, 3. September 2005, 23:13:26
The time stamp on my posts seem to be stuck on GMT. I can't seem to adjust it to Pacific Std time. It's now approx 4:15 pm Sept 3.
Rumour has it that we are on track to receiving our referral next week. Hopefully Tuesday! I'm very relieved and my anxieties are starting to calm down. We have a travel meeting lined up for Sept 11 and there we will finally meet most if not all of the members of our group.
Went on a CD buying spree - I ordered 4 on the internet:
- Indian Summer by Carbon Leaf - fantastic!
- Echo Echo by Carbon Leaf - haven't listened to it entirely yet; more celtic sounding
- An Evening With International Guitar Night - inspiring, and I have a long way to go with my own guitar skills
- One Step Closer by the String Cheese Incident - doesn't do them justice; they're a phenomenal jam band
I found all of this music by listening to an internet radio station called Radio-io Eclectic. Good stuff!
Saturday, 3. September 2005, 04:06:18
Welcome to those who've come here via our website, and to fellow Opera users happening by here at random. Please follow with me and my husband, Raymond, as we go through the final stage of our adoption of a baby girl from China. Thanks to all who have commented on this blog. I'm sorry I'm unable to respond to you individually these days but I appreciate all your support! Happy reading!
WIDGETIZE