August 30th

We are getting ready to fly to Guangzhou in a few hours. Yesterday we had a 'free' day. We went to Damming Park, which is a huge park with a lake, classical pagoda and a few small islands. There have been several famous poets who stayed there and considered it one of the most beautiful places in China. We took the boat tour. It was a lot like Wakulla Springs without alligators. Karwen spent the afternoon trying to teach Keely's mom Chinese. There was a lot of laughing about mixing up the Chinese words for splash and frog which sound very similar. Actually, there was a ton of laughter yesterday. She got a kick out of swimming and splashing at the same time the big kids jumped into the pool. Keely had a classic outing to the police station, complete with a jam-packed bus, pushy man with a suitcase, rain and rush hour traffic. By the way, traffic in Jinan makes any other city we have been in look like a small jaunt. Absolute madness is the word that leaps out. I saved the guide from being smashed by a scooter going on the sidewalk around a bus going the wrong way to avoid the taxi that stopped in the middle of the street. Cars driving on the sidewalk are definitely something that we are not used to looking out for. I did see one parking ticket though! We have an enormous trek ahead - the mountain of luggage is still a mountain, but we do have helpers. We have been in China now for about sixteen years and only have a dozen or so left... so it is nice to see the end of the tunnel. Since the emailing/blogging stuff has been weird, if anyone would like off the email list just let me know. Also, if you all could look through the list above and if we missed anyone (how could we miss something in all this chaos?) please let me know. We have a few more days here. Love to all! P.S. The picture of KG with the corn ice cream is for the Churchills. It was pretty good. They also had pea and red bean flavors. We did not get those yet.

August 29th This is the end of our third day in Jinan. A day of firsts. Karwen's first time on a swing, her first merry-go-round ride and feeding the pigeons. The kids spent the morning with her singing us the ABCs and Happy Birthday on her own, saying 'thank you' and 'teacher'-all in English. She learned to count to 5 already, backwards and forwards. We found that she likes to be called xiu-xiu (sort of sounds like choo choo). Kenley is pretty amazing at communicating with her, but we are all getting much better. I expect her to learn english faster than I am learning Chinese though. We also found out that she knows a lot of characters and can recognize many English letters. Today, KG, Keely, Karwen and I went to the notary to sign for the final papers to take with us. Then we had a nice lunch (that oddly included chicken feet in the bowl at one point). The guides have been terrific. We said good-bye to 'George', who has really been a major source of help. I was a bit sad, but we got his email and promised pictures of Xiu-Xiu playing soccer. Then we all went swimming and had a late night snack that turned into a pajama trek downstairs to have some ice-cream. The staff think that we must be a bit odd and locked the ice-cream bin after we sat down. Karwen is singing a lot, getting a bit stubborn and teaching us lots of things. She had some sad time today, but she really likes all the kids. Kenley is a big help and we all ask her too much for translation. KG is a great big brother with pushing the wheelchair (which is not going to last long - she does NOT like to ride in it). Kolya is her Mei-Mei and they are constantly holding hands. It feels like we have been in China for several years now - I am almost not disturbed by the smog (and I mean SMOG), crazy driving and stares that abound. People stop and take pictures all the time. The pictures that are attached are from today's park and yesterdays outing to see the mountains (I mean fountains, as George kept saying). We then ventured into a grocery store and got some provisions. KG got durian and it does stink and none of us liked it. But that is one more off his life-list. We had haws and some weird apple - both good. Cucumber chips and what seemed like corn-pops with spice on them. We refrained from the swallows nest and sea cucumbers. Food is mostly amazing with a few ...ummm... surprises? Water is an issue, as are toilets out in the world. Really the bus is the thing that freaks me out the most. The horn must be stuck and lanes seem optional. Especially for pedestrians. Motorcycles/scooters can go where-ever they want and cars usually stay on the street although they do seem partial to sidewalks sometimes. I did see one parking ticket and a traffic cop. Nobody seemed to notice him though. Well, I think we are off to bed as you all are off to work. Love to all!

August 27th: We are now on the morning of our second day in Jinan. Yesterday we went all over the city doing paperwork. First was the consulate where we filed the official paperwork for the Chinese government. This was a bit of a madhouse. Along with the two other families that are traveling with us, there were at least a million other families. Really I think it was about 8, but lots of kids - some happy and some not so much. Several families from outside the states (Italy, Brazil and somewhere else). Jinan accent is very harsh and loud - maybe like New York? The room was small and pretty hot. Kenley came with us and, even though she is not feeling very well, she was a great help. My new advice is that a digital camera for the child is a great, GREAT idea. We brought one for Karwen and were not at all sure that she could use it, but she figured it out in no time at all. So far she has taken about 1000 (literally) pictures and videos of the traffic. The camera has become the one thing that she really needs to know she has with her. Once she thought it was lost, and I thought that might be our first big trouble. After the consulate, we ate a bit of lunch (at California Beef Noodle King). I was interested to find out how she would eat noodles. Her elbows are free to bed, but don't have nerves to bend voluntarily. So she swung her legs around the chair and did it all by herself. Then we went to the passport/visa place which was far across town. Paperwork, waiting etc. We were again convinced that life here would be very hard for her. There are no ramps and bumpy sidewalks. Her wheelchair blew a tire and had some other issues. When we got back home, and while the kids swam I went to a sidewalk repair place and for about 1.5 usd we got a new tube and nut. Then I went to a grocery store to get some fruit. Then we had pizza and played with balloons and then went to bed. Other than that, she is eager to show us that she is capable of doing anything. She made me coffee and cleared her breakfast place. She tried to make the bed, but we convinced her to come to breakfast instead. She would not sit in her wheelchair today, but wanted to push it down to eat. She also is running around and playing with the kids. We had a bit of sadness today when we talked about her new house. She really shut down for a few minutes- it did not take very long, but there is a peak into some of what we will be working through in a while. Other than that, there have been no troubles and we are in the 'honeymoon' period - at least for now. Today should be slow, with a bit of sightseeing, swimming and resting up. We stay here for a few days and then fly to Guangzhou after that.

August 26th: Gotcha day This has been one of the most exhausting, exhilarating, confusing, happy, strange days ever. We got up early and took a bus to the train station in Beijing. Then a bullet train (180ish MPH) to Jinan. Smog everywhere. One of the craziest bus rides to the hotel. Then to lunch with the guides. Both were extremely impressed with Kenley's Chinese and moderately impressed with everyones except Nick's who keeps getting laughed at when he asks for water. But all that is just a blur. We met Karwen at 5:15 this afternoon. She was so quiet at first. Just looking around. Then she smiled a bit. Then she cried a bit. Just quietly as though she was grasping that this was really happening. Then the kids gave her there presents (stuffed manatee from Kolya, blanket that Keely made from KG and Small doll from Kenley). She smiled quite tentatively. We brought a little Ed Emberly stamp creature pad and she really lit up once she understood what she could do. She asked the kids to help her draw a flower and they spent several minutes happily playing. Then she said that she had gifts for *us*. She brought candy from her foster sisters upcoming wedding, and toys for each of the kids (which she said that they could all share). She also brought Keely and I her foster parents cell phone number, QQ address and other contact information. This was an amazing gift as we were not sure how or if we would learn anything about her foster family. They also sent a picture album and a letter that would break your heart if we did not think this was really really the right thing. The family loves her and cherished her as part of their family. As much as she already fills our family, I feel for the hole that she must have left in theirs. We went to dinner and now she is happily (and a bit loudly) laughing and playing in the tub. Kenley said that she has used most of the foaming soap up already. Physically, it is about what we expected. Her wheelchair is not really useable - so tomorrow I will go shopping for a replacement. She is definitely independent and the only titch of irritation that I saw was when we would try and help her when she could do it herself. She has already called Keely mama and me baba. Kolya is shiao mei mei (small little sister). KG is doting on her and she seem quite interested in him. She had three foster sisters and no brothers. We do more paperwork tomorrow. I had to change money at the bank and there were some small hassles that way. I would not have expected how much extra money to bring, but they rejected a large stack of bills and wanted different ones. I am not sure what that was about...but it worked out fine. The WACAP helpers have been awesome and will help us do some more errands tomorrow. There is a ton of things to see in the immediate area. A large park is just a short bit away and the hotel has a pool, which based on the tub sounds, will probably be a hit. Mostly we will take it slow, but it already feels not so strange. Thank you all for the kind thoughts, prayers and help. If I ever wondered why we were doing this, I know now!

Organization!!

I am going back through the emails that we sent from China and re-posting them here along with more pictures. I am hoping to get through the backlog soon.



August 25th: I apologize for emailing this instead of posting, but boy is this confusing. Today was a blast but quite tiring. We went to the Great Wall-the section that we went to was about 2 hours away. Along the way we stopped at a jade factory and looked around. The Wall was as amazing as it is reputed to be. Then we came back to the hotel and met our Shi Fu's nice and husband. We had an amazing dinner, most of which we recognized. I am still in the dark at what 'towel gourd' is though. There are too many stories to tell, but there were a few lost in translation moments as well as some times when I felt quite odd about the process that we are going through as seen through a local's eyes. In the end, we had plenty of fun and shared a lot. Now for the reason that we are here. We take a train to Jinan in the morning and will meet Karwen at the hotel sometime between 1 and 4. We travel and do the 'gotcha' with two other families. One of whom we have been with throughout the Beijing stay. It is scary/exciting/unbelievable and every other kind of feeling that you can imagine. Plus a bit tired. We have spent a long time thinking about this from Karwen's perspective, except we never can since we know so little about her perspective. But we try. And we will learn so much tomorrow. Our family is about to grow and change in ways that we can't imagine. But we are still our family and are ready to take tomorrow together. Love to all! The Cogans

Cooking the phone and eating puzzles...

These are among the funniest mistranslations that we have had. Kenley does a fabulous job of helping us and Karwen, but occasionally she makes a mistake that causes some funny looks. These are more honest than the cheap offline iphone app that I tried to use in China. That one took a Chinese persons 'Ni Hao' and translated it as 'From the roof'. When I tried speaking to it for Karwen and translating into Chinese she just looked baffled. The dictionary was not too bad though. Google translate is a life-saver - but it also has some odd flaws. It took several tries to get across the concept of digging a hole (to plant a flower) and I never got a good feel for temperature (as in fever). All in all communication is not terribly hard right now. Karwen is extraordinarily expressive with her eyes and is really patient with her slow parents.

One video

After the debacle of trying to use this to post while in country, I was unsure about posting when I got back. But, it is difficult to email pictures and impossible to email videos. So I will be posting some things here. First a video!

This one is sort of for Annie (although I think everyone might enjoy it). I wish I could post the one at the Thai restaurant where they came and sang strange American songs at us, with very clear accents. Afterwards it turned out they did not speak any English at all... very strange. That was the dinner where Kellin ordered the juice with red beans at the bottom (which was really pretty good). Well I might try a few more videos later.