The Great Wall

Greetings from Shenyang! We arrived back here last night after a long day of touring Dandong, which included our much anticipated visit to the Great Wall! I took about 100+ pictures yesterday and (I think) they turned out so well that I can't choose which ones to post! So I'm uploading all of them onto my Mac photosite and you can see them by clicking HERE. (There's three pages of pictures, so make sure you click on the links "Great Wall Parts 2 & 3")

As we woke up yesterday, we were greeted by more foggy weather but the rain held off until later in the afternoon. We ate breakfast, packed, checked out of the hotel and headed to the Wall. Joining us on our trip was one of the nannies from Asher's orphanage, along with her daughter and niece. Even though we're not traveling with a group of families, it sure feels like it when our whole group is together.

How do you describe the Great Wall? I don't think there's enough words to justify it! It's such an amazing experience being able to climb something that is so old and such a part of China's history. Getting to climb the wall stands high on my list of things I have accomplished. It's something I will always remember doing. I couldn't help but think as I was climbing, of all the people who have walked up those steps and of those who lie buried there. I climbed the Beijing section of it back in 2004, and I'm still in awe of it's beauty. And the amount of work it takes to climb it! Forget dieting.. just climb the first set of steps every day and you'll be fit for the rest of your life.

I'd say it took us a good 2-3 hours to get up to the top, and back down. This part of the wall here in Dandong is the Eastern most part of the wall and it extends several thousand miles all the way to western China. It was a lot easier climbing this section because it was a mixture of both steps and walking. Whereas in Beijing, it's several thousand steps straight up! Don't get me wrong.. it was still a very steep climb.. especially when the steps go straight up and are about 2 feet tall.

We were all doing pretty well until we got about halfway and Mom decided she was done. And if you know my mother, when she says she's done.. she's done!! There's nothing that could get her to keep going, even if you had told her George Clooney was standing at the top! Hannah stayed back with Mom and the rest of us continued our trek upwards. Of course, the boys had to leave a part of them on the Great Wall, so they took several bathroom breaks.

One thing about China- the bathroom is any where you want it to be, especially if you're a little boy. I think both boys have gone more outside than they have in the toilet. But if I had the option, I'd probably go outside too! Most of the toilets that we have encountered here have been the squatty type-where you squat over them. Anyways, I digress!

I found the easiest way to get up the wall was to run up the steps, take a break, then run up the next section! And that worked pretty well for us. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it to the top section, and the view was absolutely incredible. If China wasn't so polluted and smoggy, we would have been able to see farther out. The city of Dandong is only 15 minutes away, but we couldn't even see the tall skyscrapers from the top. But we could sure see North Korea!!

Fortunately, they sell popsicles and drinks at the top of the wall, which was a relief. (I wouldn't want to be the poor person who has to carry that stuff to the top though!) We stayed and enjoyed the view before beginning our descent down the other side. I wasn't looking forward to the trip back, but Chelsea said that there was a boat ride back to the entrance on the other side.

Going down is definitely harder! Especially juggling a camera, video camera and wobbly legs! But, I remembered my trick from the last time I was there- walking down sideways!

We finally reached the bottom and got to the part where we could get on the boat ride.. except for one problem.. Dad had thrown our tickets away! They didn't make it clear that we would need them and the Chinese keep everything, so they were puzzled when Dad said he had thrown them away. The person who collects tickets started calling her supervisor and it was a little tense for a few moments because there was no way we were about to climb back up the wall, and then back down again! I would have rather swam across the river and gone to North Korea!

So while we were waiting, all of a sudden I see Mom and Hannah at the top of the wall making their way down. Like I said before, Mom was done and didn't want to go any farther.. and here she was climbing down. Dad and I were in awe and wanted to take Hannah home with us because she had convinced Mom to go! We cheered them on as they made their way down. I don't know how she did it, but Hannah was able to convince my mother-the epitome of stubbornness-down that wall!

Once we had Hannah, we worked out the situation and were able to take the boat ride back to the entrance. Boy, I sure love that woman! We started heading outside of the wall to the small river where the boat would pick us up. I joked around that we shouldn't cross to the other side because it was probably North Korea.. and imagine my surprise when Hannah confirmed my thoughts! Seriously... I could have jumped over the river and landed on North Korea, that's how close we were. We could stand in the river, but the second our feet touched the soil on the other side we would be shot. (Apparently the N. Korean soldiers hide in the bushes!) A little too close for comfort in my opinion, but still cool pretty neat!

The boat took us back to the entrance, we hopped on the bus and headed for lunch at the home of a Chinese family. They served us the most wonderful duck I have ever tasted! It was sooooo good, that we finished it all up within ten minutes of them putting it on the table.

After lunch, we started the 3 1/2 hour trip back to Shenyang. Asher did pretty well on the bus ride, he slept off and on and had one meltdown because he wanted to play Ian's game. I had a horrible headache and the fact that the trip took longer than usual didn't help much. We stopped in the city of Benxi to drop Chelsea and the boys off at a water cave. (We were going to visit, but were way to tired.) We didn't get back into Shenyang until 6:30 and then checked back into our hotel. It felt so good to be back "home" at our hotel and in our original rooms.

It was a great experience spending time in Dandong, but I was sure glad to be back in Shenyang! For dinner, we were going to have something America so we headed to Pizza Hut! It was pretty good, although I'm not sure the Chinese understand the concept of pizza sauce, since there wasn't any on our pizza. Asher sure enjoyed his first pizza and ate three pieces!

While we were walking to Pizza Hut, we witnessed several beggars on the street. Ian was especially upset by one young girl who rolled around on a skateboard because she had no legs. As we waited for our table, Ian asked if he could give her some money. As we were walking back from giving her money, he told me "That felt really good helping someone." I was really proud of him for doing that. =)

I think this experience has done a lot for Ian. Especially meeting the kids from the orphanage like Jie, who's the same age as Ian and has no family. I hope he will be able to remember a lot from this trip to China. He's been writing in his journal and I told him if he was good and kept up with that, I'd let him make a post on the blog.

Asher is continuing to do well. He did awesome on the Great Wall! I wasn't sure if he would be able to keep up with everyone, but he was the first one to reach the bottom and never complained. He told Chelsea that he has been here before, so I guess the orphanage had brought them. Originally, if we went to the Wall on Friday, the kids from the orphanage were going to come too. But because it rained and we couldn't go, the kids weren't able to come with us. That was a disappointment because I was hoping to spend more time with them, especially Jie.

Asher is quite the athlete, which is good since none of us are very talented in sports. It's funny that all of our Chinese kids are pretty athletic. Emma's going to be a gymnast some day.. she's very flexible and strong. Esther will tear up the soccer field. I'm thinking soccer, baseball or maybe even football for this little guy!

He seems to understand almost everything we say to him, and we're starting to understand him more. He first tries to talk to us and if that doesn't work, then he uses hand motions. Communication hasn't been a big problem. Mostly it's been the fact that he's 100% boy and he's never had freedoms like this before. Even though he's 7 1/2 years old, emotionally he's much more like a 5 year old. It's hard to describe him now, but for those of you at home, you will understand when you meet him.

It will get a lot better when we come home and have a stable environment for Asher. Right now, we're staying in different cities, different hotel rooms, new guides, etc. When you've lived in the same environment for so long it's hard to adapt to a whole new way of life. Asher's done very well and doesn't get overstimulated like Esther did. But I know his behavior will be a lot better once we come home. We've got work ahead of us with him, but he'll do fine. Once he realizes there are rules and certain ways he cannot act, he will understand. But to him, we're just a bunch of strangers telling him what to do.

Compared to Esther's adoption and transition, this one has been a piece of cake!! Esther's doing great now, but those first few months were very rough. She had constant temper tantrums and cried every night for the first three months. It took awhile for her to adjust and trust us. It was rough, but we got through it. Asher's done great.. sure he has some behavior issues, but after what he's been through, it's understandable. He seems to trust us, which is a good sign! I think Esther and Asher are a lot alike, so it will be interesting to see how those two get along. Mom thinks they will have a hard time at first, but we will see.

I think we are all ready to come home!! I always enjoy my trips to China and never want to leave, but right now I would be on the next plane home if I could. It's just been a lot emotionally between Haiti, coming home and then China. I feel like I've been gone for so long- I left for Haiti on August 3, came home for a few hours and left again for China. I haven't even had time to process my Haiti trip.. there was so much that I experienced there and already I feel like it happened so long ago. And now there's a hurricane hitting Haiti, where I was just one week ago!! See what I mean by wanting to come home?

We miss the girls a lot. Fortunately, our webcams have been a HUGE help! We talk to them almost every day and night and that's been getting us through. But it breaks my heart when Esther and Emma tell me, "Sera, I miss you!"

Just five more days!!!

Don't forget about the photos:
For the first page, click here
For the second, here
and then the third, here.

It's our last day in Shenyang, and I'm headed out to see where Dad and the boys are. I'll blog more later.