Sophie

What shall I say?

I haven't gotten her completely figured out yet.
She is very sweet and wants to please.  Yet, over the last two days she has pushed the limits to see what she can do and where I will draw the line.  Last night it came out of nowhere.  We were looking for tennis shoes for her and when I reached down to hold her hand she jerked away from me quite mad.  I was shocked.  There had been no incident to set this off.  At least none that Kim nor I could see.
When I asked her what was wrong she would not look at me and would not let me touch her.
I grabbed her arm not knowing what she would do and made her walk with me.  She yelled at me in chinese and tried to get away.  I could feel my face getting hot, my butt started tingling and my legs felt like jelly- you know like when something bad is happening and you don't know why or what exactly to do?
We walked on and found some shoes.  The first place we stopped at I sat her down and we asked the people for some shoes for her.  The all started laughing and wouldn't help us.  They said they didn't have her size.  I was so mad!  I raised my voice and said, "Then where can I get her some shoes?!"  The thought crossed my mind that they know she is an orphan and won't sell to us.
We finally found someone who would sell us some shoes.  Kim went back to the store where the jerks were to look again.  I sat her down on the bench and she started to cry.  I got her a kleenex out and she took it from me.  Isabella sat down beside her, put her arm around her neck and said several times, "You have to listen to mom."  It was the sweetest thing to watch Isabella do that.

We got the shoes and left for the hotel down the street.  She didn't want me touching her or holding her hand so I grabbed her wrist and held on.  While in the elevator I held up the door key and asked who wanted it.  She smiled and said she did.  When we got into the room she went to her bed threw her stuff down and completely ignored me.  Only when she wanted something did she acknowledge me.
Kim and Isabella fell asleep quickly and while I was working on the computer I noticed Sophie had crept to the end of her bed to watch me.  She was trying to make up.  I let her come sit by me at the computer and it was then that she hugged and kissed me.  When I put her back in bed I asked her in chinese if she was sad and she said yes.  I told her we were her new family now and that it would be ok.  She nodded and smiled.  With all that happened- it was the first night she's slept all the way through and not gotten out of bed in the middle of the night to play with the hairdryer or play the Leapster!

We had a similar instance happen again tonight.  Earlier Kim had bought a new purse and let Sophie carry her old one while we were shopping.  We stopped to eat at Dico's (a Chinese McDonald's) and she wanted to play on the playset after supper with Isabella.  I told her she had to leave the purse at the table and she said no.  I told her again and she got up (thinking she would set it down before she walked off) and left.  I followed her and tried to stop her and she did the same thing as last night.  Jerked away from me and walked off. I got her turned around and she walked over to the playset.  I sat her little butt down (I was mad at this point!) and told her she WOULD listen to me!  A chinese employee came over and asked me if he could help me.  Are you kidding me?!  I said NO I don't need your help!  He proceeded to tell me that if I wanted to play I had to take my shoes off.  Geesh!!!
I grabbed her by the arm and took her back to the table, sat her down and told her she will listen to me!
She eventually stuck her fingers in her ears and tried not to.  We sat for awhile and Kim and I talked.  I asked Sophie if she was done and ready to go.  She said no.
Isabella came back quite confused by Sophie's behavior.  She just doesn't understand why she doesn't do what she's told.  A few more minutes pass by and I ask her again if she's done and ready to go and she nods yes.  Turns around and gives me a big hug.  Whew!

Last night at the mall her behavior really scared me and I thought to myself- "I can't do this.  I don't WANT to do this."  But after tonight and a couple of other small pushing the limits from her- I see that she is just a normal kid who is trying to find her place in her new family.  She doesn't know me and I don't know her.  This will take time and work.  And I'm positive it will work out beautifully.


More tomorrow on her past and why her road ahead won't be easy.

I don't even know what to say about this girl.
She is the most fun, sweet, wonderful, hilarious, awesome little girl!!
More on her this week.

Dancing at the park.
When Kim saw this she was in awe!!
What a wonderful sight to see.
Why don't we Americans do this?

A beautiful gazeebo.

This guy was getting his ears cleaned out.    At the park!!!
He kept yelling HELLO!
Too funny.

I LOVE this girl!!

At the end of our tour through the park Isabella begged me to dance with her.
So, I did and we ended up getting Kim and Sophie in on it, too.
It was actually really fun!!

This was a sweet picture.
Isabella was asking Sophie what the signs in Chinese said.
As Sophie told her Isabella would say the word.  She so badly wants to speak Chinese!

My Experience

Okay, so I have never written a blog before so you will just have to bear with me. Stacy wanted me to write a blog post about my experience and my point of view. I wrote a really long post a few days ago but when we went to post it the internet was down so I lost alll of it. So this time I am making sure to save it before posting it :)

The start of my trip was a little rocky.. I made sure to get to the airport an hour and a half early just in case. When I gave my ticket to the lady at the airport she looked at it funny and said '$25 dollars for your bag" I didn't think anything of it because I've never flown Delta before and I knew they charged for bags so I handed her my card right away. When I went to get my boarding pass the screen kept saying 'error error'. I got really scared. I was thinking oh great it's not going to accept my passport! Something's wrong! I'm not going to get in to china! The worst things were going through my mind. I went and stood in this line for help and thank goodness for a guy who knew what he was doing!

He said the lady that checked me in didn't transfer my luggage from Detroit to Beijing. She had it stopped in Detroit because she didn't know I was going on to Beijing. She also wasn't supposed to charge me for luggage for an International flight. So this guy had to go find my bag, put the right sticker on it so it would go on to Beijing, figure out how to refund my $25 back into my bank account, and print off my boarding pass. By the time I was done with that and through security, it was 9:45 and my flight left at 10:15!! That whole ordeal took an hour and fifteen minutes to figure out! Now, I am SOOO glad I got there early because you never know what can happen!

alright now on to CHINA! I think this place is amazing! I am loving every minute of it! I love traveling and experiencing new things so I do not want to go home yet although I do miss Wes and my family very much!

a few things I've noticed that are WAY different than in America

1. It's okay for chinese children to go to the bathroom on the sidewalk! I've witnessed this a few times! gross..

2. There is NO personal space. I guess it is not rude to bump in to somebody and not give an apology in China

3. They serve octopus at their Pizza huts :) that one was just a little fun fact

4. There are no traffic rules and pedestrians do not have the right-a-ways.. I had to cross the street with Susie to get an SD card for my camera and about had a heart attack. It was quite scary!

5. Slurping food and eating with your mouth open is normal. I sat by this guy on the plane to Chengdu and he was slurping his noodles very loudly. 

6. I have become used to being stared at because I am not from here.. but what I thought was the most interesting was that the people that stared at us the most were other white people... I mean like turned around in their chairs staring!  Kinda funny.

 I hope i'm not making this too long or boring... 

The first day in China was pretty amazing! I can now say I climbed the Great Wall of China!! It is something that I've always wanted to do and it was more than I expected. The view from the wall is breathtaking!!  It was pretty tiresome though.. when they mean climb the great wall.. they really mean it!! We also visited a jade factory where they showed us how to tell the difference between fake and real jade, the olympic stadium, and an amazing chinese acrobatic show. 

The next day is when we got Sophie. I have to hold my tears back when I talk about "gotcha day". It was something so special and amazing and I was not expecting to feel all those emotions! When I saw Sophie peek around the door with a huge smile towards her new family members I knew it was going to be hard not to cry! Sophie threw her arms around Stacy and gave her a big hug. It was hard to get a good picture of it because it happened so fast! Sophie took to them right away. She smiled at Isabella and grabbed her hands and held them and smiled. Isabella was so excited to see Sophie too! They hugged each other and held hands and it was the cutest thing! Finally sisters! I could see she was happy! Her smile was so vibrant and excited! I am glad I got to be the photographer because I was able to capture every moment and emotion on Sophie's face.

Sophie is a very sweet girl and quiet and lovable. She loves to hold hands and hug and her smile is beautiful!! I can tell she is in love with her new family! She may be homesick a little bit or miss what she is used to sometimes, but she loves her new mommy and father (as she would say it) and Isabella, Trey, and Big GeGe. 

These people are amazing and I am blessed to even know them let alone travel to China with Stacy and Isabella! Sophie probably doesn't know it yet, but she is very very lucky to have a family like the Richmonds! They truly are a gift from God to everyone that knows them.

- Kim Haberman

Pandas

We saw Panda's today.  I'm not going to write much tonight because everyone is in bed and I have a very sad 14 year old girl tonight.  I think I'll go try to make her feel better.  We did get to see a baby panda that was born July 24th.  This only happens once a year and we got to see it!  He only wanted to show his hind end though.  Very cute.  I will write more in the morning on how Sophie is doing. 

Kimmy

......is such a great help!!

She has waited in airports for me and with me.
Made sure I didn't lose a ticket or passport or room key or whatever else I might lose.
Watched me cry waaaay toooo much and didn't ask why.
Let Tang Ting hug her and hold her hand.
Listened to Isabella talk her ear off when I couldn't keep my eyes open.  (actually they were half open and it was freaking her out just a little.)  :  )
Climbed the Great Wall with a lot of sweaty, stinky people in way too close proximity.
And played cards with Isabella all afternoon yesterday.

I'm so glad she's here.

14th Birthday

Today was Tang Ting's birthday.  We had an awesome Sichuan chinese meal and then had birthday cake.
She got a camera for her birthday and LOVES it.
Pizza Hut for supper and Haagen Das for dessert.

Kim wrote an extra long post for the previous one and when we clicked to publish it- it was gone because the internet had gone out.  SO FRUSTRATING!!  I will have her post it again.

This is a slice of chocolate that says Tang Ting in Chinese.

She loves her camera!

I'm still alive in China!

First of all-  I have no computer skills.
Trent should have been here at least to keep me online!!
And to make sure I get where I'm going on time.

I will post pictures of Gotcha Day first (since that's why you're all here) and explain after that.

She is the sweetest thing ever.  I wasn't sure how this was all going to go down.  Had no idea what to expect.  But the pictures speak for themselves.  Details after pictures.

Isabella ready to meet her JieJie!

Inside the front doors

First meeting

Tang Ting and Isabella took to each other right away.

She had the photo album I had sent her and pulled it out to show me she had gotten it.

And then she wanted us to see the pictures of her.

Kim got out from behind the camera to get her photo taken also!

Waiting to leave the orphanage.



The first 2 days were traveling.  We left at 5am Thursday morning and arrived in Beijing around  midnight Friday night there which would have been 11am on Friday at home.  Long travels.
We got about 3 hours of sleep and left the hotel room at 7am for breakfast and to tour the Great Wall, Jade Factory and the Olympic site.   After all that we saw the Chinese Acrobat show which was amazing!  Kinda gross, too.  No body should ever bend like that.
We got back to our room around 8:30pm exhausted.  To bed around 10pm (which was when Trent called and chewed me out for not calling him, which I had but he didn't answer, because he was worried and then he almost bought a ticket to China.  I don't even think he know where in I am in China)  and up at 5am to leave for Chengdu.
So, I feel like for the first 4 days all we've done is sit in a car/van/bus, plane or airport.  And when we aren't, we are so tired that I don't have the energy physically or mentally to blog.
Sorry everyone!  I know I hate it when bloggers don't post their Gotcha Days and after!!
I am better now and there is still one more Gotcha Day to come- so hang with me.

We got to the airport in Beijing and waited for our flight which left 50 minutes late.  As soon as we landed we found our luggage and guide, went to the squatty potties and then headed straight for the orphanage.  They had never let one of their kids go on a weekend, without a TA in hand and were hesitant to do so.  But with the 24 hour harmony period they were willing to let her go with the understanding that she stay in the hotel room for safety's sake.

As soon as she saw us she gave full hugs and called me "mother".  She had smiles and showed us all she had in her backpack.  She kept touching Isabella's face.  Very sweet.

On the way to the hotel (which was an hour ride) she fell asleep.  I'm assuming it was a very long and stressful day for her.  Now I know that she get's car sick!!  That happened yesterday on our way to the Notary Office.
I am officially her mother- I cleaned up her puke.
We checked in (under Kim's name because my passport was missing) and ordered room service.
She is sweet and loving, has a small quiet voice when she talks, and is taking it all in with courage.
When we left the orphanage she told the orphanage director that she wasn't going to cry.
And she hasn't.

Today is her birthday and I will post pictures our time tonight.  Which is your morning.
Stay tuned!!