Run-in with the law

What has day three in Guangzhou brought us? The kids and I took Sean down to the lobby so we could watch the cars go by outside. We were told Sean likes to go outside, and sure enough,he was pulling me by the finger outside, so away we went. We ended up sitting on a small step by the front entrance, when I was rather quickly told by hand motions I was not allowed to sit there and just loiter. At least that's the way I took it. My first run in with the law. This young man was dressed in a "military" uniform, so it must be official, right? I later asked our facilitator who was that uniformed man? "Oh, he's the supervisor of the bell-hops."

Later, we went inside a Starbucks to cool of (Have I told you it's humid here? Oh yea, I think I did). After finishing our drinks, I noticed the signage above the mugs they were selling said something in English and Chinese. I thought, "this would be interesting to have a photo of, not sure why, but I thought interesting. So I take aim with my camera and I get a quick and firm, "Excuse me sir, no picture taking." My second run-in with the law. I guess they are worried I might pirate the logo or something.

I may be clarifying a point here, but our guide said 70% off all the "Made in China" product is here in Gaungdong province. Shantou city, where Sean if from, I have learned is the richest city in the province. They make the higher end things like air-conditioners, fridges, microwaves, ect....

On another note, for those who have been paying attention to Chinese adoption issues, your well aware things have slowed considerablly for getting a newer born child. When we started the process, we were told the wait was 12-18 months. Almost three years later, we figured something else was up. Thus our switch to special needs children. Our guide has told us the Chinese government has recently passed a law that say the farmer, the people in the poorest parts of China, can now send their children to school and the government will now pay for it. The people in the cities still have to pay their own way, but not the farmers. Thus, they do not need to put the children up for adoption since getting them an education has been one of the biggest problems they face. Also, take this with some perspective, but one orphanage ran out of kids because they were not geting anymore kids. (Of course, a country with a billion people, I'm sure there are orphanages that may not be running out).I think that's good. And, we are seeing signs around town that are basically asking for people to donate to help the Chinese people to adopt their own kids.

The only thing we did today was go to the police station and get our official adoption certificate. Tehnically, Sean is no longer a Chinese citizen. And until we land in New Jersey, he's not technically an American Citizen either.
Last thing, as I write, Sean is finally sleeping in a crib by our bed, and not in our bed. That's good for several reasons, but one is that Liz won't sleep on the floor tonight. Alright, time to go to bed. Oh, and the child sleeping the stroller didn't last too long. He doesn't like it at all.