We awoke somewhat tired from a later than usual evening last night to the sound of the wake up call. They wake you up first in English, then in Chinese here at the hotel. No doubt this is because it is a Westerner’s Hotel first. After putting ourselves together, it was off to breakfast. Mommy wanted to straighten up, so the rest of us went down first, with Sydney taking Emma, since she will not go to Lora or myself yet. We arrived and got our table and ate heartily from a fine buffet, much bigger and with more variety than in Guiyang or Beijing.
We returned to the room to retrieve the proper paperwork for the upcoming physicals for Andrew and Emma. The process the last time was rather silly, with Sydney getting weighed and her height checked followed by a rather arcane ear and eye check. This time we wondered if it would be the same or different..
We met our guide John and the Profitt family at the lobby. Their daughter, Lily, is four and has a heart condition that is thought to be corrected. They are a nice family and we talked about shared experiences when you go to China without a group. We walked to get pictures taken for the visa applications for the three children. They all did a great job, with the girls, who aren’t prone to smiling all the time, able to smile for the camera.
Down the street is the medical examination building. Things are different now than in 2005. The examinations are much more thorough, with the children seeing many different doctors. First was the weigh in, with Andrew tipping the scales at 11¾kg and Emma bursting through at 14kg even though she is shorter than Andrew. It was then off to the ENT, and both Andrew and Emma checked out fine. Emma did not have any visible blockages, so perhaps her hearing issue is going away. The doctor commented on the good job the Beijing Hospital did in repairing her cleft lip and palate. The pediatrician then listened to heartbeats, breathing and took a look at their bodies. Emma and Andrew again passed with flying colors, with the doctor indicating that Andrew’s hernia repair was successful and that calcium supplements and exercise would help his concave chest. Can’t wait to hear what Dr. Siegel, back home in the states, will have to say after they complete their American physical.
Andrew needed to take a TB scratch test. He is quite used to being poked and prodded, so he didn’t even whimper as the test was done. He got a candy for being a good boy.
We returned to the hotel so that we could get the reams of paperwork properly filled out for the visa applications, etc. John came into the room and Andrew was quite happy to interrupt on a regular basis with his 4½ year old boy banter. John was able to answer him most of the time, but at one point he told us that Andrew was really difficult to understand because he had an accent. We thought that to be rather funny. Maybe he had an accent because he was from the southern part of China. John’s comment was both amusing and eye opening at the same time.
After lunch we took a nap. We all needed it and Andrew could not go swimming until the test was confirmed on Monday. After the nap we called the Profitt’s to see if they had dinner plans. They just wanted to eat American food, so off to Lucy’s, the local American/Asian spot for okay renditions of food you can pronounce.
We talked over dinner and soon realized it was time to get the kids bathed and to bed. We walked the short distance to the hotel and got the kids ready for bed. We soon followed as we had an enjoyable day here in Guangzhou. |
