Pretty Abby in dress-up attire.
Joanna & YanMin in the bubble machine.
I think this Egyptian scene represented a mummy and Cleopatra.
Hitting the road.
All of us together!Two days after Christmas we had plans to see Joanna's little friend, YanMin (Jasmine), whom she grew up with at her orphanage in Shaoyang. YanMin has been adopted to a family in New Jersey, and fortunately for us, the mom has relatives in our state. We made arrangments several months previous, but what we didn't plan on was a ten inch snowfall. The girls and I crept down the interstate with me wondering if I was totally insane to be out in such weather. A 40 minute drive became an hour and 40 minutes. We did arrive in one piece, and it was so fun to see the girls together. (Hurray for all-wheel-drive!) Odd reactions in some ways, but even still they were happy to see each other. Our surprise was that Joanna chose to speak mostly in English. It confirmed my suspicions that Joanna has moved forward in wanting to become like all of those around her and is anxious to leave her past behind. We would have loved for her to retain her Mandarin, but this is her decision alone, and she appears ready to become 100% American.
We met at a children's museum, which was actually a hands-on play center. It was really a child's dream and was very fun. You can see the huge bubble machine, which Joanna was so fascinated with. Ruthie and Abby liked the restaurant set-up and the bank, which both involved cash registers. There was a large sandbox, a wind machine, a huge stage with costumes and dress-up clothes, things to climb on, and so much more. The time passed quickly with Joanna now hoping to see her other friends from the orphanage as well. It was hard to explain how she was able to see one child from New Jersey but will be unable to see the ones from Pennsylvania, Missouri, North Carolina, and Chicago.
Two days later we traveled 500 miles to see my parents. Considering four kids were on board, the travel time actually went pretty well. Joanna got a chance to meet my parents and thought that they were wonderful. Every child loves my mom - she is the dream grandma who gets down and plays and talks to them on their level. Ruthie is especially close to her and was none too happy to only stay for two full days. We totally disrupted my parents' quiet life, and while they were very gracious, I'm sure they were secretly relieved when this noisy troupe packed up and moved on. My new camera decided not to cooperate, so I am at the mercy of my sister who has promised to send pictures from this visit.
4 comments:
What a special reunion, Linda! The museum looks like a blast!
I love that your parents got to meet Joanna...what a sweet picture to imagine them playing on the floor together! Glad yall survived the 500 mile trip...YIKES!
Happy New Year!
Laine
So was Jasmine speaking English too? I wish I could have been a fly on the wall. I'm glad you were able to get the girls together. We have a meeting with Nina's best friend planned for next summer. It will be so interesting to see how they interact.
Anyway, thanks for posting, and I'm glad you "survived" the snow. We just got a few inches up here, but you must have really gotten dumped on.
Happy New Year, and maybe we will meet sometime this year?
Barb
That is so great that Jasmine and Joanna could get together. Have you all thought about trying to plan reunions?
Our group is going to give it a try, but of course we are all so spread out it may just be small groups of us that get together. We have one Maánshan girl that lives close, but she only lived with HT for 2 years and she does not speak Mandarin any longer. I think that made it hard for HT to connect with her, but maybe in time they will be able to share more about their common bond.
Oh how interesting. My daughter, adopted at 7 1/2, made the same language decision. She refused to speak Chinese in front of us and would freeze if someone spoke to her in her native language. Like you, I was hoping to retain the language skills. It became obvious that her emotional health was more important.
-Diane
Post a Comment