Mandarin Class

Well, starting to worry we won't hear anything before the Chinese New Year begins.    I think things shut down for a week or two once the celebration gets going.  Looks like things kick off on February 3rd.

Mike and I started a beginners Mandarin course on Monday at UTPB.    We will go Monday through Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 for the next four weeks.  A professor and two of her students flew in from Taichung, Taiwan to teach the course.  The professor will only be here a week and then she will return home in time for the Chinese New Year, but her two companions will stay to teach the remainder of the course.

A young lady sitting next to us was adopted at 5 years of age from somewhere in China.  She has 5 siblings who are also all adopted (from various countries) by a local doctor and his wife.  She's a senior this year and wants to learn Mandarin before she visits China for the first time.  

Mike has already picked up a lot of Mandarin words and phrases.  He's been working so hard to soak up as much of the language and its origins as he can since we returned from Taiwan.  He just amazes me!  Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some basics over the next month. 

Praying every day we will hear something - it's been especially hard waiting since the first ruling was reported.  Just hoping Ming-Zong is still thinking about us and the week we spent together!

One Ruling Down...One to Go

With all international adoptions families receive a first ruling, then there's a 10 day wait period and then the final ruling is made.  During the first ruling families receive their travel date to go get their child.

Lindsay, our Gladney caseworker, called us New Year's Day to report that the first ruling is in our favor!  However, we did not receive a travel date yet.  Within 10 working days we should know the final ruling and will receive our travel date then if nothing changes.  So - we're very excited, hopeful and of course scared. 

Once again, only time will tell.  :)  Here is the email Chung Yi sent to Gladney about the first ruling:

We're so excited to inform you that we've received the first ruling that validates the adoptive parents to adopt Ming Zong as their adoptive son.

The Miaoli government social worker has talked to the birth mother, and although the birth mother knows that adoptive parents are wonderful parents, she still hopes to appeal this verdict.

However, the judge has clearly indicated in the first ruling that "only if the law has been cited wrong is there a  reason can appeal this verdict, and any appeal should be filed with the Court within 10 days after delivery of this decision and should be stated clearly with the reason."

Therefore, we are going to wait for 10 days' appeal period and after that we'll arrange the pick-up schedule soon.

Once we have any news, we'll inform you right away.

Please convey to the adoptive family, thank you!

Happy Holidays!

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More Videos and Pictures

Here is a link to see other videos and pictures from our trip.  :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49620654@N08/sets/

Last Day with Ming

We got to spend the whole day with Ming and Claire.  The morning hit a rough patch, but didn't last long.  Ming-Zong wanted to play with Mike's Nintendo DS right off the bat this morning.  Mike had his camera, but Ming only wanted the DS.  At first we thought Ming would be okay, but he got very upset.  He displayed a temper and then just shut down.  Mike and I stayed close, but gave him time to cool down.  We compromised and told him we wanted to do some other fun things with him and then would go back to our hotel to play on the DS late that afternoon.  Everything went fine from there and we had such a wonderful day!

To everyone's great surprise, Gongzhan Wu, the vice president of the Gladney Adoption Agency, spent about 4 hours with us today.  He lives in New York, but flew in from China where he has been visiting.  He is the managing director for the Asia program and so he knew we were in Taipei to meet Ming-Zong.  He is such a nice man and we felt honored that he took the time to spend part of his day with us. 





We took Gongzhan Wu to the airport because he was heading to Shanghai.





Relaxing in the hotel, racing each other on Mario Kart.  :)

 

Pizza, salad and cheese fries for dinner.  Ming has a big appetite and is not a picky eater (he should definitely be our son).  He began to try out some English words during the latter part of the week - pickle, chicken, open, close, Merry Christmas, and his favorite - FRENCH FRIES!  This is one smart little boy.  He also tried to mimic several phrases he heard Mike and I using in conversation.

 

Saying goodbye...





This day was an amazing way to end our visit.  Our hearts are aching, but filled with love, gratitude, and joy.  We met some amazing people this week that we will feel connected to always - most especially Ming Zong and Claire.  We are so grateful to Gongzhan Wu, our caseworker Lindsay Hatcher, the crew at Chung Yi, our driver Mr. Yeh, and all the kind people that made this experience a lifelong gift. 



Court Hearing

We met with the judge this morning at 10:00.  Mom, Mike and I all liked her and felt she had a lot of integrity.  We were accompanied by members of the the social welfare foundation that cares for Ming, which is called Chung Yi.  Our group included the assistant social director, Ming's social worker who has spent the entire week with us, and her supervisor.  Ming went too, but was not present with the judge at the same time we were.  The social worker who has worked with Ming during meetings with his biological mother was also there.

The judge asked us basic questions concerning why we chose Ming, how we would help him transition to life in America, and what our beliefs about raising children were.  She asked us about the days we have spent with him so far and allowed time for us to share pictures and some videos.  She also gave us time to share anything we wanted her to know.  The judge seemed to be very responsive throughout this time (Ming's social worker Claire was our translator).

The judge also asked for the social worker on the biological mother's side to update her based on the 6 brief interactions Ming has had with his biological mom.  She reported that the bio. mother is not able to properly care for Ming.  The bio. mother is apparently young and is not confident in how to interact with him.  She brings him toys but doesn't know how to play with him and build a relationship.

Following this report the judge said they will make a final ruling as soon as possible.  She is aware that Ming is getting older and a decision on his behalf is vital.  If the adoption is approved it would take 6 to 8 weeks to process everything before we could return to bring Ming Zong home.

Mike and I are of course hopeful, but trying to remain very guarded.  This is an unusual situation and we don't know what to expect at this point.  All we can do is pray and hope that our life with Ming doesn't end after this week.  Ming spoke briefly with the judge before we left and told her he wanted to go to America and live with us.  He did not want to speak to the judge and remained very guarded until we left the court.  He has been there so many times and I think it just confuses and frustrates him.  Hopefully today was the last time he will have to go.

So, Mike, mom and I have one more day with Ming Zong tomorrow and are going to enjoy every minute!  :)

Ming Zong's Movie

Okay, so Ming Zong is a total techno junkie (as with any kid I suppose).  I guess prior to this week his exposure to things like cameras, computers, and touch screen phones has been limited.  Therefore getting to try some of these things out and get his hands on them has been WAY exciting.  We had so much fun with him last night.  His initial hesitation when we first see him did not occur last night.  He came right to us with a huge smile on his face and was completely comfortable.   

Ming's Perspective

These are some of the many, many pictures Ming took with our camera today.  :)

Playing with Ming

This was not long after we met Ming and started playing with some of his new birthday toys. 

Trip to the Zoo with Ming



Ming wants to carry all his own stuff - jacket, cold medicine, snacks, water and hat.  Mom offered to carry it for him several times, but he very much takes charge of his things.



He couldn't wait to get to the penguins.



Okay so about midway thru the zoo Ming took a picture with my camera and that was the last we had it in our hands before we said good night to him.  He was obsessed with taking pictures and figured out all the basic buttons to navigate between taking pictures, looking at the pictures and turning the camera on and off.



It was difficult to get him to put the camera down.  :)



And then he found the battery compartment for the camera!  Oh man, he took that battery out and put it back about a hundred times.  :)



And the battery is coming out once again...



We had a great time today.  Ming really came out of his shell as the day progressed.  He amazed us on several occasions.  He has figured out that he has to be crafty when trying to communicate with us.  He took a pencil at dinner and wrote an 'x o' on the paper, indicating he wanted to play tic-tac-toe.  Then at one point he was trying to talk to Mike and I and we were trying to figure out what he was saying.  He smiled and pretended to take a picture and we figured out he wanted to use our camera.  When we were doodling on a piece of paper he started writing math problems and showing us he could solve them.  Claire (social worker) thinks he knew numbers were something common between our languages because we had played Bingo on his birthday.  He's a very bright and creative little boy.  He is very social and outgoing once he feels comfortable in his surroundings.  :)

Coloring with Ming

Interesting Food Options

Okay so I know this is totally hypocritical since I eat meat.  But I want my grub to look less like the living creature it once was.  :)

Mmmmmmmmm, McDonalds mystery patty with shrimp shoved in it.

Roasted squirrel?

Roasted guinea pig???  It still has its little tail nub.   :(