Hong Kong Here We Are!

We are in an internet cafe in Hong Kong, after walking aroung the shopping district on Queens Rd and visiting the very hot, humid and kind of empty zoo and botanical gardens.

On the way to the Albuquerque airport, I sat next to a family with two beautiful children who were adopted from Kazakhstan. I talked to them about our trip to China and showed pictures of Shaela. The little girl (about 9 yo) asked me what my baby's name was, I told her "Yu Ping was her Chinese name and Shaela is her American name." Justin and I had decided to have two names in which Shaela could pick from when she got older.

Having been Chinese American, I am sensitive to how kids can be ridiculed for the slightest thing, but especially their names. It was ironic that I took the book, Donald Duk, to read on the plane ride. This book, written by Chinese American author, Frank Chin, depicted a 12 yo boy who hated his name, Donald Duk and hence hated anything Chinese. He wanted desparately to be American (more specifically, Fred Astaire). The book ends with Donald learning about his ancestors and how great they were and coming to terms and loving his background.

Back to the two little kids on the parking bus at Albuquerque, the little boy (approx 11 yo), was dressed in full NY Yankee attire. He wanted me to guess what sport he loved and at the same time did not want his little sister to tell me his name, he seemed embarassed. Both children had unusual Kazakhstan names. I think he epitomized this whole difficulty in assimilation and accepting one's heritage. It made me happy that I could relate to what many adopted children are going through. And especially be sensitive about it with Shaela.

The seats on our flight were very tiny with no leg room. After we landed we immediately did what my father had suggested back in the states, get a bassinet in the bulk head seating for the return trip with the baby. There was no way we could fit Shaela on our laps, we could barely fit ourselves in the seats. Thank you Dad! We managed to reserve it for the return trip. Thank goodness! I did order the inflatable "first class seats in coach" thing from Magellans, which helped me get a bit of rest. Justin couldn't fit in his seat as it was, so he opted out.

I sat next to a very nice Chinese American man, Wilson from Scottsdale, AZ. He was very helpful. We had very nice discussions on naturopathic medicine (at this point Deb is muscle testing and clearing him...) and found out he was visiting his family in Guangzhou, where we would end our trip. Near the end of the flight, I found out his last name is the same as mine! We may be very distant relatives. He spelled it "Xie." This was a very good omen.

Our time is up on the computer. More details to follow...
Love & Blessings, Debbie