Sunday, January 25, 2009

Chinese New Year..The Year of the Ox


The Chinese are celebrating the most exciting time of the year for them and I have been reading about all the festivities that are underway. I have to wonder what the orphanages do for the children. I just hope Abby may be getting a little fun in the week ahead. We are celebrating with a trip to the China Buffet today.
I found out a couple things about her Chinese name..Lianqing. First,it is all one word not two,as I have been using it and it means "romantic love".
I found this great website nciku.com. You type in any word, it tells you how to say it in Chinese or what it means. I typed in her name and that's what came up. Which has me wondering about the whole name game again. Do I name her Abby-Grace Lianqing Grimm.That is a long name,guess we have some time yet to decide. The agency is guessing travel will be in May/June. I received an information packet in the mail yesterday, which was very exciting but also freaked me out. Phrases like "not all places you will be at will be equipped with a western toilet" I guess we shouldn't take our toilets for granted because apparently they squat over a hole and there is no toilet paper.We were advised to "carry tissue with you at all times". They advised we learn to use chopsticks because you will not always have a fork as an option.
Yes, it is all a bit scary to a control freak like myself.Just being given a five year old who doesn't know any English and is being taken away from everything she's ever known,add in wacky cultural differences and paperwork up the wazoo..yeah the panic begins to set in. God will get me through it though. This is my dream. If dreams were easy they wouldn't be called "dreams". Start praying for me now though.
It should definitely be a trip of a lifetime.....

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