Day 11- Birthday, Consulate Appointment, and Shopping

第十一天－生日，领事馆预约和购物

我们在中国的第十一天，第四天在广州的时候是12月10日－Lucy的生日！我们那天在上跟Lucy，爸爸和Molly在Skype里通话。我和Amy给Lucy唱中文的生日歌。Lucy那时候好像很高兴。我们那时候也很高兴。

那天上午我们去了领事馆，这样Amy就可以成为美国公民了。Amy那天也同意她想被妈妈和爸爸收养而且跟妈妈一起去美国。太棒了！

之后我们就购物，我们那时候是像一种头发的东西。我们就找呀找，结果也没有找着。

那天早上我也告诉了Amy关于郑老师。我那时候已经等不及去见郑老师了！我那时候还有两天。

这就是我们在中国的第十一天。

When we were in China the eleventh day, the fourth day in Guangzhou, it was December 10th, Lucy’s Birthday! That day we talked with Lucy, dad, and Molly at home through Skype. Amy and I sang happy birthday in Chinese, Lucy seemed very happy. We were also very happy.

That morning we went the Consulate, so that Amy could become an American citizen. That day Amy also agreed that she wanted to be adopted by mom and dad and come to America with mom. Great!

Then we went shopping. At that time we were looking for a kind of hair stuff. We searched and searched, but couldn’t find it.

That morning we also told Amy about Mrs. Zheng. At that time I couldn’t wait to see Mrs. Zheng! At that time I had two more days before I would see her!

That was our eleventh day in China.

Day 10- Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area

第十天－白云山风景区

我们那天有一个很好的一天。我们看了看一些很好看的东西。这是其中的一张照片：（请看下面)

等我们弄完了，我们回到宾馆。然后黄阿姨问我们想去哪儿。我们说健身的地方和买一个头发的东西。然后Amy很想玩自动扶梯，所以我和Amy就一起玩儿了一自动扶梯。

等我们回屋的时候，我在做我的作业呢，Amy想给她的阿姨打电话。但是我们是在广州，所以我们得有铜鼓的区号。我先给了她的我们北京的区号（那时候我不知道），结果打不着。然后我又试了试另一个区号，然后终于弄好了。然后我就写我的作业。我觉Amy她有时候真可爱。她打电话的时候真好玩，那时候妈妈根本就不知道我为啥笑。

我很高兴我跟妈妈去了中国。Amy和我的第一天关系很好。有时候她很好玩也挺可爱的。她特爱说别人可爱。我觉得这很可爱。有时候我们会斗嘴。我真的很享受那成路程。


That day we had a really good day. We saw some really beautiful stuff. Here is of the picture:

When we finished, we went back to the hotel. Then Helen asked us where we wanted to go. We said we wanted to go the exercise park and buy some hair stuff. Then Amy wanted to play with the escalator.

When we went back to our room, I was doing my homework. Amy wanted to call her nannies. However, we were in Guangzhou, so we needed to have Tonggu’s area number code. I first gave our Beijing area code (at that time I didn’t know), but it wouldn’t work. Then I tried another area code, then it finally worked. Then I started doing my homework. I think sometimes Amy is very cute. When she was making phone calls she was very funny. At that time mom didn’t know why I was laughing.

I’m really glad that I went to China with mom. Amy and I were getting along really well. Sometimes she was really funny and cute. She loves to say people are cute. I thought this was really cute. Sometimes we fought, and wasn’t like where we were hitting each other, it is kind of a funny fight. I really enjoyed that trip.

Day 9- Zoo and Phone Call

第九天－动物园和电话

周日我们去了动物园。那天我们很开心。那里的人很热闹。虽然Amy不能摸那些动物，但是她能听和闻那些动物的声音和味道，不过那些动物的味道不怎么好闻。

那有一个东西我在动物园我不喜欢，那儿说不能喂动物，可好像没有一个人把这个规则当成事儿，而且也没有人强制人们做那个规则说的。我对这个很不高兴。

有一次我们去看河马的时候，那儿有一个东西你可以读。所以我就读给Amy，当时黄阿姨就很惊奇。可我觉得这没有什么大不了的，我的记忆又不是那么不好。然后黄阿姨就说很多被收养的中国小孩都忘记很多的中文。我这才知道为什么很多的中国人很惊奇我的中文还在呀。但是，这也没有改变我对我中文的想法。我这人好像从来都没有对我自己很惊奇，因为我觉得那是应该得到的，或做到的。不过如果有时候我做错了事情或是做一件事情做的不是特好，我就觉得我很不好。而别人却觉得我做的也不是那么不好。我觉得我这人对我自己的期望比别人要更高一些。

那天下午我问了妈妈我能不能给郑老师和高阿姨打电话，妈妈说行。我当时就特高兴。我先给郑老师打电话，郑老师知道周五我会去看学校的，但是她觉得那个时间好像太短了，所以她就问我她能不能去江阿姨的家里跟我们吃晚饭。江阿姨是我们在北京的翻译而且我们住在她的家。我们在她家里吃早饭和晚饭。当时我就特高兴，真没想到郑老师会问我这个（是好事儿）。之后我给高阿姨电话。我问到我能不能见到她。她说我们不能私人见面，我当时不怎么高兴，我又不会闹着不回美国。真实的！高阿姨说等我到18岁了，那福利院就不能管我了，这倒是让我挺高兴的。高阿姨说我们能在福利院见面。等我打完了，我告诉妈妈我跟郑老师和高阿姨的通话，然后她就跟江阿姨发电子邮件。

我那时候特高兴，因为我很快就能见到郑老师啦！

On Sunday we went to the zoo. We were very happy on that day. It was very crowded in there. Even though Amy couldn’t touch the animals, she could listen and smell the animals, but the animals’ smell wasn’t very good.

There was one thing in the zoo that I didn’t like. It was obvious that you can’t throw food to the animals, but it seemed that nobody followed rule, and there wasn’t anyone to force people to follow the rule. That made me very unhappy.

One time we saw hippos, and there was a sign you could read, so I read it to Amy. At that time Helen was very surprised. However, I thought it wasn’t a big deal. My memory isn’t that bad. Then Helen said that there are many children who have been adopted from China who forgot their Chinese. At that time I knew why there were so many Chinese people who were very surprised at my Chinese. However, that didn’t change my thought about my Chinese. I am never surprise by myself, because I think that I am suppose to have it, or get done it. However, other people think I wasn’t doing that bad. I think I have higher expectations than other people.

That afternoon I asked mom if I could call Mrs. Zheng and Nanny Gao. Mom said yes. At that time I was very happy. I first called Mrs. Zheng, Mrs. Zheng knew on Friday I was going to visit school, but she thought the time is too short, so she asked me if she could come to Joy’s house to eat supper with us. Joy was our translator in Beijing and we lived in her house. We ate breakfast everyday and supper one night at her house. At that time I was very happy, couldn’t image that Mrs. Zheng would ask me about that (in a good way). Then I called Nanny Gao. I asked if I could see her. She said we can’t see each other in private. I wasn’t very happy at that time.  I wasn’t going to cry to not going with mom to America. . Shoot! Nanny Gao said when I am 18, then the orphanage couldn’t control me. That made me pretty happy. Nanny Gao said that we could see each other in the orphanage,.When I finished, I told mom the conversation with Mrs. Zheng and Nanny Gao, then she send email to Joy.

I was so happy at that time, because soon I could see Mrs. Zheng!

Day 8- Medical and Shamian Island

第八天－医药和沙面岛

在周六早上我们带Amy做身体检查。哦对了，我们有一个新翻译，她的名字是黄阿姨，她真人特喜欢笑，到挺可爱的。我们跟其他被收养的家庭一起坐车去那个地方。等我们到哪儿的时候，我们得等黄阿姨做一些事儿。在我们等的时候，我们遇见了一个家庭收养了很多的孩子，好像是八个。我们说到中国有好多的家乡话。我们北京人老喜欢带儿化音。我只偶尔带儿化音，但我觉得我说儿化音比一般的北京人说的要少。她们的一个小孩带好多的儿化音，我觉得这倒是挺好玩的。

之后我们去沙面岛。在我们去沙面岛之前，我们去了一个宾馆去找妈妈从网里认识的一个人。那个人收养了两个中国人。等我们去沙面岛的时候，哪儿有好多Amy可以摸的东西。我们摸了一会儿，然后我们去了一个饭店叫“Lucy的”！我当时就觉得这很好玩。我们吃了我们的最爱：羊肉串！

接下来我们继续在沙面岛走，然后我们就看到了两个音乐老人家。谁也不知道那两个人是盲人，等我们让Amy看的时候，她立马就说那两个是盲人。你看这两个人是不是盲人呀？（照片在下面）

我们还吃了糖葫芦，我在中国一直都想要吃。我问了妈妈，她说可以。我们两个都喜欢。

这就是我们在中国的第八天，也是在广州第一天。

On Saturday morning we took Amy to check her medical. Oh, also, we had a new translator, her name was Helen, and she liked to laugh a lot, so cute. We rode in a van with other families who were adopting their kids. When we got there, we had to wait for Helen to do some stuff. While we were waiting, we met a family that had adopted a lot of  kids, I think it's eight. We were talking about China having a lot of native dialects. Beijing people like to put "er" on their words. I only sometimes put "er" on my words, but I think I speak fewer "er" than normal Beijing people. One of their kids had a lot of "er" sounds, I think that is pretty funny.

Then we went to Shamian Island. Before we went to Shamian Island, we went to a hotel to meet a person that mom knew from the Internet. That person adopted two children from China. When we got to Shamian Island, there were a lot of things that Amy could touch. We touched a little bit, then we went to a restaurant name "Lucy's"! At that time I thought it was very funny. We ate our favorite: Kebab(lamb)！

Next we kept walking on Shamian Ialand. Then we saw two old musician statues. Nobody knew that those two were blind; when we let Amy see it she said that those two were blind immediately. See, do you think those two are blind?

We also ate Bing Tang Hu Lu, a snack that is made up of hawthorn, then you just put some ice sugar. I always wanted to eat this in China; I asked mom if we could have it, She said yes. We both liked it.

This is what Bing Tang Hu Lu make up of: hawthorns,  a type of bush or small tree with white or pink flowers and small red fruits

That was our eighth day in China, which was our first day in Guangzhou.

Day 7- Leaving Amy's Home

第七天－离开Amy的家

在2013年12月6日，我们离开了Amy的家乡，南昌江西。等我们进机场的时候，她就开始变安静了。妈妈说这是因为这一次她真的是离开她自己的家了，我那时候点了点头，但我什么都没想。我也什么感觉都没有。

等我们晚上到了广州宾馆的时候，Amy就不怎么舒服。然后我和妈妈吃了晚饭，Amy没吃因为她很不舒服。我那时候什么感觉都没有。之后我就上床睡觉了。

说到这儿，我觉得我这个很没有良心。我的妹妹一点都不舒服，可我却一点都不关心我的妹妹，一点儿感觉都没有。这花了我两年的时间才懂得Amy当时的感受。我真人就是那么坏！

In 2013 December 6, we left Amy's home, Tonggu, Jiangxi. When we entered the airport, she became silence. Mom said this is because that was she really leaving home, at that time I nod, but I didn't think anything. I didn't feeling anything.

When at that night we came hotel in Guangzhou, Amy felt not so good. Then mom and I ate super, Amy didn't eat because she was feeling very bad. At that time I didn't feeling anything. Then I went to bed.

Talking about that, I think I have no heart. My sister felt no good, but I didn't even care about my sister, didn't feeling nothing. It took me two year to understand Amy's feeling back them. I am just so bad!

Lunar New Year

春节

这个周四是中国最重要的节日：春节。春节是我最喜欢的中国节日。现在我会告诉你我是怎么庆祝春节的。

当我在寄养家庭的时候，有些大人会给我们摔炮。我特喜欢玩摔炮。摔炮跟鞭炮差不多，但是没有鞭炮那么危险。摔炮就像一根烟那么小，然后你就可以摔在地上，然后它就会弄响声了。到了晚上时我寄养哥哥会放真正的鞭炮，然后我会从窗户里面看。那时候的情景很漂亮。我很喜欢春节。

当我在福利院的时候，因为我们不能放鞭炮，我们有时候会吹很大很大的气球，然后等到半夜的时候，我们会把那些吹起来的气球都弄爆了。我们还会看春节联欢晚会，有时候我们会一边看一边吃东西，想糖或零食。我们在大年三十儿凌晨大约两点睡觉，然后下一天的午觉我们都会睡得很香很香的。在大年初一的时候我们是半夜睡觉，下一天的午觉也会睡得香香的。

到了美国的时候，我们妈妈美国人在新年的时候熬不熬夜。妈妈说不。当时我就想：如果我们能熬夜就好了。

现在我在美国。我的父母也会庆祝春节的。我在美国的第一个春节爸爸妈妈给我们一个卡可以买耳环。我们还参加了精英春节的活动。在2013年春节我和Amy在网上看了春节联欢晚会，她好像很喜欢看。今年的春节到挺好的，我们从“北京”（一个商场的名字）买了中国饭菜。昨天我刚刚开始看了春晚。我很喜欢春节。

美国可真好呀！他们还会庆祝中国的节日呢！

This Thursday was the most important holiday in China: Lunar New Year. Lunar New Year is my favorite Chinese holiday. Now I'm going to tell how I celebrate LNY.

When I was living in foster family, some adults would give us crackers. A cracker is similar to a firecracker, but not as dangerous as the firecracker. A cracker is as small as a cigarette. You can throw it on the ground, and it will make sound. At night my foster bother would make the real firework. Then I would look from the window. It was a very beautiful scene. I like LNY very much.

When I was in the orphanage, because we couldn't do fireworks, sometimes we would blow balloons up super big, then at midnight we would pop the balloons. We also would watch a LNY evening festival show; sometimes we would eat candy or a snack. We would be awake until 2am on LNY eve, then next day nap we would sleep very deep.  On LNY we didn't sleep until midnight, next day nap we would also sleep very deep.

When I came to America, I asked if America stayed up late on New Year. Mom said no. At that time I thought: I wish we could stay up late- until midnight.

Now I'm in America. My parent will also celebrate LNY. The first LNY mom and dad gave us a Claire's gift card. We also joined some Jing Ying activities for LNY. For 2013 LNY Amy and I watched a LNY evening festival show online; she liked it fine. This year's LNY was pretty good; we bought Chinese food from "Beijing" (A restaurant's name). I like LNY.

American is pretty good. They even will celebrate a Chinese holiday!

Day 6- People Park and Fountain Show

第六天－人民公园和喷泉表演

第六天是一个自由的一天。上午我们人民公园去健身健身。Amy和我很喜欢玩健身器。我们两个人的福利院都有一些健身器而且我们以前都玩过。我们有时候还比赛谁的身体更有灵活。

晚上我们看了看喷泉表演。那有几首歌我们知道的。我们那时候很高兴！我们的翻译Elsie找一了些照片。这是一些照片（请看下面）：

在南昌的第六天到挺好的。

The sixth day was a free day. In the morning we went to the people's park to exercise. Amy and I liked to play with some fitness stuff. Both of our orphanages had some fitness stuff that we played with before. Sometime we even contested who's body is more flexible.

That evening we saw a fountain show. There were some songs that we know. At that time we were very happy! Our translator took some pictures:

The sixth day in Nanchang was pretty good.