Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Typhoon Whipha whips China. (FYI: Whipa is a common woman’s
name in Thailand). The typhoon hit mainland China in
Shanghai, which is only 420 km from Hefei. Needless to say,
it has rained hard all day long. Unfortunately, we had to
cancel our sightseeing trip today. We rescheduled for
tomorrow, hoping the storm will move out of the province.
We did take a trip to the Joymart, Hefei’s answer to Walmart.
A busload of Americans with their children is quite the
spectacle at the Joymart. They have it all from bulk foods
to clothes. We bought Louisa a couple pair of shoes and a
new outfit. One pair of shoes (intentionally) squeaks on
every step, not so sure we won’t regret that purchase.
Louisa loves to take off her socks, so we needed shoes to
stop her. The amount of people working at the Joymart is
incredible, even Nordstrom could take staffing tips from the
Joymart. There were associates staffing every aisle, if only
we spoke Mandarian. We actually had three associates helping
find the right size outfit for Louisa. Success.
After we returned to the Hotel and all the children had
their afternoon naps, an impromptu party broke out in the
hallway. Several of the CHI families and their children
gathered to talk and play. Louisa was very excited to see
all the other children. She crawled and walked around
visiting everyone. Avery also got to play with some of the
children’s older siblings. We even meet some families from
different adoption agencies. One little girl was from the
same orphanage as Louisa, Hefei Children’s Welfare
Institute. |
Life at the Joymart.
Julia and her two girls.
Center of attention. |
