This is me on the Sampan boat at Aberdeen

The hole in this building was put there because the person who had the building built believed a dragon lived in the mountains behind it and wanted the dragon to be able to get to the water. In my opinion it is kind of wierd.

My sister Nora loves to hold my hand. In mandarin we say da gege sho (not sure of the spelling) which means hold your big brother's hand. Our guide Mamie taught me that.

Today was the best because we got to go up to the top of victory peak! It was really fun. And really pretty also. After that we went to Aberdeen and rode on a boat it was SUPER fun! It was faster than our other dinner cruise one. Then we went to this really lame jewelry store. I mean it was soooooo boring that I almost fell asleep! Also we went to the Stanley market it was the best stop we made!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bought a new pair of shoes. And threw my junky ones away. For lunch that day it tasted like heaven! I got a hamburger french fries and a Sunkist. It was sooo great! Better go to bed now so that I can get rested up for the plane tomorrow so I can see you guys bye!

On the double decker bus

Waiting for the train

Today was very tiring because we came to Hong Kong by train. And we brought about ten suit cases! And we bought one more. Oh and I had to pull two of them! As we were getting on the train we had to hall all of them on and we had to hall them off when our 1 hour train ride was over. It was pretty tiring!

After our train ride we caught a bus to the airport from the train station. It was a double decker bus and we sat on the top. It was really fun. When we were turning corners it looked like we were going to crash. Now we are at the Airport Hotel. This hotel kind of freaks me out because the hallway has bright purple carpet, but actually it is pretty nice.

Sorry my update is so short tonight but I am really tired.

Jack and I swimming at the White Swan

Nora and I taking a walk while waiting for our food at Lucy's Diner

Bowling in Changsha (this is from a few days ago at our old hotel but I forgot to post it)

Today was very fun. It started with a trip to the White Swan buffet. The buffet was delicious. My favorite thing at the breakfast buffet was the big fluffy French toast. It is probably the best French toast I have ever eaten. After breakfast my Aunt Nikki and I headed out for some shopping. While we were shopping I bought a couple of gizmos and gadgets. We went to this store called Jordan’s and the guy who owns the store was named Jordon. He told me that my two front teeth were good for eating watermelon. I’m not sure what he meant by this but it was really funny. Later out on our shopping spree I stopped at a store so my mom could buy something. This lady walked up behind me and started feeling my hair. Then she told her friend something in Chinese and one of the girls who spoke English asked if I curled hair or if it was natural. I said, “Well, I don’t curl it!”. Then she said her and her friend thought I had special hair. It was pretty funny.

Next I met back up with my friend Jack (from the Dalton in Changsha, Hunan). We went swimming at the wonderful, great, super cool White Swan swimming pool. We had a great time. My sister Nora sort of went swimming too although all she ever does is put her feet in. We played this game that Jack likes to call Jaws. He sits in a blow up inner tube and I try to tip him over. Once I tip him over then we switch places. It was really fun.

After swimming it was time for a little more shopping. My mom went crazy buying squeaky although the squeakers will soon be taken out because they get annoying.

Tonight we went on a Dinner Cruise along the Pearl River. I did not care for the food or the ride but everyone else thought it was great. It was going way to slow. My mom says I'm just tired and grumpy.

Nora on her first plane ride

Me and my sister, Nora

Me by one of the huge snakes

Sorry I did not post yesterday. Our internet was not working and by the time we got it fixed it was 10:30pm and I was sound asleep. Yesterday we went to a big park. Inside the park there was a reptile zoo. There was a snake in there that was so huge it looked like it had swallowed my dad. It was definately bigger around than my head and my head is pretty big. Then we went to the crocodile area. There were 3 or 4 birds in a cage that looked pretty sick but were still alive. The guy working there tied one of the birds to a stick and held it out above the crocodile. One of the crocodiles jumped up and ate it. I felt really bad for the bird. When we got back to the hotel I went bowling while my mom, Nora, and my aunt Nikki watched. I got 1 strike so I got a prize.

Today we flew to Guangzhou and now I am at my favorite hotel in the whole wide world the White Swan. Although the rooms are not that big we have a very pretty view of the Pearl River from our window. As soon as we got here we my Aunt Nikki and I went shopping while my mom had some appointments with Nora. I bought a jade Buddha necklace and two masks. Tonight we ate at Lucy's Diner. It is an American restaurant and I had the Great American Hamburger. It tasted like heaven. Well I had better get to bed now. Bye.

Our favorite doorman

pushing my sister in the lobby

Our movie purchases

In front of the Hunan Provincial Museum

After eating my usual breakfast this morning our guide took us to a Hunan Provincial Museum. There we saw a dead 2,000 year old lady! It was very creepy because she was all white and she still had hair. We could also see all of her organs in jars, they were cool. After we returned from the museum I went and did my daily swim. I had the pool all to my self so I tried to make the whirlpool, but I got way to tired. I was bummed because my friend Jack went to Guangzhou today. I fly to Guangzhou on Monday and stay at the White Swan Hotel. I am so excited to stay at the White Swan because it is probably my favorite hotel I have ever stayed at in my life. They have a great breakfast buffet. After that we took a walk to the movie store and we got 14 movies for only 20 U.S. dollars! When we came back we got greeted by our friendly doorman. We wanted to take a picture with him because we are leaving on Monday and we like him so much. My mom, Nora and I took a walk to the friendship store. We thought it was going to be good because we were hoping to find baby shoes with squeakers, but it was boring instead. We saw 2 beggars today, they were laying down and weak. We then walked down to the baby store and the Whacko market and sat outside by the fountain. We also taught Nora how to count to four in Chinese and made her laugh with these cool magnet things. After that we went back into the hotel and just kinda hung out.

Nora doing the peace (in US) or victory (in China) sign with me

Playing table tennis with Jack

Making a whirlpool in the Children's Pool

Nora, finally liking the water and ME

Today we traveled to Zhuzhou, that is where Nora used to live. It was really fun because we got to meet Nora's foster parents. They were really nice. They gave a bag full of fruit to Nora and I. They did not get to see Nora because we were afraid it would be too hard on her. They understood. Next we went to Walmart to get Nora some of her favorite snacks and drinks and my mom's friend, Arlene, some apple coke. It was kind of gross because in the meat department there were whole chickens with their heads and everything still on hanging from a rack and they did not keep their eggs in a refrigerator. I do not think I will eat eggs for breakfast tomorrow after seeing that. When we got back from Walmart we were greeted by our very, very friendly doorman. He carried out bags us to our room on the 31st floor. When we got back to the hotel and got settled in I went and knocked on Jack's door and asked if her could go swimming. When we went swimming we made a whirlpool in the children's pool by going around in circles a hundred times. I was very dizzy but it worked. After swimming Jack and I went to play table tennis. We ordered cokes and they also brought us wet washcloths for our face and hands. Nora started to play and laugh with everybody today. She is alseep now and I should join her. As our friendly doorman would say, "Hi, Hello, TaTa"

Today was not what I would like to call exciting. It was okay though. The good thing about today was that Nora finally started to like me. We went to the Embroiderary Museum. I did not get to see much of it because Nora was holding my hand and taking me into different rooms than where our guide was. After we got back from the musuem I took a quick dip in the pool. Then we went to where you could buy embroiderary. My mom bought one but I did not because they were too expensive and I didn't really care for it. Then I hooked up with my friend, Jack, and we went swimming for about an hour. Then we went to dinner. The gross part was that Jack ate steamed snake. He said it was really spicy. I was going to try it but I wimped out, sorry Mrs. Black. See ya later, bye.

This is me hanging from the basketball rim at the Elementary School we visited today.

This is when I almost tried "stinky tofu". That is really what it is called.

Today was another fun day in Changsha, Hunan, China. We went to an elementary school. It was neat cause it was outdoor. It was also neat because when we sat on a tower thing a whole bunch of kids came out for recess and they all crowded around me and I was scrunched. And they talked a lot and shoved each other and they were wild. And they all wanted to meet me, my dad and mom and Nora and Nikki. They also had a basketball hoop and i jumped up and slammed it and hung on the rim. You can see me in a picture on this blog. It was different from Anderson because there were about 75 kids in a classroom. They were learning how to count in English. And at recess they did eye exercises by rubbing the top the bottom and the side of

their eyes.

After we went to the school we went to this place called the Fire House. We went and toured it and I saw the Fire King. It smelled like smoke cause they had these cat tail things smoking. And at that time I wish I had an ice cold Mountain Dew, because it was soooo hot. At the restaurant I almost tried this stuff called stinky tofu. You can see it in the picture. I mostly ate watermelon cause I wasn't really hungry. I almost bought a necklace with a Buddah on it like my sister Nora has from her foster parents, but I will wait until I get to Guangzhou.

When we got back to the hotel, Jack and I went swimming and we played with my beach ball again. It was really fun because we played in the kiddie pool and nobody else was there. After that Jack had to go eat lunch, so me and my dad went bowling on the 9th floor of the hotel. My dad won bowling. After that we played ping-pong and I won three games and he won one.

After we got done Jack came back from eating and we went to a playroom and the hotel had a little blow up horse and we always fight over who gets it. When we finished playing we went to a store to get Nora some snacks. We got her a pack of M&M's, 15 fruit snacks, 12 yogurt drinks. We got ourselves a pepsi, m&m's, sunflower seeds, and all we had to pay was 55 Yuan or seven American dollars. Then we went to the movie store and bought 6 dvd's and only had to pay eight American dollars. We got Flushed Away, Garfield 2, Rocky Balboa, Over the Hedge and some others that my dad got.

Then we went to the hotel and sat around until now. And my sister always says something in Chines!

Well I better go to sleep now bye!

Meeting Nora

Making my sister smile

Today we got Nora. It was very exciting. She keeps saying she wants to go home to her Mama in Chinese though. Before I got her, I ate a really good breakfast. The breakfast had French toast and maple syrup and bacon. I also had scrambled eggs and grape juice. In the afternoon, me and my dad played ping- pong. He won a game and I won a game. Then after that I wanted to go bowling in the hotel bowling ally. It is cool cause it is on the 5th floor. But, we ran out of time, because we were going for a walk. When we were walking in the lobby, there was a big circle with flowers in it. I was not watching were I was going and I walked right in it. I fell over and scrunched some flowers and the doorman at the hotel laughed at me. Then we went for a walk. I saw lots of stores with Chinese words on them. When we got done with dinner I went swimming. This morning when I woke up I met a new friend and his name is Jack and he is my age. He is from New York. I went swimming with him and we played with a beach ball in the water. The pool was big and it looks like a lap pool. It was an exciting day today.

This is me learning to make Chinese Dumplings. It was really fun.

This little boy and his parents kept wanting to take a picture with me. I think we took 4 all together.

Hi

Today it was very exciting because we get Nora tomorrow! We just flew in to Changsha. At about 7:30PM your time we get her! Today we went to the Forbidden City and Tian An Men square at the Forbidden city we had to do a lot of walking. It was very tiring. My personal favorite was when we went to somebody's home and they showed us how to make Chinese dumplings we ate lunch there and it was very very good! I suppose I should let my mom do her blog now.

BYE

Hi Everybody,

Today it was so fun because I got to go on the Great Wall again but to a different part. The bad thing is when I wake up tomorrow I am probably going to be sore because it was very steep and we walked up a whole bunch of steps. The funny part about the trip is that this beggar always chases my dad.

Hello. I mean Ni Hao.

Today I sat on a long plane ride. It took us 22 hours to get to China. It didn’t seem like 22 hours, it seemed like 30! But at least I had a back pack full of things to do like word searches, a portable DVD player, and my brother’s ipod because mine broke. When I got to China we went to the mall to eat dinner. Then Nikki, my aunt, and I got Dairy Queen. We got oreo blizzards. Now I am going to go to bed because I am so tired and tomorrow we are going to climb the Great Wall of China.

Bye,

Nicholas