China is Funny.

The adoption process is long.  First there is all the paperwork, background checks, fingerprints, home studies etc. that have to get done.  Then there is the waiting.  Finally, after almost a year we were able to travel to the complete opposite side of the world to pick up Ivey.  However, just like the rest of the adoption process, picking her up is not exactly a grab and go.  In order to complete the whole process, we are spending almost two weeks in China visiting various government buildings to complete the scavenger hunt that is the final adoption process.   There has been a lot of free time allowing us to take in China's culture and document as much as possible for our educational purposes.  

There have been a lot of very interesting and practical things we have learned.  However, we have been able to note some of China's idiosyncrasies and things that make us say, "Oh, that is funny.  Get a picture."  Here are a few funny observations, and pictures. 

1.  Never did I realize what it would actually look like to be in a country that contains 1 BILLION people (1/7th of the worlds population).  The city we are in now, Guangzhou, has 17 million people...and it is the third largest city behind Beijing and Shanghai.  Putting this in perspective, New York City has 8.4 million, and Chicago has 2.7 million.  Everywhere we go there are people.  LOTS of people.  It feels similar to what it's like after a football or basketball game is over and people are spilling into the streets.  That is a routine Tuesday afternoon on every street.  

2.  Chinese people love selfies and selfie sticks.  Here is a representation of what I saw in 5 minutes waking around.  I photobombed more than one.  

3.  Seventeen million people means a lot of weddings.  Strolling around a park one day we saw no less than four couples in wedding attire getting their pictures taken.  (Chinese weddings don't include picture time...this is done on a different day altogether.)

4.  There aren't many obese Chinese.  However, things may change if they are drawn to McDonald's by this advertisement.  Two hotdogs on top of two all beef patties.  I had chest pains just looking at it.

5.  The infrastructure of roads in the city is amazing.  The normal city streets are what you would expect from city driving, but they also built a second level above it all (about eye level with the fourth floor of all the city buildings) for more traffic.  Busy traffic makes tiny cars like this a great option.  However, if everyone keeps eating the McWeenie burger, no one will be able to fit inside.

6.  Staying at a nice hotel that caters to many cultures presents lots of options for breakfast.  Here is my (Eric's) breakfast one morning.  Waffles with chocolate and peanut butter sauce, fried egg, sushi, and a piece of duck.  Hey, who can turn down sushi, even if it is 7am.

7.  One night we went out to dinner...to a Mexican restaurant.  As good American's, we needed some variety and something different than noodles and rice and strange spices.  The menu was cracking us up...as it had random pictures of wrestlers (WWF type) on every page.  Maybe they were sending subliminal messages of "You WANT a piece of THIS??  Bring it!!" The food, surprisingly, was great!!

8.  Having lived in Kenya, we know what it is like to see stray dogs in the city.  While African stray dogs are mangy mutts, the stray dogs here are the same type most people in the US have as cute little house pets.

9.  Not sure what to say about this one.  However, notice all the people in the background.  See point #1.  

10.  I'm no history buff, but I remember something about the spice trade long ago and many rare and exotic spices coming from the East.  Erin and I are pretty sure that over the course of time we Westerners sifted through all the spices and picked out the ones we liked.  Only those spices are a part of our current diet.  Eating at local restaurants in China has allowed us to "experience" some of the spices that didn't make the cut.  Erin's favorite is the tiny seed that when bitten into unexpectedly erupts the flavor of bathroom potpourri into your mouth.

11.  In all the parks we would see people doing synchronized dancing, badminton practice, Tai-Chi, etc.  It was kinda like a public exercise class.  Erin even jumped in to this one and tried to follow along.

More to come, as we still have two days left with 17 million of our closest neighbors.