A Week in Jiangxi

I’m finally getting to blog about one of my most amazing weeks abroad! I can’t wait to share all I learned and saw on my trip.  That being said, this post will be very personal.  Also, I have permission to use all the photos I have taken (just wanted to make sure that the communist party would come after me or anything!) If interested, please continue!  🙂

 

I had a 7:20am flight from Beijing to Nanchang, Jiangxi on Saturday November 7th.  I arrived in Nanchang, which is the capitol city of the Jiangxi province, around noon.  From there, I took an airport bus to the downtown area, and then caught a cab to the long-distance bus station.  I rode a bus to Fuzhou, taking about 3 hours.  After getting dropped off approximately in the middle of nowhere, a very kind business man helped me find the rest of my way.  He helped me find another long-distance bus, and even wrote down his name and number if anything happened.  This is just one example of how lovely the people can be in China! I rode that bus for almost two hours, and by 8:00pm finally arrived in Yihuang, the county of the orphanage.  I took a small bike-taxi vehicle to the hotel with my suitcase; I found out that this city is too small to actually have taxis!

 

On Sunday I took out my baidu百度directions (the Chinese version of Google Maps) and found my way to the orphanage.  I got a bit lost and ended up asking a few different people for help.  Every single time I would speak, the locals would be extremely surprised.  They don’t get many foreigners in Yihuang, and the general population cannot speak English.  While interacting with those few locals, everyone would always guess that I was from Russia, and their second guess was always England.  Many people were excited when I said I was American, and I got many photos taken.

 

 

Once I located the orphanage, I immediately felt an overwhelming amount of melancholy.  When I entered through the gate I instantly saw the building from a picture that we received when Mia came home.  It felt surreal.  I met with the current director of the orphanage, Mr. Long.  He was very difficult to understand, but he was extremely kind and so happy to have me visiting.  In different cities and provinces in China, many people speak with a local dialect.  They use the same written language, but if it is a strong dialect it sounds like a completely different language.  I am studying Putonghua,(普通话) the Beijing dialect of Mandarin which is the national language of China.  However, many older people and uneducated people don’t speak Putonghua.

 

On my first day I also met the three children that are currently living at the orphanage.  This orphanage also takes care of four special needs children.  Behind the orphanage building is a huge building in which elderly people live.  In the Chinese culture the son is responsible for taking care of his parents when they get old.  Because there are no nursing homes in China, this places houses many elderly.

 

I was at the orphanage Sunday through Thursday, on Friday I traveled back to Beijing.  I became very sick while on my trip, but I still made it to the orphanage every day.  Whenever I was there I was treated like a guest, which is common in Chinese culture.  Although I specifically explained to them that I was there to volunteer and help with anything, I just played with the kids all day.  I loved that job!  The orphanage has one play room in which all of the kids and Nainais奶奶 (grandmas) spend their day in.  The play room was a completely empty room with only two potty chairs, a table to eat meals on, and a television.  There would always be a romantic or war drama playing while the Nainais were in the room.

I expected for the kids to be a little afraid of me, but the minute I met them one of the girls latched onto my finger and didn’t let go until I had to leave.  I was the first foreigner to be in that orphanage in about 10 years.  All of the elderly people were also very excited to have an American visiting.  I also liked being able to see a different side of China.  While Beijing is amazing, it’s not a typical Chinese city.  It was great to see how the people lived differently in Yihuang than in Beijing.

 

I loved not being rushed and being able to get to know the kids a little bit.  They couldn’t talk yet, but they could understand me somewhat.  I brought them gifts that I bought in Beijing, stuffed animals, stickers, toothbrushes and toothpaste, hair clips, etc.  They seemed a little confused at first by the stuffed animals, they didn’t appear to have many toys at all before I arrived.  They loved when I would play peek-a-boo, and when I would sing (the one and only) Chinese song that I know.  We would all dance and they loved being held.  I felt so loved by the kids, it was such a great experience.

 

The most emotional experience I had on this independent trip was when I met my little sister’s foster mother.  Mia lived in China for 11 months, and her Yimu义母 (foster mother) remembered her by name.  I cried twice when speaking with her.  It was amazing to meet her and to see her interact with the current children.  I showed her pictures of Mia in America and told her what she does for fun.  Because of her accent, I couldn’t understand Yimu very well. The Assistant Director helped translate Yihuang Dialect to Putonghua, and I heard many great memories.  Yimu asked if Mia still likes to eat so much, because aparently she loved Chinese food! Yimu said that her favorite food was hardboiled eggs, and Mia would shout “gee gee gee” when really she was trying to say “ji ji ji” which means chicken.  Yimu told me she was a good girl and was happy to see what she looks like now and to see the rest of her family.  God works in such myseterious ways, Mia was meant to be a Mancl.  It’s crazy how beautiful adoption is.  I don’t think any differently of Mia being my sibling than Erin or Luke, I can’t imagine my life without my littlest sister! God knew we were missing a family member, and I am so glad that I was able to meet her foster mother.

 

Although I was very ill, I genuinely enjoyed my time spent at the Yihuang Orphanage and Elderly Home.  I loved chatting with so many nainais奶奶 (grandmas), yeyes爷爷 (grandpas), ayis阿姨 (aunties), and meimeis妹妹 (little sisters).  Everyone at the orphanage called me Jiejie (姐姐) meaning older sister.  I felt as though this city is my family’s hometown of China.  It was crazy to be in the building and with the woman that my little sister was given a name, and later assigned her forever family.  It was such an emotional trip, and I am beyond grateful that I had the opportunity to go.

 

It was great to see how much love and affection this orphanage has for it’s children.  Although they don’t have many toys, the kids always have full stomachs and many grandmas to play with and get attention from.  It’s actually pretty cute to see the grandpas and grandmas fighting over the kids! I can only hope and pray that other orphanages in China are as  well loved and maintained as this one was.  I would love any chance to return, and if families would ever be interested, even leading a group to see where their daughters were born and spent the first year of their life.  It was a once in a lifetime experience, and I can’t quite put into words how I felt.  I am so thankful that God knew that halfway across the world there was a Mancl kid who just had to wait a little longer than us other kids before joining our family. ❤