A letter to Wu Di from his caregiver

** Adoption countdown: 8 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, 9:30 a.m.) – As Pam and I rode from the Zhengzhou airport to our hotel on Tuesday, a couple of hours before we met our son, our adoption escort handed us a gift bag.

Inside was a book, a thick diary that detailed Matthew Wu Di’s life the past year at Amazing Hands Children’s Home in Beijing where he had been living since receiving treatment for his club foot.

The diary is packed with stories written in Mandarin and translated in English. It includes photos of his days at the orphanage, of Christmas 2007 and of trips to the park.

We looked through the diary before we met our son. It gave us a better idea about who he is and how he ended up in Beijing; he obviously received a lot of love, care and attention at the home.

One thing got to me in particular – and I want to share it with everyone following our blog and adoption journey. I hope you take a minute to read the complete text of a letter the ayis (aunts) at Amazing Hands wrote to Matthew and included near the end of the diary.

Dear Wudi,

Knowing that you will soon be united with your family, all of the ayis are so happy for you! Even though we are reluctant to let you go, we know that you belong with your forever family. You have a mom, dad and sister. They love you very much and will take wonderful care of you and cherish you. You are an adorable, kind, gentle, upright, determined child. We are all so proud of you! Even though you are leaving a familiar surrounding, you may not feel secure right away, but you will soon adjust because your mom and dad love you. You can trust and rely on them. They will be with you forever.

Indeed we love you and will miss you very much. We will miss your hearty laughter and your big bright eyes. We will miss your simple and gentle demeanor, and will also remember the strong, unyielding expression on your face! We will miss listening to your “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and watching you try to make a “diamond” with your little hands. You are so wonderful and cute! The ayis will pray for you. We pray that our true, benevolent, loving God will keep you and guide you all the days of your life. We hope that you will grow up to be a righteous, kind, Godly and compassionate person. Share your love with those around you. Wudi, thank you for letting the ayis be by your side during this precious time of your life. It has been our blessing and privilege. Blessings to you and your family!

We love you …

All of the ayis at Amazing Hands

December 5, 2008

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.

China trip changes tone after Matthew arrives

** Adoption countdown: 8 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, 7:20 a.m.) – It’s been a whirlwind of emotion and activity these past few hours since Pam and I arrived in Zhengzhou and our adoption journey quickly changed tone.

I’m writing from the spacious lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Zhengzhou early Wednesday morning. Pam and Matthew Wu Di are still asleep in our room – Matthew actually slept surprisingly well.

He woke up a few times in his crib and whimpered. At 4 a.m. he woke, drank a little milk and then whimpered back to sleep in our bed as Pam held him tightly in her lap.

Other than that, Matthew slept well.

Today, we begin a host of paperwork at, I believe, the Zhengzhou Civil Affairs office. After that, the adoption is final in the eyes of the People’s Republic of China: We officially will be Matthew’s parents.

That doesn’t mean we can book a flight and come home a week early. We still have to stop in Guangzhou for about a week and take care of more paperwork as the U.S. Consulate processes Matthew’s entry visa.

Matthew will travel with his China passport. With his entry visa and other paperwork we get from the consulate, he will automatically become a U.S. citizen as soon as we land in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 18, our first point of entry in the United States.

Zhengzhou observations

Pam and I haven’t had much opportunity to explore this city of 7.2 million people in central China. After our flight landed shortly after noon Tuesday, our escort from Holt International Children’s Services whisked us to the Crowne Plaza.

Nevertheless, this city doesn’t seem as overwhelming or intimidating as Beijing.

I’m not criticizing Beijing at all. I’m simply saying the city is larger than you can ever imagine and that can be quite a shock for someone who lives in Mississippi and grew up in New Orleans.

Just after we arrived at the Crowne Plaza, the hotel experienced an afternoon blackout.

The staff profusely apologized. They offered us complimentary tall glasses of orange juice. And about four staffers accompanied us by flashlight on our climb up three flights of steps to our spacious, well-furnished room.

The Crowne Plaza is a much nicer hotel than the Novotel Peace Hotel, where we stayed in Beijing.

The staff here is incredibly pleasant. The Christmas decorations are impressive and reminded Pam and me of the decorations at the Fairmont Roosevelt in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina.

The hotel restaurant offered an unbelievable buffet that included Brazilian barbecue, roasted pig, lamb chops, pork roast, deep fried eggplant, eggplant pasta, sushi, salads, fresh fruit and more.

As we sat at the table with Matthew eating our first family meal together Tuesday night, restaurant staff would stop by our table and offer us roasted sweet potato. Some carried skewers from customer to customer, offering freshly sliced cuts of roasted pork, roasted lamb and piping hot rib eye steak.

It was one of the best meals we’ve had since we’ve been in China.

Matthew’s transition

Our sole attention, however, has been trying to make the transition smooth for Matthew Wu Di. I can’t begin to imagine the total confusion he is experiencing over losing his caretaker and gaining two new parents.

Pam tried to joke with Matthew outside the portrait studio in Zhengzhou where we stopped to take our first official family photo which is needed to complete the China adoption.

“Look, look, Matthew,” she said excitedly as she held him close in her arms just outside the photo studio after he had just ended about an hour of non-stop crying.

“Look. Look at Baba. He looks like Buddha,” she said, referring our driver in Beijing who laughed after lunch at a city restaurant on one of tours, pointing to a statue of the Buddha’s head and then my freshly-shaved head.

Our driver told me in Mandarin that my bald head makes me look like the Buddha.

Later, in the car, he told our tour guide he was worried he offended me. I assured our tour guide I have a great sense of humor and thought the driver was funny – comments our tour guide and driver appreciated.

And that brings me back to a comment I mentioned in an earlier post: A smile and a sense of humor go an awful long way in a country where you have a major language barrier.

It even helps with Matthew, especially since he speaks a little Mandarin. In fact, while I carried him down the street from the Civil Affairs office to the portrait studio, he kept repeating in Mandarin “Leave me alone.”

Thankfully, he understands as best he can at the age of 20 months that Pam and I are his new Mommy and Baba.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.

New photo gallery-slideshow now online

** Adoption countdown: 9 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008, 10:20 p.m.) – We just wanted to let you know that you can find a new photo gallery and slideshow at the bottom of this blog post.

If you click on a picture in a slideshow, you will go to a separate Web site for that person. If you want to see older slide shows from this trip, click the slideshow photos and you can find additional photos.

DON’T FORGET: You have until Wednesday to vote in the poll to help Pam decide what exotic food she should drink.

DIRECTIONS: Click photo to enlarge. Toggle photo captions with button in left-hand corner of photo gallery slide show.

Matthew falls asleep, takes a break from crying

** Adoption countdown: 9 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008, 9:20 p.m.) – Matthew is asleep.

After a long day of off-and-on crying and screaming, Matthew Wu Di finally gave in and fell asleep on our bed in our room at the Crowne Plaza hotel here in Zhengzhou.

I picked him up and gently placed him in a crib the hotel staff put in our room. And then I slipped outside the room to the lobby of this impressive hotel to update the blog.

Matthew had an incredibly rough and emotionally trying day. His caregiver in Beijing took him on a 10-hour train trip overnight to Zhengzhou so he could be here when we arrived.

And, of course, he suffered an emotional rollercoaster that climaxed when he was given to our custody at about 2:45 p.m. local time earlier today (About 12:45 a.m. back home).

Think about it: Here is a child who is 20 months old, who has lived the past year in a foster home, who has built a relationship with a loving caregiver and who suddenly found himself stick with Americans speaking a strange language.

I’d be ticked off, too, if I was Matthew.

After about a 30-minute stay at the Civil Affairs office, Pam, Matthew, I and our Holt International guide walked about five minutes away to have our official family portrait taken for the adoption process.

Then it was off to the hotel. Well, not quite. Despite our three trips to Wal-Mart SuperCenter in Beijing, would you know that we would forget to bring staples for any child: diapers, sippy cups, wipes, etc.

Our Holt escort came to the rescue. She stopped at a local store and picked up a few necessities, then dropped them off at our hotel room. That was a huge help.

Meanwhile, Matthew Wu Di cried incessantly. And even though we tried everything, we couldn’t console him. Food didn’t work, toys didn’t work. I guess he just had to let it out.

Right at about 6 p.m., we headed to the hotel restaurant – which served an incredible buffet highlighted by South American barbecue. Matthew filled up on friend rice, deserts and fresh fruit.

Then after about an hour in the restaurant, it was back upstairs to the room for a bath (Matthew’s because Pam refused to bathe me anymore) before falling asleep in our bed.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.