On Thursday, we went to Daming Lake, a local park in Jinan. We walked around and then took a boat ride. It was really nice. Here are some pictures. Missy told me that thereis a famous story about this lake. A long time ago, there was an Emperor who visited the lake. While there, he met a beautiful woman, and they fell in love. However, their love was forbidden, as he was an emperor and she was a common girl. During their time together, he gave her a fan and wrote a poem on it, declaring his love for her. Due to their love being forbidden, he eventually had to leave and go back to his palace, and leave his love behind. Little did he know that she was pregnant. She was left behind to live a life of scorn for being an unwed mother, and she became very depressed. On her death bed, she told her daughter all about her father, the Emperor. She told her daughter to go and find her father. The girl did find her father. At first, the Emperor did not believe that she was his daughter, until.....she presented him with the fan that he had given to his mother all of those years before.

Tong is having a VERY difficult transition. On Thursday, his sadness changed to anger, and he has been angry ever since. Angry at everything- at us, at life. This is all pretty much a “textbook” reaction to the major changes happening in his life right now, but it is hard to watch him go through all of this. We have been mostly keeping to the hotel room, as emotions seem to escalate when we venture outside. We left Jinan yesterday (Saturday) to come here to Guangzhou. He did pretty well on the plane, and seemed to actually really enjoy the takeoff and landing, but the airports were a different story altogether. He is struggling with a lot right now- leaving his foster parents, coming to a new family who speaks a new language, leaving his position as youngest baby of the family and only child in the home to come into a family with a lot of kids.

On Friday, we called his foster family on Skype, and he was grinning from ear to ear. We have no idea what he said to them or if he called us every Chinese swear word in the book (LOL- quite possible, since Missy has told him on several occasions not to use “bad words”), but the call made him happy, and that is what is important. He seemed a lot less angry and much more peaceful after the call- but then our trip yesterday seemed to set off these emotions again.

It will get better. We know that, as many people have walked this road before. As I said, Tong's reactions to an extreme set of circumstances is to be expected. He is hurting right now. It is just hard to watch him go through it. In between these moments, we see glimpses of a very happy, outgoing, funny, bright, sweet and affectionate little boy, and we know that over time, we will see this boy more and more.

It is now 6 am and the kiddos are asleep. We have a free day today (no obligations at all), which I think is exactly what we all need. Will keep you posted.

Pictures from Daming Lake: