Thursday, November 13, 2008

To the boys---(and otehrs- but don't tell them!)

Dear LS boys:
I think some of you have seen or heard about part s of my online journal, so I thought I would add another entry just for you. (3G, I think you goit my response, and 2H, thanks for writing! I trust you are treating Miss Henry well! I miss hearing you on the other side of the wall....)
Susie is doing really well. She is still very, very homesick for the place she used to live (do your remember I showed you the picture of it?) so she is not really herself yet. I met her nannies (one of them was also in the pictures I showed you) and it was super obvious to me that they loved her a whole lot, so I can see why she might miss them and the friends she had been with. Imagine if you suddenly had to change schools with no warning? BUT: She is very, very brave, and knows that it si perfectly all right to cry when she is lonely.

Today we went to a place called the the Juntai Garden. It is really like a great big park with beautiful waterfalls and statues and flower gardens. Susanna dealt with it, but was, frankly not all that impressed. I am not sure she is really into scenery. I put her hand in the water at one point, and she looked at me as if to say " now why is a smart lady like you doing something as dumb as this?" Later on I tried to get her to feed the fish. (These fish were HUGE! They were a sort of catfish- goldfish, and were the size of my arm!) I put some fish food in her hand and and showed her how to dump it into the pond. Again, she looked at me as if I were just alittle nuts.
She DOES like to put the mail into mail boxes and garbage into garbage cans. I am particularly pleased about the first one, because you know how important I think it is to write letters!

As you may remember, I told you that Susanna's Chinese name is Gao Si Dou. Well, Gao is actually the family name (last name) and everyone at the home she lived in had the same one. It is for the town her orpanage was in, Gaozhou ("GOW ZHOW") Yesterday, when I was applying for her passport, I found out what Si Dou means, and I have to tell you, I am a tad perturbed. In the province she comes from, Si means Miss. (Like Miss Gruhn) Dou, means Bean. So her name means Miss Bean. At first, I thought they asid it means "Mixed Bean", and I got very upset and said, "YOU MEAN MY DAUGHTER IS NAMED AFTER A SALAD????" ARE YOU JOKING??? I just had misunderstood, because of the accent, but ,. between you and Me, I am not sure about Miss Bean either. I think, they are thinking that beans grow into sprouts, and she has as teeny tiny sprout on her right hand (nothing serious, it will come right off...) but still, I was hoping for something a little more-- I dunno something with more GRYTTE!

Our group here is very interesting.,There are lots of big brothers and sisters who have come to meet their new younger siblings, which means they are missing about two weeks of school. Which also means they have come with lots of homework. One 11 year old boy is going to help me with a video my friend Mrs. Lomabrdi made of when Susanna and I first met. When he found out I was a division head, however,-- he was a little less interested in hanging out near me- can't think what the problem is---- can you?

We are staying the Province of Guangdong, in the city of Guangzhou. (GWONG ZHUO) China has provinces, the way the US has states. Our hotel is right on the Pearl River. I bet the 2nd- 4th grade boys could find that on a map. It is in South eastern China. The Pearl River is the third largets river in China. It is really beautiful where our hotel is, (And today I saw a Browning dad here on business- but I do not think he saw me...! He was too far away, so I could not shout...) with lots of palm tress and abnyon trees, and walks and promenades and statues. Our hotel has lots and lots and lots of families here who are adopting children who need homes (like you have) so everywhere you look, people are learning to be parents, pushing strollers,, carrying bags, playing with their children, etc.

Right now, Susanna is napping. She loves to sleep and she loves to eat. She is also very well behaved. No matter what is going on around her, s he just looks up at me and sees what I want her to do, She is very good about brushing her teeth, and while she prefers that I feed her and hold her cup, she she is good about doing that herself as well. She played a little bit of soccer ball with me today, but I had had to remind her how.(Coach Watson would have done it better, I am sure...) She did that where she used to live, so it made her a little sad, but then she remembered she liked it. She also likes to be read to, but she DOES NOT LIKE stories about families yet. The pictures definitely make her sad, so I am saving those for later. She also seems l to like music, although they told em she does not. I trued turning on Chinese cartoons for her, but she just looked away, Then I noticed, by mistake, that she really likes to watch and listen to Chinese Opera! GO FIGURE! Mrs. Warner would be impressed! Speaking of Mrs. Warner, she also got Susie a little tambourine and drum set and mariachis- which Susie likes to play with-- so I am afraid I may have to have a little talk with Mrs. Warner when I came home next week...
Gotta run. She is awake and grumpy! Will write again soon.
Love, Ms Gruhn

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Laurie,
I hope it's okay that Cathy shared this blog with me. It's so wonderful to read, particularly as I get ready to leave for Beijing, Changsha, and Guangzhou to bring home my daughter in about a week. It sounds like you're doing a wonderful job getting to know Susana, and she seems like a sweet, lovely girl. I just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you and Susie with much support!

Candice

Julie Fallon said...

Dear Ms. Gruhn,

We looked on our globe for Pearl River, and we saw a lot of rivers but they didn't have names. We will look on a more detailed map on our Smartboard later today! We want to know if it was hard to get a passport for Susanna? Are you having a good time in China? Does Susanna's pink teddy bear have a name? We liked it very much! Susanna is so cute! :-) What does Susanna like to eat? Congratulations on meeting Susanna! You look like a great mom already!! :-)

Love,
Class 3G

Unknown said...

MESSAGE FROM 1T:
Dear Ms. Gruhn,
We hope everything is going well in China and with Susie! Does she like her Yankees shirt? We saw it in a picture of her new clothes. We can't wait to hear all about your trip especially the Great Wall and the Birds Nest. We can't wait to see you and Susie when you get back to Browning. We miss you!
Love, 1T

Anonymous said...

Dear Ms. Gruhn,
We are very excited for you and Susanna! We like the pictures. especially the one with Susanna wearing the sunglasses. Safe travels back to the United States. We hope too see you and Susanna at school.
Love,
4B

Anonymous said...

Your daughter looks very cute and loveable. How many more days until you come back to Browning?

Regards,
Grant Thompson