Dear Chinese Adoptive Parent,
While in China,
I give you permission to:
1. Eat junk food you never would at home.
Maybe you are vegan/paleo/whole food/lo carb/insert way of eating here. When you are in China it is ok to hide out in your hotel room scarfing down Pringles and twinkies. They call it comfort food for a reason.
2. Watch tv shows you would never (admit to) watch at home.
If it is in English and makes you less stressed go for it. Eating cup 'o noodles for lunch while watching Korean soap operas with English subtitles is ok.
3. Overpay for souvenirs.
Sometimes you can bargain, sometimes not. I personally am not very good at bargaining. I try, get a little discount and both the merchant and myself feel like we won. Plus how often will we be in China? I need that ( insert tacky item here).
4. Think China is wonderful/weird. Probably at the same time.
They call it foreign for a reason. Just remember they are older and bigger than us.
5. Overpay for convenience.
Upgrade to a bigger hotel room. Pay for executive lounge privileges. Whatever it takes to get you.
6. Not wear makeup.
At home maybe you never leave your house without full on face but on your adoption trip it is full in survival mode. You will never see most of these people again and the rest of the people in your travel group are too jet lagged/busy gazing at their new child to notice.
7. Use or pass up a squatty potty.
I promise you we all feel the same way about them. There is no judgement either way.
8. Take food from the breakfast buffet for later.
Yes that is a banana in my pocket.
9. Ask stupid questions.
We were all wondering the same thing probably.
10. Talk to strangers in elevators.
If you get on an elevator and see a Caucasian family with an Asian baby it is perfectly acceptible née even expected to make small or not so small talk. You have joined a very special fraternity enjoy it.
11. Think you got the best kid in China.
You'd be wrong because I got the best 3 in the whole country but go ahead and think that.
And it's ok not to know how to count! I could never figure out how much money I actually had on the last trip! My brain was fried and I was sick the whole time I was there. So trying to figure out the money difference was a challenge for me haha!
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