Nanjing, November 4

Today we finalized the paperwork and Sawyer is officially ours. He continues to astound all westerners with his attitude and behavior. He is breaking the hearts of every woman he encounters. There were five other families finalizing their adoptions today. Sawyer entertained the directors of the other orphanages while we did paperwork. One of the directors started teasing him and asked if he wanted to go back to the orphanage with him. Sawyer told him no! This is a very good opportunity for me; I do not want to go back. He is testing us though. :-)

We ventured out sightseeing this afternoon and we are now finally in China. By saying that we have left Shanghai. Shanghai is very western. Our guide said, “Yes, Shanghai is Shanghai….” Nanjing is like the other cities that we have visited in China.

We went to the Confucius Temple which is actually right behind our hotel. Our view is into the courtyard. It is a place for worshipping and offering sacrificing to Confucius, a famous thinker and educator in ancient China. It was originally built in 1034 and has been renovated over the years. It was a place of study for many centuries. It eventually became a place for art, opera and plays. Now it is mostly a tourist attraction. It has the tallest statue of Confucius in China, which is over four meters high. The picture of Mike is in front of the statue of Confucius and his disciples. The stone tablet was carved in 247 BC.

We also went down some back streets and then into a very western style mall, complete with Papa Johns, Starbucks and a Levi’s store. We are going to dinner tonight with a local family who knows Sandy’s family. They do not speak English, but their son does a little. Between the language barrier and the food, it should be quite the adventure!