Day 12 ~ Last day in China!

Sorry to not post any new photos of Wu Yi today.  She really doesn't like being photographed so I decided to cut her some slack.  I must say she looked just as cute today as she does everyday.  No smiles yet, but she walked with a little more "spring in her step" than usual. We will take these tiny hints of progress whenever we can get them.  (To Marta and Cheryl ~ I need more coaching on styling little girl hair!  She will only accept barrettes, and they keep falling out!)
Early in our arrival, Don asked our guide Elsie if she could get him into a local school for a tour.  Initially she didn't think it was likely, as even parents don't usually go into schools ~ they wait for their kids outside.  But, she pulled some strings, and this morning Don got to spend almost an hour in a nearby high school.  This school is highly regarded, with 95% of students expected to go on to college.  They wear "sweatsuit-like" uniforms, each age group assigned a different color.  The classes are very crowded (59 students in one class) and students attend class Mon-Fri 7:30-12 and 2:30-5:30.  All school kids get a mid-day break ~ in fact, many working people have a long lunch break as well.  Wu Yi was taking a daily nap during this school break. (She started attending 1st grade last fall).  The teacher who accompanied Don on the tour was amazed that US high school students aren't all lining up to take advantage of AP classes.  Local school kids generally study pretty hard here, and can be expelled for behaviors that are common among American teens.
I spent the morning with the Chen's on Shamian Island for some last minute shopping.  This island is very beautiful with lots of peaceful streets lined with flowers and shade trees.  It was once heavily populated by Europeans, and the architecture is very colonial.  It is in the middle of the city (did I mention Guangzhou has almost 12 million people in the surrounding area?) and it is a popular place for weddings and wedding photos. Today we watched a big tour bus bring in at least 6 wedding parties to have pictures taken. Chinese weddings are elaborate affairs! Shamian also used to be "adoption central" as the US Consulate used to be there, and the Immigration Medical Office is still there and we still saw lots of adoptive families wandering around.  While the Chen's shopped, Wu Yi and I hung out at Starbucks for a latte (me) and an orange sucker (Wu Yi).  My latte cost as much as most of my dinners here have (about $5).  After shopping, we headed for a cute little park with lots of playground equipment.  As soon as Wu Yi saw it, she turned around and pulled my hand to walk away from it!  That girl is really stubborn!  She likes to watch Chinese DVD's in the hotel room, so we went to the store to let her pick out one more video.  She chose what looks like a Chinese version of "Power Rangers".  Hopefully her brothers will like it too!
Lunch was at KFC.  Notice the little eyes on the crab cakes!
We are heading home tomorrow!!!!  We have to check out of the hotel by 6 am to catch an 8:30 flight to Beijing, then we have a 4 hour layover until we board our 12 hour flight to Seattle. In Seattle, we say goodbye to our good friends, Johnny, Angela, and Jesse Chen. Then its a 3 hour wait for our flight to Spokane.  We land (after 26 hours of travel) at 2:55 on Saturday afternoon.  Then a quick 45 minute drive home to Coeur d'Alene!  Excitement and dread at the same time!  :)  Can't wait to see everyone!  We have missed our family and friends!