Ann from Red Thread China

In Guangzhou China there lives a woman named Ann Yang.  She is a small, spritely Asian woman with short hair and boundless energy.  She has the exaggerated mannerisms of someone familiar with the art of making oneself understood in a foreign language.  She is jovial, and sweet.  She is smart and kind.  She is our friend.

Adoption is a process in which there are many more unknowns than knowns.  Mining for bits of information about your child and your timeline becomes an obsession.  Families proudly display their dates and positions in the process - mile markers  to help themselves and others quantify the wait.  

Still waiting for your Letter of Approval?  Well, ours took 62 days - just 2 more than the average! 

Why is it taking so long for our I-800 approval? So and so already got theirs and we sent ours 2 days earlier!

It's not really like running a marathon.  It's more like running a series of sprints.  You don't know how the long the race is going to be or when it's going to start.  You only know that somewhere over the final finish line waits the child you've grown to love but have yet to meet.

A few snapshots and a description pulled from the intake forms of an orphanage half a world away.  Although you'd give anything to reach out and give your child a hug, these are all you can hold.


Enter Ann at Red Thread China.  Through her website she gives parents the chance to affect the life of their waiting child in a small way. Perhaps more importantly she gives waiting parents the chance to feel in control again - if only for a moment.   For a small fee she will send a care package, translate a letter, and best of all - make a phone call to your child's orphanage on your behalf to request updates on her condition and an updated photo.   


We found Ann's website through one of the internet message boards that are gathering places for families expecting an adoption.  There are a few websites like Ann's.  During a period of our wait when we were receiving no updated information from our adoption agency I contacted them all to ask them to request updates on our behalf.  All the rest failed, but Ann came through.  Within 2 days of my first contact with her Ann got us Sophia's updated measurements.  A couple weeks later we had new photos.  For Sophie's 3rd birthday we were able to send her a cake, a stuffed animal, and candy.  Ann translated 2 letters for us - one to Sophia and one to her caretakers.  She got us photos of the birthday party.  


She gave us hope.


When Ann moved to Guangzhou she spoke no English, and worked in a shop on Shaiman Island.  The U.S. Consulate used to be located on Shaiman Island, so all American adoptions funneled through there.  Ann taught herself English by talking to the customers at the shop.  


She taught herself English!  As someone who has been trying to learn Mandarin Chinese with the help of software, and books, and family and friends - the fact that she taught herself English blows me away.


She grew up in a country that has not always rewarded ambition and self direction.  Yet, she saw a need and took the initiative.  She started her website and filled a void.  She is a self made success.  She is my hero!


33 years ago Wendy's dad brought his family to the United States, learned a new language, taught himself the restaurant business, and lived what we call the American dream.  How cool is it that 3 decades later the world has grown so small that the same dream lives on in Guangzhou China!

Among the services Ann offers is Tour Guide / Personal Shopping Assistant.  Today we arranged for her to meet us at our hotel for some shopping.  Wendy's Mom and Aunt, Wai Po and Yi Po, have been all over Guangzhou exploring it since we've been here, so we didn't really need Ann's help.  

But we really wanted to meet her to thank her for her assistance during our wait, and we didn't want to assume that she would want to meet us.  


We spent a couple hours with her walking from shop to shop in one of the busiest shopping districts I have ever seen.  There are 9 million people in Guangzhou, and apparently they all shop in the same place.  

Pushing a stroller through heavy foot traffic made a helluva ride for Sophia!  

Wendy was in search of a purse and a string of pearls.  Ann knew the best places to look for both.  It was fun watching a half dozen Chinese women haggling over prices.  Donald Trump has nothing on these ladies.  

I got involved only once, and I'm proud to say that I came out on top of the negotiations.  
Wendy was looking at a pair of headphones for Sophia to wear while playing with language apps on the iPad on our flight home.  The shop keeper asked for 25 Yuan.  I came back with a low ball offer of 15.  She countered with 20.  I acted shocked and disrespected.  I made a final offer of 18 Yuan.  There was a standoff.  The tension was thick.  The shopkeeper blinked.  I saved 2 Kuai!  32 American Cents!  Score one for the white boy!


Thanks Ann, for a fun day of shopping.  Good Lord, did I just say fun day of shopping?

  
When we got back to the hotel Wendy and Sophia worked a bit on English words.  It is really cool to hear her learning new words.  She has such small voice - our little mouse.

Tomorrow Sophia's TB test will be read.  Shouldn't be a problem - we can barely tell where it was administered.  Then Wendy's dad arrived from Taiwan.  He'll be with us for the rest of the trip.