Walking the Dragon's Back (China)

Walking the Dragon's Back (China) — page 7 — Still she liked the idea that she might pass by them somewhere She imagined seeing her mother or father and just knowing who they were They got out at the orphanage Her father put his arm around Grace and kissed the top of her head Well she knew who her real parents were They took care of her every day But she was curious about her birth parents too Who were they Did they look like her Why had they given her up for adoption A friendly Chinese woman led them into a sitting room Welcome Thank you for your visit She waved them to seats I apologize but I cannot show you the rest of the orphanage It is against the rules We understand Dad said We wanted to leave this box of gifts donated by some of our friends in the United States While Dad and the woman talked Jaden whispered Maybe we can leave you here and no one will notice Grace stuck her tongue out at him How are things here Dad asked Ms Chun said We have some lovely volunteers from America working here for the summer We need a lot of help Ten years ago most of our children were healthy baby girls She smiled at Grace China is very crowded with over a billion people so the government only allows most families to have one child Boys were most valued Boys are better Jaden said He grinned at Grace and she made a face Jaden don’t tease your sister Dad said You know that boys and girls are both equally the best Ms Chun went on The tradition was that women go live with their husband’s

Walking the Dragon's Back (China) — page 8 — family when they marry People with no sons had no one to take care of the parents in their old age People who had a girl first sometimes gave her up so they could try again for a son Grace leaned close to her father and whispered I’ll take care Thanks but we don’t have to worry about that for a long of you Daddy time he whispered back In the past few years things have changed Ms Chun said People see the value of girls and keep their girl babies Also rich Chinese couples will adopt the healthy baby girls This way they can have more than one child legally This is good but it means now most of the children here have serious health problems Poor families cannot afford to take care of these children so they give them up It would be better if the government helped the poor people take care of their children at home So far that is not the case Dad pulled a photo out of his pocket and passed it to Ms Chun I know the little girl we are adopting Joy is going to need at least one surgery maybe more

Walking the Dragon's Back (China) — page 9 — all exceptional Ms Chun handed the photo back She told Grace I hope you will enjoy having a little sister You will be her jie jie That means big sister She will be your mei mei That means little sister We give the children all the care and love we have but a child deserves a forever family That is why we are so grateful for people like you She stood up The children will enjoy these gifts They said their goodbyes and went out Let’s walk and look for someplace to have lunch Dad said The three of them went down the street hand-in-hand Dad Grace whispered do you think my parents gave me Why can’t we get a normal kid Jaden asked There’s no such thing Dad said ruffling his hair You are up because they didn’t want a girl I don’t know sweetheart Maybe they were too poor or one of them was sick He put his arm around her I think they wanted you to have a better life than they could give you Whatever the reason we are very glad you came to us Grace felt warm inside They passed through crowds of people Lots of them smiled at Grace Now that she was seeing everyone close up most of them didn’t look that much like her She had light brown eyes and just a touch of curl to her black hair There was a lot of variety here Still Dad was the one who stood out in this crowd Jaden too but he was short so people didn’t notice him as much A few minutes later they found a restaurant to try Dad looked at the menu which listed things in English as well as Chinese Let’s see Do you want deep-fried sparrow Spicy sliced mule

Walking the Dragon's Back (China) — page 10 — Grace made a face How about some fish Dad said Yes please The fish came whole with the head and tail still attached Dad pulled it apart and put a little on Grace’s and Jaden’s plates Grace asked him to turn the fish away so it wasn’t staring at her They also had some roast duck noodles and steamed pork buns It was good but it wasn’t quite like the Chinese food Grace had back home Was that food Americanized Chinese like she was Dad can I see the picture of Joy He handed it over and she studied the two-year-old girl in a pink jumpsuit and thick glasses This little girl was Chinese Grace was Chinese American Her parents bought her a lot of books about China She had read some Chinese folktales and historical fiction set in China Her favorites novels were modern stories about Chinese American girls like herself She thought she knew all about China but now that she was there she realized she didn’t Grace felt much more American than Chinese especially here in China Joy would probably only know Chinese words Grace had learned a few words in Chinese but not many How was Grace supposed to be a big sister when they did not even speak the same language

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