Coffee

It's funny how communication can sometimes be so difficult. Take coffee, for instance. A month or so ago, I asked Cheng for some suggestions on gifts to bring to China. It is customary to give anyone who helps us during the trip a gift from America. Cheng suggested American coffee. I was always under the impression that Chinese people did not drink coffee, but Cheng assured me that they do, and they enjoy coffee as a present (along with cigarettes). I diligently bought 7 or 8 bags of Starbucks, New England Coffee, and Green Mountain Coffee. The other day, Cheng casually asked me if I'm bringing the coffee machine (maker) to China. I responded, no, of course not. Why would I pack a coffee maker? It won't work in China unless we also bring an electric converter, and it's too big and fragile to transport easily. Well, if I'm not bringing the coffeemaker, I was told, then I don't need to bring coffee as gifts. What I didn't understand at first, is that people in China only make INSTANT coffee, since they do not own electric coffeemakers. Ahh haa. Now back to the drawing board for gifts, and we'll be drinking more expensive coffee at home for awhile. Fortunately, I found out yesterday that two of our guides are women, and one is male. That helps me decide on gifts. Another appreciated gift, other than cigarettes, is cosmetics. So today I bought $50 worth of cosmetics in various kits. We also received all our final documents today. We are officially READY TO GO MEET OUR SONS! I really pray they WANT to be adopted, as much as we want to adopt them.