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How Many Chinese Does It Take to Change A Tire?


It's been three days now and every day Liam seems to be more at ease with us and hints of his true personality are showing through. Initially he would play with us and smile if he found something really amusing, but he still seemed reserved. Slowly he has begun to laugh more freely, initiate games with us and constantly be looking for us to acknowledge his accomplishments. He seems to be bonding with us equally at this point and comes to us easily and likes to hold our hands and sit on our laps. He does not seem to want to talk to other Chinese which I think is another good sign that he is bonding well. We are still trying to figure out all the in's and out's of this bonding process. He also has a lot more to say. He has about 6 English words so far and is a great imitator. Today he took great pride in saying, "hello doggie" to every dog we saw.

Since our last post, everyone in our group finalized their adoptions. I think I mentioned earlier that there is a 24 hour "return policy", so the finalizing actually happens the day after you receive your child. That was followed by a notarization of the documents for everyone but us. According to our guide Jiaozuo the city Liam is from still does it the old way, so the next day we boarded a van for the hour and a half ride to Jiaozuo City.

About 10 minutes into our journey our van shook as we hit something and then we heard that tell tale hiss of a tire going flat. What happened from that point forward was a series of events better suited to a comedy routine. The driver tried in vain to change the tire but the jack was too short. Jerry also gave it a shot when the driver disappeared, by propping it up with the concrete drain we had run into, but it was still too short. Keep in mind during all this we are stopped in a lane of traffic in a busy intersection and in typical Chinese fashion, there is no heat in the car. A few minutes later the driver comes down the road with a mechanic and a large jack. Viola, they change the tire in record speed! Just as we think we are on our way, they take the new tire off and replace it with the old flat one. Ughh! Our translator informs us that the mechanic mentioned to the driver that perhaps his insurance coverage would pay for it, so the driver does not want to change the tire but instead call his insurance agent. A cell phone call and then another 5 minutes and five men in stylish black suits pull up and jump out of a small car. They are the agents. They take photos, walk around and around the car and then speak to the driver. The driver is clearly unhappy. They hop back in their little car and leave. Finally our translator informs us that the agents will not cover his tire, but suggest he contact the city, since it was a drain in the street that he hit. The driver decides that instead of taking us he will pursue his tire reimbursement with the police. Our translator tells us not to worry, that she has secured as a new driver who will be here shortly. The new driver shows up as promised, finally we are on our way again. But wait, something is wrong, our new driver is driving no more than 20 kilometers per hour on a highway with a speed limit of 100 plus. To make matters worse she is clearly driving in the wrong gear. We question our translator and she tells us that this in not actually the driver but his wife. The driver was not at home and she is driving us to him. We pull over on the side of the highway and after about 10 minutes the driver shows up on foot, hops in, leaves his wife on the side of the road and off we go.

Three and a half hours after we began our journey we arrive in Jiaozuo. Our journey took us over the Yellow River and through the typical Chinese landscape of modern buildings and those that appear to be occupied ruins. Roads filled with a mixture of modern cars, bicycles, and motorized rickshaws. Jiaozuo is an even larger but less modern city than Zhenghou, our home base. Traffic is frenetic and mopeds and bicycles careen past us at a dizzying rate. Henan province is the birthplace of Kung Fu and Jiaozuo is the epicenter. Westerners travel here for training.

Our first stop is the Notary Office, where we complete our paperwork in typical Chinese style. Five corrections later and following the notary's percise gluing of all 20 pages into a booklet we are ready to go. Inventing Kung Fu is cool and all, but how about the stapler? Liam looks relieved when we leave, as the orphanage representative who originally brought him to us is present. She tries to speak with him to no avail. Back in the van and on to his finding spot (where Liam was abandoned) at Southern Gate #1 in the Peoples Park. It is an urban park along what appears to be a dried up river bed. We take photographs and oddly enough there is a statue nearby of a western looking family. Mother, Father and child happily holding hands! Our last stop is the Social Welfare Institute, where Liam lived before joining us. The government denied our request for access, so we stand out front and take photos. It is enormous and Liam is none the worse for wear as he had probably never been outside, so it is unfamiliar to him. The SWI consists of an orphanage, old folks home and hospital.

Our ride home is uneventful but not for the faint of heart. Driving at night in China makes driving during the day appear relaxing. About 30 percent of the vehicles don't turn on their lights and those same mopeds, motorized rickshaws and bicycles I mentioned earlier, soldier on at greater peril in the darkness. Throw in pedestrians on highways and you've got a video game not a drive home!

Tomorrow we have our first free day and we can't wait.