David Kawada's Home Page

Chinese Consulate Party

David — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:36:17 +0000

Last Saturday (February 27), we were invited to a party at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco. The party was for families who adopted children from China. The consulate complex is a lot bigger than I thought. I went to the consulate once before when I had to submit our visa applications for our adoption trip for Emily in 2002.

The party was in a large auditorium with a stage. The auditorium was behind the main office of the consulate. After some mingling, the party started with a show. A couple of the consulate staff were emcees. There was an opening speech from the Consul General and a few dancing and singing performances. After the show, the staff rearranged the auditorium for games and arts and crafts for the kids. Then they offered a buffet dinner in the large outside courtyard (which we weren’t expecting). The consulate had wait staff throughout the party offering free drinks in the back of the auditorium. Which reminds me I have to write a letter to the consulate to thank them for their generosity.

It was a fun afternoon/early evening. Although it was the evening of the San Francisco Chinese New Year’s Parade, we didn’t make it to the parade.

Click on the picture for a photo album from the evening.

A Picture Of Susan, Megan, and Emily (kind of)

David — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:10:40 +0000

A picture of the family made it onto the China Daily website. Here’s the link to the picture. Megan is napping in Susan’s lap. The big lump under the pink coat is Emily, who is also napping.

Megan At Dance Class

David — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:45:41 +0000

Ok. Here’s an update. Megan at Hip Hop/Tap dance class on February 10.

Lakeview Hotel

David — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:56:48 +0000

I learned this morning that the Lakeview Hotel in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China no longer exists. The hotel was purchased by new ownership in 2007 who closed the hotel for renovations but then decided to demolish the 4 star hotel instead and replace it with a brand new 5 star hotel.

We first met Emily in the lobby of the Lakeview Hotel in December 2002 before we even had time to check in. I remember trying to deal with check-in paperwork at the front desk with our guide, the orphanage director, and a couple of nannies surrounding us. Susan was already holding Emily by that time. We spent a week at the hotel while working on the adoption paperwork at the province level. The hotel was circular. The walkway on each floor was circular so you could walk one direction away from your room, walk in a large circle, and end up back at your room. The rooms were only on the outer side of the walkway. The inner side of the walkway faced the open center portion of the hotel. Kinda of like a circular version of many Embassy Suites.

Unfortunately, we won’t be able to go back to the Lakeview Hotel when we eventually go to China to retrace our route for Emily’s adoption (San Francisco-Beijing-Nanchang-Guangzhou-San Francisco). This trip won’t be until far into the future (when Emily is an adult and if and when she wants to retrace her route/roots).

Here are links about the demolition of the Lakeview Hotel which happened a few days ago:

http://english.cri.cn/6909/2010/02/07/189s548513.htm
http://china.globaltimes.cn/society/2010-02/504144.html

Updating the website

David — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:49:11 +0000

I am making changes to the website behind the scenes in the hope that the changes will make it easier and quicker to update the website and thus make updates more likely. I am shifting my photo albums to Flickr and my videos to Youtube. There will be links on the website to the content on Flickr and Youtube so it will be just as easy to get to the photos and videos from the website.

In the meantime, as my kids are getting older, for the sake of privacy, there will be fewer pictures of them on the website.

From Today’s Los Angeles Times

David — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:20:33 +0000

Los Angeles Times: Adoptive families’ quests to trace Chinese roots often meet dead ends

By Martha Groves and Barbara Demick
December 28, 2009

More families are traveling to China to unravel the mystery of where their adoptive children came from and who their parents are. For the few who are able to make any headway, luck is a big factor.

Citizen of the Month

David — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:53:33 +0000

Emily was awarded Citizen of the month at her elementary school.

Disturbing Sunday Los Angeles Times article

David — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:00:05 +0000

In this Sunday’s Los Angeles Times (link), there is an article titled “Chinese babies stolen by officials for foreign adoption”. While I suspect the stories in the article represent a small percentage of Chinese international adoption cases, even a small percentage is too many. I hope that the United States and Chinese governments look into this situation to ensure that this is still not occurring.

Mom, the detective

David — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:48:09 +0000

Learn how Julia Norris, the mother of her Chinese adopted son, Christian, helped trace his roots in China from this article from the Baltimore Sun.

Los Angeles Times Article

David — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:08:27 +0000

An American teenager adopted from China reunites with his birth parents in Beijing. Read the story by clicking on this link to the Los Angeles Times article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-adopt30-2009aug30,0,3703559,full.story