Miss / Won't Miss

Overall, we are really going to miss China.  We've had a nice time here, but like most everyone at the end of their adoption trip, we are ready to get home, and start finding our new "normal."

Here are a few specifics that we'll miss, and won't miss...

• Miss:  The people.  We have met some wonderful people here in China.  The people working in our hotel, our guide Helen, the kind strangers who we sat with at dim sum, the shop owners and many others who have tried to make us feel welcome.
• Won't Miss:  The driving.  Dear God, the driving here is the most terrifying thing we have ever experienced, with the exception of being a pedestrian in all of this crazy driving.
• Miss:  The food!  We have thoroughly enjoyed the delicious food at both the Marriott Nanning and Holiday Inn Shifu.  We also really enjoyed a local place Tao Tao Ju.  I will say that I did an excellent job gathering some delicious dim sum for us even though no one speaks English there.
• Won't Miss:  The staring.  People, give us a break.  We are not some sort of side show at the circus, but you make us feel that way.  It's just odd because at home if I were to see something considered "weird" (and I don't even know what that would be), I would not stare.  Like, two transvestites with a baby wouldn't make me blink.
• Miss:  Shamian Island.  We really have enjoyed our walks to the island and the lovely shops.  It is a quiet escape from the madness around our hotel.
• Won't Miss:  The kids peeing and pooping in the street.  Yes, I know, it's a cultural thing, yadda yadda.  But, still, I'm sick of rolling the Happy Dino stroller through poop and saying "Dog?  Human?  Other?"
• Miss: Our daily Executive Lounge debriefing (read: cocktails) with the Lillies. Emma plays and giggles, our E sits and stares giving us all the hairy eyeball, we all eat snacks and talk about the day. The Lillies are those "salt of the earth" kind of people...they have been a great source of support as well as a ton of laughs on a trip that isn't always funny.
• Won't Miss:  Living in hotels.  Sure, the daily maid service is nice, but honestly, P makes the bed every day anyways.  Although, the hotel rooms aren't much smaller than the condo we just moved out of, but with a 3rd person it's rough. 
• Miss / Won't Miss:  The pedestrian walking street outside of the HI GZ Shifu.  We actually love this street and all of the sights and shops, and have spent many hours walking here.  But it is so crowded sometimes that you can't even move, and then all of a sudden cars will come barrelling down the street (P says, "What the F is a PEDESTRIAN street here?!!?!?") and we nearly get killed.  Plus, there's NO regard for the stroller, and the orange-haired 80's style Duran Duran teenage boys smoking cigarettes everywhere get tiresome.
• Miss:  Being in China right before Chinese New Year.  I don't think I could take the crowds during the actual holiday, but it is awesome being here right before.  We've watched the red lanterns go up, the orange trees being put out everywhere, paper cutouts being hung, and there's a general happiness and bustle that is so great to be a part of.
• Won't Miss:  E's crazy schedule + the need to be outside walking all hours of the day + night.  (I say this because I hope we leave this behind as we transition from Guangzhou to Arlington.) 

The last hurrah with the Lillies (for now!)