Reading Blogs the Easy Way

If you were like me a few months ago, I had trouble following all the blogs I was interested in.  What was particularly annoying was remembering to check the blogs that were only occasionally updated.

Fortunately there are many tools out there that solve this problem.  The software we use is called Great News.  It allows you to subscribe to several different blogs.  If you prefer a web based solution instead of a desktop application, I hear that Bloglines or Google Reader are good alternatives.

Book Recommendation: China Ghosts

I recently read a new book written by Jeff Gammage of the Philadelphia Inquirer about adoption called China Ghosts. It’s about the journey that Jeff and his wife undertook to adopt a child from China. While I don’t agree with everything in the book, it’s an excellent personal account of a family’s journey towards adoption. Jeff is an excellent writer that captures his feelings on becoming a father. It spurred some good conversations in our house about the issues we will face as adoptive parents. It also made us think about why we are adopting.

Jeff agonizes throughout the book over why his daughter was given up for adoption. He mentions that he often feels that he is benefiting at the expense of another when adopting. It seems to him that the birth parents lost their child, his daughter lost her country, and he gained a child. So he lives with a mixture of powerful grief and joy. The book is in many ways a chronicle of this journey of grief.

For us, the answer to these questions is to trust God Himself. For God is not an impersonal force in our lives; rather He knows every one of our steps. We trust that God has chosen the child we will adopt. We trust that He can use the difficult circumstances of the birth parents for a greater good. We trust that He will give us the patience to be good parents. For us this is the only way we could adopt.

I would love to hear others’ thoughts on this, particularly from those who have already adopted.

Chinese Dumplings

Another adopting family had fun in the kitchen making Chinese dumplings. Check out their blog for the recipe and photos. The dumplings sound delicious.  Debbie and her family hope to soon bring home two children from Taiwan.

A Taste of Taiwan

For dinner tonight, we tried a new dish – Chinese Cinnamon Beef Noodle Soup.  Beef noodle dishes are apparently very popular in Taiwan, and Taipei was the site of the first ever Beef Noodle Festival in 2005. 

This recipe was recently recommended by our adoption agency’s family coordinator, Laura.  She said the smell of simmering beef noodle reminds her of Taiwan.  The aroma is pretty amazing – I only wish I could capture some of it and post it here for you to experience.  Overall, we found the dish to be very tasty – the beef was tender and picked up the flavor of the other ingredients very well.  This is the first time we had eaten bok choy.  We liked the leaf part of the plant, but thought the stalk was not as good.  Next time I make this dish, I may use less of the stalk but keep the more leafy parts of the bok choy. 

I did have to make a couple of substitutions: I used fennel in place of the anise seeds, and I could not find the Asian chili paste in my grocery store, so I left it out.  I also used Somen noodles because my grocery store does not stock Udon noodles.  Here’s the recipe if you want to give it a try. 

Chinese Cinnamon Beef Noodle Soup 
6-8 servings
2 hours (20 min prep)

1	teaspoon vegetable oil
3	cinnamon sticks (about 3 inches each)
6	scallions, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
6	garlic cloves, smashed
2	tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1 1/2	teaspoons anise seeds
1 1/2	teaspoons Asian chili paste
7	cups water
4	cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2	cup soy sauce
1/4	cup rice vinegar
2 1/2	lbs boneless beef chuck
9	ounces fresh Udon noodles (or 6 ounces dried)
1 1/2	lbs bok choy
1/2	cup fresh cilantro leaves

1. Cut beef chuck into 3/4 in thick chunks if you did not purchase pre-cut stewing beef.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When very hot, add the cinnamon, scallions, garlic, ginger, anise seeds, and chili paste; cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
3. Add the water, broth, soy sauce, and vinegar; bring to boil over high heat.
4. Add the meat and bring to vigorous simmer. Lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, partially covered, until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours, checking to be sure that the soup doesn’t boil or stop simmering.
5. Shortly before the soup is done, bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook the noodles according to package directions until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water.
6. When the meat is tender, remove the cinnamon sticks. Add the bok choy to the soup and simmer until the stalks are crisp-tender and the greens are very tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the noodles and let them warm through. Serve immediately, garnished with the cilantro leaves.

We’re diving in!

Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman has a song, called Dive, which has become the theme for our adoption journey.  The lyrics are powerful and inspirational, and reflect our excitement at what God has planned for our family.    

Dive by Steven Curtis Chapman

The long awaited rains
Have fallen hard upon the thirsty ground
And carved their way to where
The wild and rushing river can be found
And like the rain
I have been carried here to where the river flows, yeah
My heart is racing and my knees are weak
As I walk to the edge
I know there is no turning back
Once my feet have left the ledge
And in the rush I hear a voice
That’s telling me it’s time to take the leap of faith
So here I go

I’m diving in, I’m going deep, in over my head I want to be
Caught in the rush, lost in the flow, in over my head I want to go
The river’s deep, the river’s wide, the river’s water is alive
So sink or swim, I’m diving in

There is a supernatural power
In this mighty river’s flow
It can bring the dead to life
And it can fill an empty soul
And give a heart the only thing
Worth living and worth dying for, yeah
But we will never know the awesome power
Of the grace of God
Until we let our selves get swept away
Into this holy flood
So if you’ll take my hand
We’ll close our eyes and count to three
And take the leap of faith
Come on let’s go

The waiting begins…

Good news!  We are now officially on the waiting list to adopt an infant from Taiwan.  Our social worker submitted a draft of our home study report to our agency yesterday, and I confirmed today that we are officially on the list.  

What’s next?  Our home study will be reviewed by our adoption agency during the next few weeks.  They may request changes based on the requirements for Taiwan.  Once the home study is approved, our adoption coordinator will give us an estimated timeline for when we may receive a referral of a child. 

Squeaky Shoes

For months I have been reading posts on the Yahoo adoption bulletin boards about “squeaky shoes”, posted by families traveling to Taiwan or China.  It seemed a bit odd – people really want to find these shoes, and I could not imagine why. 

Well, today I finally figured it out.  Squeaky shoes are just that.  They are shoes with a special squeak to help toddlers learn how to walk.   I must admit that I am not sure I would want my children wearing shoes that squeak with every step.  But some parents rave about these shoes and children apparently are so intrigued by the squeak that they literally watch their feet while walking.  According to one description of the shoes, children have to walk from heel to toe in order for the shoe to squeak, which helps kids learn to walk correctly (as opposed to walking on their toes all the time)

I have read that you can find these shoes for as cheap as US$3-5 in Taiwan.  They cost a bit more to buy them from the China Direct Store but not much more than what I would pay for shoes at Target.  Maybe I should buy a pair or two and see whether our kids like them.  And if the squeaker drives me crazy, the website says it is possible to disable the contraption with a little bit of tape or glue. 

The Beauty of Taiwan

From looking through photographs online and in books, we are in awe of Taiwan’s landscape.  Taiwan was first called “Formosa”, which means beautiful island, by Portuguese sailors.  Take a look at some of these photos. . .

  National Palace Museum
The National Palace Museum ranks as one of the four best museums in the world. The museum holds the world’s largest collection of Chinese artifacts, around 700,000 items in all. Since the museum only has space to display around 15,000 pieces at any given time, the majority of the treasures are kept well protected in air-conditioned vaults buried deep in the mountainside.

 

Taipei 101
Taipei 101 is currently the world’s tallest completed skyscraper,
with 101 stories above ground and five stories below ground.
Photo courtesy of Tourism Bureau,
Ministry of Transportation and Communications, R.O.C.

 

Jhuhai Tea Plantation Scenic Area, Jhushan
Photo courtesy of Tourism Bureau,
Ministry of Transportation and Communications, R.O.C. 

 

Daylilies
Photo courtesy of Tourism Bureau,
Ministry of Transportation and Communications, R.O.C. 
 

Tainan, Taiwan

 

East Coast of Taiwan