Medical Exams

The adoption process through China seems to be more appointment heavy than anything we experienced when adopting in Korea.  It's our fourth day here, and we're on our third half day of appointments.  This time, it's medical exams.

A breakfast date

For breakfast this morning, we decided to try the 30th floor restaurant.  This breakfast is included with the room rate as well and it's very similar to the main floor breakfast but it has a spectacular view of the city and tends to be a little quieter - at least until our family shows up :)

Then we met our guide Kelly and traveled to the Guangdong International Travel Healthcare Center for various medical procedures including a tuberculosis test (blood draw), basic eye exam, and then vaccination shots.  Because Luke is over eleven, he is required to be caught up on vaccines, whereas kids under that age can get a waiver for travel if the parents promise to do the immunizations in the US.  Unfortunately, from what we've heard from our doctor, immunizations in China are not all that reliable and most doctors like to re-immunize.  Luke did well through the medical exams, but definitely did not like the vaccinations.  I believe he needed three and he audibly responded to the needle pricks.  And he may need to do it all over again in the US, but at least we'll haev control over the timing.

A view of the city from the 30th floor restaurant.

The medical exams were finished up around lunch time.  We had heard there was a nearby Korean restaurant so we were going to try that, but before we made it there, we saw Pelicana, a Korean style friend chicken restaurant.  So we stopped there and tried the original and ginger chicken while Ben got a few of the spicy chili pieces.  A good choice overall.

Once we got back to the hotel, we took a nap and then we headed down to the pool - our first opportunity to give it a try.  The kids enjoyed playing in the water although I thought the water temperature was a bit too cool for me.  But kids will shiver in the pool and tell you with a straight face, "It's fine, you should come in."

The amount of people at the healthcare center was staggering.  

That night, Luke and I headed out to find some new clothes.  When he arrived, he had two pair of pants, a couple of shirts, some socks and underwear and some clothes to sleep in.  We also found the shoes he was wearing were at least a half size too small.  So we headed to Trust-mart to see what we could find.  Sadly, he's stuck in size between a child and a young adult so we couldn't find any pants, or trousers and Luke likes to call them, at Trust-mart.  We did find a pair of sandals and some socks.  Then we went to a shop near our hotel that sells shoes.  The previous day, Ben had found a pair of shoes there that he really liked so we figured we'd take a peak and we and found a pair of shoes that he liked and a size that fit him well.  By the time we got back to the room, we were ready to call it a day.

A liquor machine in the lobby of the hospital - in case you need help getting through your medical exam.  The machine says Mini, however, they were full size bottles.

Delicious Korean style fried chicken

A view of the pool from our floor.