Last day in China!

Today is our last day in China!  I am more than ready to have more space to live in, to have a convenient way to get clothes clean, and to not have to walk out to a restaurant to eat!  Also ready to get rid of whatever bug is making my tummy not feel good.  We have been taking a few chances with our food, and apparently I'm now paying for one or more of them.  :-(  At least I'm just a little uncomfortable and not actually sick.  Tim and Daniel (he is asking people to call him that, although he doesn't always answer to it yet!) are feeling a little off too, and Esther has a cough and has complained once or twice about her ears hurting.  So yeah, I think we're all ready to be done with traveling!  It has been good to be back in China, though, and to get to see our friends in Jinan.

We had our consulate appointment yesterday, and in less than an hour we are supposed to get back Daniel's passport with his immigrant visa in it.  He will officially become a U.S. citizen when we go through Customs in Chicago, although it will take a while for him to get his Certificate of Citizenship in the mail.

On our way back from our Consulate appointment we added a bit more information to the mystery of Daniel's academic history.  Apparently he has been going to school for seven years, the first two at a school for the blind and deaf (maybe that explains why he sometimes uses signs when he wants to eat or use the bathroom, even though I understand both phrases perfectly well in Chinese?) and the most recent five at another school for children with disabilities, where he has been repeating first grade over and over.  This story just keeps getting stranger!  His math and reading skills do seem fairly basic, although the reading at least is more than I would have expected from a first-grader.  But he is obviously very bright and interested in learning.  I don't know if he has just been underestimated, or denied opportunities to learn, or if there could be a learning disability involved as well as low vision...we will have to think carefully about what kinds of assessments we try to get for him this summer.

Well, I'd better get back to packing.  We will be getting up about 5 AM tomorrow, so I don't want to be up late tonight!!