Hao Bao Bao Coffee

Why don’t more families adopt?   This question has plagued me since my little six-year old self stepped foot into an international orphanage f...

Before adopting our son, I heard countless times, "Don't share too much of his story." "You are his gatekeeper. Be careful what you say." "Remembe...

“It’s THE golden ticket. Never turn it down!”

We had just moved to Wuhan, China and our new expat community was welcoming us greenhorns with lots of advice...everything from “always bring toilet paper” to “say ‘bu la’ (not spicy) when ordering” (we learned quickly that these two tips were lifesavers since there’s no toilet paper in public restrooms and saying “not spicy” takes the heat down from blazin’ to just plain HOT!). But after more than a few newly-found foreign friends told us to never turn down an invitation from a local friend to visit their village, we got the point.

Our first Chinese New Year approached a few months later and we were giddy with excitement that a sweet Chinese teacher at our school asked us if we’d like to travel out to her village, only about one-hour outside of Wuhan. We probably scared her with our eagerness, however she diligently wrote down all the directions from our home to hers...and in Chinese AND English. We were a little nervous about the taxi to a bus and then another bus route, but thrilled to get out of the bustle of this metropolis and experience life in the countryside.