November 8

"Only where children gather, is there any real chance of fun." ~Mignon McLaughlin

Happy Birthyear, Happy Meals and Happy Children

If you have been following this blog you would have read about our Birthyear Celebration.  We have been planning this all week.  We wanted to take the children out of the orphanage for a day of fun.  We decided to throw a Birthyear Celebration.  Since we are unable to be here all of the time to celebrate all of their birthdays, we decided to have one big party for all of the birthdays. 

We took the children to a park in Jinan.  The park is probably a little different from the park that you imagine.  This park had amusement park rides, including a large roller coaster, as well as several places to rent little cars and peddle boats to take out on the lake.  None of the children have experienced amusement park rides before today.  They were so excited-most of them giggled out loud for the entire duration of the rides.

You probably also read earlier about the goodie bags that we made for the children.  They were a hit!  The kids loved the balloons.  One of the children turned out to be an awesome balloon animal artist (see the pics!).  After goodie bags and a few games it was time for McDonalds. 

McDonalds here works a bit different than it does in the United States.  Our trusty guide, Dennis, was a bit nervous about how we could make this work.  Here, when you have a large order you need to call it in ahead of time. We called two days in advance to order all of the Happy Meals.  When we told McDonalds that we were purchasing the Happy Meals for orphans, they insisted on helping us.  They delivered the Happy Meals to us at the park and also brought gift bags for each child.  In addition, they sent two of their team members to the park to host the party.  They played games with the children and stayed for lunch.  They also helped us to get a cake from a very famous bakery here in China.  We were so lucky to find such a great partner in McDonalds.  

One of the things that the volunteers found interesting what the large crowd that gathered around us as we had our Birthyear Celebration in the park.  At times there were more than 50 people gathered around watching and taking pictures.  Dennis explained that it is rare to see so many children all in one place, especially with so many foreigners also in the same place.  

After lunch it was time to head back to the orphanage.  Remember, the orphanage is very structured.  We could not keep the children out all day as it would interfere with their day to day routine.  We took the children back-all of them were smiling!

On the way back to the hotel we discussed how happy that this outing made all of the children. We reflected upon how well the children are taken care of, but how there is no extra money for luxuries.  We thought about what we could do as a group to provide something that would last a little longer than the bubbles.  Bicycles are the transportation of choice here in China.  They are everywhere, far outnumbering the number of motor vehicles.  We noticed that the orphanage had no bicycles.  It was off to Wal-Mart once more to purchase three bicycles and two scooters which we will take with us to the orphanage tomorrow.  We know they will be appreciated and they will see a lot of use!

We are winding down our stay in Jinan as we leave for Beijing tomorrow afternoon.  We will chat with you then!

contributed by Erin