This site is a frequent one for us since there are so many products there great for Chinese adoptive families. We especially love the Chinese Barbie dolls, which are very hard to find elsewhere. They have a wide range of products from books to fresh Moon cakes for Moon Festival.
http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/
This site is so excellent I decided it deserved good long explanation. Last year Mark and I were able to take a course called “Conspicuous Families” training through our agency. It deals with becoming a multi-cultural family (which is what you have become when you adopt a child of a different race).
I highly encourage logging onto this site and taking this free training to anyone who has adopted from China or another country. It is eye-opening as well as enriching. They also offer other courses about a number of adoption topics as well as deciding whether adoption is right for you. This site is very advanced and even offers sound as part of the experience.
I’ve put this into the before adoption category because we were SO happy that we learned a little Chinese before we went to get Savannah in China. This school is located in Grand Rapids, but also offers audio products as well as flipalbums to hear and practice with. Any amount of language you can gain before you go (even if it’s just thank you, hello, and my name is Melissa) is very appreciated by the Chinese people. I (Melissa) am currently in one of their language classes and we will be enrolling Savannah in the preschool class in January.
We made a trip this summer to Chinatown in Chicago. They have some wonderful restaurants (especially when you need a GOOD Chinese food fix). Our favorite is called Lao Sze Chuan and specializes in spicy dishes. The owner also owns two other restaurants in the area that are less spicy if you prefer.
You can check out the Chicago Chinatown website for lists of businesses, restaurants, driving directions, etc. A wonderful getaway for a short weekend if you live in Michigan.
