I have a family!

One day, in May of 2011, after returning home to the orphanage from school, one of the teachers met me and asked me to go upstairs to the 5th floor with her.  When we arrived up to that floor, she told me that there was a family that wanted to adopt me. 

一天，在2011年5月，在从学校回家的孤儿院后，一位老师看见了我，并要求我去上楼到五楼和她。当我们到达该楼层，她告诉我说，有一个家庭，想要收养我。

 

At first, I wasn't sure what they meant. 

 I asked them to tell me again and they did. 

Then, I understood and I was super surprised.

I was almost 14 and had been there almost three years. 

I did not think that anyone would choose me.

起初，我不知道老师的意思。
我问她，是什么意思？我的老师告诉了我。
然后，我明白了，我是超级惊讶。
我近14，在福利院已经有差不多三年。
我并不认为任何人会领养我。

 

They then asked me some questions.

然后，老师她问了我一些问题。

 

First, they asked if I wanted to change my name to an English name. 

I wasn't sure what it meant to change my name.

I didn't even realize at the time that they had already done that to me once. 

Sometimes, they called me by the name I was given in my foster family and other times by my orphanage name. 

I told them it was ok to give me an English name.

I figured that if I was going to America, I should have a normal English name.

首先，他们问我是否想有一个英文名字。
我不知道改变我的名字是什么意思。
我甚至没有意识到在当时，他们已经改变我的名字一次了。
有时，他们叫我寄养家庭给我起的名字，有时，他们叫我福利院给我起的名字。我告诉他们，“给我一个英文名吧。
我想，如果我去美国，我应该有一个正常的英文名字。

 

They also asked about my favorite foods.

I told them it was meat.

These were all questions that my new family was asking about me. 
他们还问我最喜欢的食物是什么。
我告诉我老师我最喜欢的食物是肉。
这些都是我的新家庭的问题，是有关我的问题。

 

In early August, I was allowed to return to my Foster Uncle's house for two weeks before I was going to be leaving China. 

 I didn't really know when my family would come for me. 

When I returned from visiting my Foster Uncle, the teachers gave me a letter and a photo album from my new family. 

 This was the first time I saw what they looked like.

在八月初，我被允许回到养我的舅舅的家，我在我舅舅家住了两个星期，然后我将要离开中国。
 我真的不知道什么时候我的新家人会来找我。
当我访问养我的舅舅回来后，老师给了我一封信和一本相册，我的新家庭。
 这是我第一次看到他们的照片。
 

 

I thought they looked interesting.

My little brother, Tommy, was a cute kid. 

They sent pictures of my new Granny and my older sisters too. 

 It was a big family!

They looked very different from me and I thought they were a little funny looking.

I wasn't very worried about them being a nice family, because I was told that anyone who would adopt me would be a nice family. 

我想他们看上去是非常有意思的。
我的小兄弟，汤米，是一个可爱的孩子。
他们发送的照片有我的祖母和我姐姐的。
这是一个非常大的家庭！
他们和我很不同，我想他们是有点滑稽。
我也不是很担心他们是不是一个很好的家庭，因为有人告诉我，任何人会领养我的人，将是一个不错的家庭。

 

Before I was to leave, my Foster Uncle brought me a letter to the orphanage. 

It was full of advise about how to be a good boy. 

在我离开之前，养我的舅舅给我写了一封信
它的建议我如何成为一个好男孩。

 

 

The morning they took me to meet my new family, I woke and had breakfast with my friends. They all knew I was leaving and some of them were sad. I was sad too, but also excited.

早上，他们带着我去见我的新家庭，我醒来，我的朋友们共进早餐。他们都知道我要离开，他们中的一些人伤心。我很伤心，但也兴奋。

 

 

 

 

After breakfast, I went back to my room to pack my things.  I brought a couple shirts and a jacket along with some books that they let me take. They knew how much I like to read.

早饭后，我回到我的房间去收拾东西。和一些书籍，我的老师让我代的，我带了一些衬衫和一件外套。他们知道我有多么喜欢阅读。

 

Next weekend, I will share more about my first day as a Rylands and meeting Tommy and my Mom & Dad for the first time.

下周末，我将分享更多关于我的第一天作为一个赖兰兹和会议汤米和我的妈妈和爸爸的第一次。

 

Colin is sick- GUEST POST

Sorry to everyone who has been checking in expecting another post from Colin this weekend.  Sadly, he has been sick all week.  His flu test came back negative and the doctor suspects Pneumonia.  He should feel better in a couple of days, but I don't think he will be posting again until next weekend.  Sorry about that.  His Dad and I would appreciate prayers for him to recover soon.  It has been a long, hard week for him.  Angie (Colin's Mom)

A Day in the Life of a Chinese Orphan

People often ask me what it was like to live in an orphanage.
人们经常问我，是什么样的生活在孤儿院里。
 

 



I am in a blue jacket, center right, 2nd row from top.
我穿着一个蓝色的外套，中间偏右，第二排上方。

So, I thought I would share about that this week.
所以我想我在这一周里说说关于我的福利院。

On a typical school day, I would get up around 5:30 a.m.,

get dressed, wash my face, pick up my room and  brush my teeth.

(Mom says she doesn't believe the teeth brushing part!)

在一个普通的学校一天，我会在上午5:30左右起床，
穿好衣服，洗把脸，收拾好我的房间，和刷牙。
（我妈妈说，她不相信我刷牙！）

 

 

Then, we would watch some TV till about 6:30.  Then we went to the cafeteria for breakfast.  When we finished eating breakfast around 7:00, we went to the guard station and waited for the van to pick us up for school.  There were about 10 kids that rode with me to school. 

然后，我们会看一些电视，直到6点半左右。我们去食堂吃早餐。当我们吃完早饭7点左右，我们需要，去入口门和等待的面包车来接我们去学校。有10个孩子，和我一起去学校。

 

When we finished school, the van would pick us up then we would go in the cafeteria for dinner.  After dinner, we went back to our teenager building and did our homework.

当我们完成校，面包车来接我们，然后我们去食堂吃饭。晚饭后，我们又回到了我们的建设，做我们的功课

 

 

 Once we were done with homework, we would watch TV and play games.
一旦我们完成家庭作业，我们可以看电视和玩游戏。

 

 

We went to bed at 9:30 each night. 

Well, at least we had to be in bed at 9:30. 

Each night, I liked to turn on a flashlight in my bed and read.

I was being sneaky because I love to read.

9:30我们上了床，在每个夜晚。
嗯，至少我们不得不在床上上午9时30分。
每天晚上，我喜欢在我的床上，打开一个手电筒，阅读。
我是偷偷摸摸的，因为我喜欢阅读。
 

There was a woman who lived with us on our floor
(one on every floor of our 5 level building),
and she was very nice. 

有一个阿姨，和我们住在一起，我们的地板
（我们住在一个5层建筑的第一层楼），
她是非常好的

 

  Next time I will share with you about our weekends and what we did in the Summer months.
下一次，我将与大家分享我们的周末和我们所做的，在夏季的几个月里。



Give1Save1- can you help share?

Hello to all my new "bloggy" friends (Mom told me that term!)  I wonder if you could help us share about a chance to raise money for my two new brothers?  Our family is on this blog for the week: www.give1save1asia.blogspot.com
 你们好
我所有新的“bloggy ”朋友（妈妈告诉我这个词！）我不知道，你们能不能帮助我们家筹集资金，为我的两个新弟弟？我们的家庭是在这个的旁边的网站一周：


Would you share this link on all your social media places?  Every family that donates is helping to get Connor and Cooper home to us.  I know many people helped my parents raise money to come get me and I thank you!

您们能分享此网站在你所有的社交媒体的地方吗？捐赠帮助康纳和库珀（我的新弟弟）成为我们的家庭成员。我知道很多人帮助过我的父母筹集资金来接我回家，我感谢你们。


I have to run off to school now, but will try to post something again on the weekend.

我要上学了，但会尝试在下周末发布些东西。

Thank you,
Colin

谢谢你们，

科林

My Life in China

I was born in China.  When I was a baby, my birth mom left me in a hallway. Then, my foster mom found me. My foster family took me to the police station. The Police officers gave me to a foster family that was not the same one that found me.  My foster mom, who found me, learned that I was in a bad family that liked to drink and smoke and fight. So, my foster mom and her sister went to the family's house and grabbed me and took me away from there.

我出生在中国。当我还是一个婴儿，生我的妈妈把我放在走廊里。然后，我的寄养妈妈发现了我。我的寄养家庭带我去了派出所。警务人员给了我一个寄养家庭是我真的寄养家庭。我的养母，谁发现我的，知道我是在一个糟糕的家庭，喜欢喝酒，抽烟和打架。因此，我的寄养妈妈和她的妹妹家的房子去抓住我，带我离开那里。

 

This is the story that my foster uncle told me years later when I was older.  I did not know anything at the time as I was just a baby.  This Uncle was a great guy.  He taught me a lot of good things about how to be a moral person. He taught me to study hard, and many important life lessons.

这个故事，是当我年纪大些了的时候，我的领养舅舅告诉我的。我不知道什么的时候，因为，当时我还是个婴儿。这个舅舅是一个伟大的人。他教了我很多关于如何做一个有道德的人。他告诉我要努力学习，和许多重要的生活教训。

 

When I was 11 years old, my foster family did not have enough money to keep me and take care of me. My Mother told me that she was sending me to a boarding school. Then, they brought me to the orphanage in Shenyang.

当我11岁的时候，我的寄养家庭没有足够的钱，照顾我。我的母亲告诉我，她把我送到一所寄宿学校。然后，他们把我带到了孤儿院在沈阳。

A celebration for Moon festival. My mom loves this picture. My roommate is to my left.
 庆祝中秋节。我的妈妈喜欢这张照片。我的室友在我左边。

 

 

I lived in the orphanage for 3 years before I was adopted.

我在被收养以前，我在孤儿院里住了三年。
 

Can you find me?
你能找到我吗？

 

Living in an orphanage was a very differernt life than living with a foster family. There are so many kids.  Some of them good and some of them bad.  It was hard to be good in that place.  In my room, in the building with the older kids, I had one other boy room with me. He was a good boy. We were friends.  My orphanage was a pretty good one compared to some others.  We always had enough food to eat but I hear that many other places were not so lucky.  The nannies were nice to me.

生活在孤儿院里是一个非常不同的生活比生活在寄养家庭。有这么多的孩子。其中的一些良好的，其中有些不好。在我的房间里，我有一个男孩我的房间。他是一个好男孩。我们是朋友。我的孤儿院是一个相当不错的，相比其他一些。我们总是有足够的粮食吃，但是我听到了许多其他地方就没有这么幸运。阿姨对我很好。

My bedroom in orphanage
我在孤儿院的卧室

 

 

During this 3 years, I went to a local elementary and middle school.

 I saw a lot of bad things.  A lot of fighting. I see kids as young as 9 smoking and kids as young as 6 drinking alcohol. Kids were always fighting.  I plan to write more about school in China in a later post.  For now, just know that it was not a very happy place.

 在这3年中，我去了一个当地的小学和初中。
我看到了很多不好的事情。很多战斗。我看到孩子们在六岁饮酒九岁吸烟，孩子们一直在战斗。我计划写更多有关学校的事在以后的文章中。现在，只知道它是不是一个很快乐的地方。
 

In May of 2011, the Director of our orphanage told me that I had a new family that wanted to adopt me from America.  I was excited. I wanted a family, but at the same time, I was sad to leave my friends. Being adopted made my life change a lot.

在2011年5月，我们的孤儿院主任告诉我，我有一个新的家庭，美国人希望领养我。我很兴奋。我想有一个家庭，但在同一时间，我是伤心的离开了我的朋友。被领养了我的生活发生很大的变化。

More about that big life change in another post...

在另一篇文章更多关于我的生活的变化...

Thanks for reading,
Colin

感谢您的阅读，

科林

 



Why I am blogging...

I am Colin. 

 I am 15 years old and was adopted in August of 2011, 7 days before my 14th birthday.

  That's me in the middle!

Beside me are my little brother, Tommy (left) and Cameron (right).

 

我是科林。
 我今年15岁，2011年8月被领养，再过七天就是我的14岁生日。

  这是我，在中间！
在我的身边，是我的小兄弟，汤米（左）和卡梅伦（右）。

 



  I decided to start this blog as a way of sharing my experiences for other older kids who have been adopted into American families.  I want to help other kids so they won't be as scared about being adopted and leaving their country.  A lot of Chinese kids worry about being adopted.  They are afraid that they will not be safe, or cared for. 

 

我决定开始这个博客，分享我的经验，为其他的年龄较大的孩子，（已领养或还没有被领养的孤儿）我希望能帮助这些孩子们，使他们不会害怕被领养并离开自己的国家。很多中国孩子担心被领养。他们害怕，他们不会是安全的，或不会得到照顾。

 

I hope to share about my life in China, my life here in America, being adopted into a real family.  I have experienced getting a new name, homeschooling, and public high school.  I know what it's like to go into a new family and not speak the same language.  In the last year and a half, I have experienced many "firsts".  My first American birthday party, first Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween and other cool events.  I have become a son, a brother and have made many friends since coming here. 

 

我希望大家分享一下我在中国的生活，我在美国的生活，成为一个真正的家庭成员。我曾经历过得到一个新的名字，在家自学，公立高中。我知道是什么感觉进入一个新的家庭，而不是讲同一种语言。在过去的一年半中，我已经经历了许多个“第一”。我的第一个美国的生日派对，第一个感恩节，圣诞节，万圣节和其他有趣的活动和节日。我已经成为了一个儿子，一个哥哥，在这里，我交了很多朋友

 

Your new family might not understand all that you are feeling because they haven't done what you did and do not speak your language.  I understand a lot of what you are going to experience because I have done it.  I will not have a lot of time to blog, but I hope to post something new about once each week, probably on the weekends when I have less homework.

 

你的新家庭可能没有完全理解你的感觉，因为他们没有这样经历过你做了什么，不会说您的语言。我知道你经历过什么，因为我曾经也经历过。我不会有很多时间在博客上，但我希望能约每周一次发布些新的东西，可能在周末的时候，等我有少一些的功课。

 

If you have any questions or concerns that I have not discussed, you can ask questions on this blog by leaving a comment (Chinese or English, *I don't know any other languages yet*!) and I will do my best to answer them.

 

如果您有任何问题或疑虑，我还没有讨论，你可以问的问题，在这个博客上留下评论（中文或英文，*我不知道任何其他的语言！），我会尽我所能回答它们。

 

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Colin

 

感谢您访问我的博客！

科林