Home Sweet Home!

We are FINALLY home! The pictures below are Mt. McKinley and the sunrise from the plane as we left Anchorage airport. Yup, I said Anchorage! Our trip home included an unscheduled diversion to Anchorage for about two hours. Long story, but apparently weather-related. So, the flight home (like EVERY SINGLE FLIGHT on this trip!) was long, grueling, and all-around yucky! I was never so happy in my life to hear the words, "Welcome to NY!" The girls did just great on the travel--they nearly melted down during the immigration interview (Ellie was yelling, "Water, give me COLD WATER!" and Annie was trying to speak with the immigration officer in Chinese (he was not amused, BTW). But we made it--we are HOME!

I am writing this at 3:30 a.m. as I prepare spicy beef Ramen noodles and bagels for two jet-lagged little girls who have been up since 2:30 a.m. :-) It's all good, though. They are settling in beautifully, and hopefully we will be back on schedule in a couple of days.

This is the last blog post--I just wanted to update everyone that we are home safe and sound, and hope to see you all in person soon!

I also HAVE to give a special shout-out and thanks to my dear friend, Michelle, who accompanied us on the trip. I literally could not have managed without her, and both of my girls adore her. It takes a pretty special person to give up two weeks of summer vacation for what really is a tough trip. I am more grateful to her than she could ever know!

Thanks for following along on our travels!

Jen

Consulate Appointment and Last Full Day

Early this morning Annie and I traveled to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to apply for her visa. It's a very DMV-ish experience. You take a number, are called up to a window to hand in paperwork and answer questions, and you have to take an oath that all of the information on the visa application is correct. Annie was a little cranky, since we had to leave before breakfast, and she was playing with the fingerprint scanner in the office, despite my requests to leave it alone. I was glad to get out of there without causing an international incident. :-)

For the rest of the day, we sort of relaxed, did a little shopping, and walked around Shamian Island a bit. It is SUPER hot--we are all pouring sweat after being out for just a little while. Annie had a little eye irritation from swimming, so we are skipping the pool routine for the rest of the trip.

Tomorrow we leave for the airport at 8:00 p.m. and we have a 1:40 a.m. flight home! We arrive in NY on Friday morning at 5:15 a.m., and Annie becomes an American citizen automatically as soon as our plane touches U.S. soil. Can't wait!! As with my trip for Ellie, I have loved China, but it's time to go home and start our life as a family!

Next blog update will be HOME SWEET HOME!!!

Two More Days!

Today, we did some shopping and let the girls play in a park. Tomorrow is Annie's consulate appointment, where she is interviewed for her visa to America. That is the LAST bit of paperwork we need to complete. Our guide will pick up our visa on Thursday, and we fly home early Friday morning.

So, as these posts go on, I wonder if you can tell that we are REALLY feeling ready to go home! We are punchy tired, longing for some familiar routines and places, and excited to begin our new life! As much as I feel this way, I am also reminded that before long, my little girl will be feeling the same way---longing for familiar language, food, places. I just hope these two weeks together bonding with her family will ease the huge transition that awaits her. She is SUCH a sociable, happy girl--she literally befriends everyone at every place we visit. Her English skills are coming along SUPER well, but I know it will be a huge struggle when she can't speak to everyone and be understood. My prayer as we look forward to coming home is that Annie will feel (at least a little) like she is home as well. If cooking yucky chicken feet will help in that effort, I will GLADLY do it!

Speaking of yucky, we have been trying to visit places that offer traditional Chinese food for dinner, just so Annie feels comfortable. So far, we have been able to order some things that we Westerners can tolerate :-), and then let her order whatever she wants. Well, last night we were completely out of our league. The pictures below were top menu items. (and yes, those are baked beetles!).  :-)

I know the "it's fun to dress like my little sister" phase won't last long, so I am enjoying every adorable minute while I can!

Medical Exams, Parties, and Translation Funnies

As part of the application for the U.S, visa, every adopted child must undergo a medical examination in Guangzhou. I remember this part of the trip from Ellie's adoption; the medical clinic is loud, crowded, a bit scary and impersonal. For this reason. I had Michelle stay behind at the hotel with Ellie while I took Annie for the exam. I asked our translator to explain carefully everything that was going to happen (including a blood draw, which they won't let parents in the room for----grrr!), and I asked Annie if she was nervous about anything. Nope--she took it all in stride, charmed the doctors, and then fell asleep in the van on the way home. :-)

During the morning, we had a good long time to chat, and while we had the translator, I wanted to talk to Annie about what to expect when she gets home. We talked about our extended family, school (she told me that there had been 48 children in her class in China!), and many other things. I mentioned that we might have a little party in the next few weeks to celebrate both Ellie's birthday and Annie's homecoming. I asked her if she would like that.  Her response: "Mom, I don't really know what a party is."   Even though I know intellectually that it totally makes sense that she wouldn't know, my heart broke a little to think that a nine-year-old wouldn't ever have experienced a party. Well, we will certainly fix that, my dear! :-)

And once we explained what a party was, Annie was quick to be sure I knew that her birthday is January 31st! Oh yes, I think my girl will know and love parties before too long!

A little funny story as an aside: Most signs in China are in both Chinese and English, but often the English translations are either a little "off" or there are typos (a typical problem for translations in any language.)  I stopped in to a shop tonight that some adoption friends had recommended as having good Chinese/English bibles. I wanted Annie to have one that she can keep as she grows up. Even though she will learn English prayers, etc., I want her to always be able to talk to God in her birth language if she wants to. So anyway, I stopped in to this lovely little shop and asked to buy a Bible. The shop owner was very nice, and seemed very excited that I wanted to buy a Bible, so she gave me a free souvenir--a bracelet that says, "In Jesus' Name I Play."  :-)

 Sisters who BOTH love Ramen noodles!! :-)

Asleep after a long morning!

Safari Park

Today we visited a really cool Safari Park in Guangzhou. Actually, it was a really HOT Safari Park--like 100 degrees and 100% humidity. Oh, and about 60,000 people crammed in to visit! :-) After we got over that, the park actually was very cool to see! There were the usual safari staples of giraffes, elephants, lions, etc. but also adorable white tiger cubs, and the only triplet pandas in the world! The park was actually beautifully laid out, and the animals looked great. The girls had a great time!

Tomorrow, I will take Annie for her visa medical exam in the morning, and Michelle will stay in the hotel with Ellie. Then more swimming and touring in the afternoon. We are definitely getting to the "let's go home already!" point! I showed Annie some pictures of her new bedroom tonight, and went through some of the family pictures. I think she is ready to begin her new life in the U.S. Her spirit continues to amaze me. She consistently offers everyone else something to eat before herself, holds doors, offered to help me wheel the stroller for Ellie today. She really has such a wonderful heart!

That is a month-old white tiger cub in an incubator!

Flying to Guangzhou

So, this picture pretty much sums up yesterday! We spent the entire day doing what should have been a quick flight to Guangzhou.  We were delayed for four hours at the airport--and the most annoying kinds of delays--changing the flight time at the gate every hour for four hours. At the very last second, all of a sudden, every Chinese person waiting for the flight at our gate got up and ran away---literally RAN.  Michelle and I said, "ummmm, what just happened?" Fortunately we were able to figure out that they abruptly had changed our gate to a location downstairs, and the flight was now in "final boarding!" Nothing like a little notice!  So, we went downstairs and  . . . .were sweetly invited to board early so we could get the girls settled in their seats pleasantly. Yeah, no. That would have been my dream version. Actually, we were nearly trampled going downstairs, had to squeeze the girls, a stroller, our luggage and us on a tram, and were taken to an outdoor jetway where people pushed past us to board. We lugged everything UP the jetway only to be told to take the stroller back DOWN the jetway so they could gate check it. We were the last ones seated on the plane, pouring sweat, and feeling like we had just been through the running of the bulls at Pamplona. :-) We finally got to the hotel around 11:00 p.m.

BUT, we are here in Guangzhou, finally! We are staying in the same hotel we stayed in when I adopted Ellie, in a charming part of Guangzhou called Shamian Island. We will do some walking around and swimming today, and then tomorrow have a tour of a big safari park! Here are some pics of our travel day.

Looking at her first airplane ride!

FINALLY off the plane!!!

Touring Hangzhou

Today was a day to tour the city of Hangzhou, which is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in China. We took a walk through a park, then a boat tour around West Lake. We were in a modern boat (Circle Line style), but there were many Chinese traditional boats with gondoliers (would have considered trying one of those except I could pretty much guarantee that one or both daughters would have ended up IN the lake! J) The lake is beautiful and our guide gave us a brief history of the stone pagodas that surround the lake. Next was a tour of a famous green tea plantation, and lunch at a local farmer’s house! Very interesting and cool!

And then, of course—more SWIMMING!

My new daughter continues to amaze me—there is just something so sweet about this kid—she will offer EVERYONE a taste of whatever she is eating (sometimes whether we like it or not!) , holds the elevator door to be sure everyone is out, and always checks to be sure Ellie is safely in and out of the car when we travel. Of course, she is also a typical nine-year-old; we had to stop her from making her soup, fruit, chicken, and ice cream a disgusting science experiment at dinner tonight! J  And her favorite food is apparently—are you ready for this—chicken feet! YUCK! (but we’ll be cooking them anyway when we are home!) Just love this kid!

Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou—every American adoption is finalized there because it is where the American consulate is located.  Guangzhou means we are in the homestretch—one more week to go!