Well we haven't posted in a couple days so, We thought we would catch every one up... First of all WE ARE HOME and very glad to be there. We had a great time and met some good people, but it is good to be home.
On March 2,2006 We got all the paperwork completed and loaded all the families, (about 50), into buses for a forty minute bus ride across Guangzhou to the new location of the U.S. Consulate adoption affairs office so we could swear an oath. We arrived went through a security point and then had someone verify that we still looked like our passport photos and then set around for another twenty minutes, and then the moment everyone was waiting for, actually about 15 seconds, we all raised our right hands and stated that we had told the truth.
Sorry no pictures, we wern't allowed to bing cameras. If you ask me, logistically speaking, I would pay for a limo for the one government employee to travel across town and meet fifty families and babies in a conference room and have them swear the oath rather than the way it is done now. Just seems easier and smarter, but the governement was involved so ....
After the ride home (hotel) we got busy packing and buying our last minute souveniers to get rid of our Chinese money. Good excuse anyway. We had dinner at a Cantonese Restaraunt with some friends one last time, this was where we had the group dinner and the assistant of our guides. It was a little different without them. After we politely declined the chinese tea three times they went ahead and served us the tea so we drank it.
We then ordered from the menu what appeared to be the safest items. this was the same place with the Fear Factor Menu on dispay as you go through the door there are pidgeons and chickens hanging in the window and the worms and beetles etc. Today they had special live turtles in a box Yummmy It was hard to decide between that or the double boiled pig lung. Despite the language barrier we ended up with a good meal and good company to finish the trip. We then returned to the room to finish our packing. Laney wasn't to excited to be put in the crib while we packed and cried (screamed) the whole time but we got it all done.
On March 3,2006 we got up at 4:30 am and put our luggage out the door then went to our last breakfast buffet. I will miss my Chinese Dim Sum for breakfast everyday but we won't miss the store keepers harrassing us to buy something when were within ten feet of their store. Shopping is a pain at Shaiman Island. You cannot walk through a store and look at items in leisure, You will be followed everystep and told exactly what your looking at and that it comes in different colors and sizes too. Even Big sizes. For example we would glance at a pair of shoes in passing and be told "These are shoes" "They come in big sizes too." etccc. Also "You buy more here I make good deal for you"
Anyway I will appreciate going to Wal-mart and being ignored, not smiled and waved to and then paying ten times the amount for items made in China that I would have bought while I was in China if they hadn't bugged me so much to buy it in the first place. It was a great deterrant for Tina and other wives who love to shop.
Enough on that, We then boarded our final bus to the airport and saw the sunshine again for the four out of fifteen days it came out while we were there. Our guides helped us get checked in and then we and two other families bid them farewell and went to our gate to wait for the plane.
The trip went well even though it was still long and long and long. Laney did well on the trip despite how, did I mention that it was a LONG trip, She only fussed a few times and threw up on Tina, another excuse to get a new shirt as soon as we landed in Los Angeles. However, the shirt was cheaper than lunch in Hong Kong. I ordered some pork chops with steamed rice and Tina had a tuna sandwhich and a bag of chips that cost $161.00 Hong Kong Dollars, about $23.00 U.S.
We arrived in LA and had to wait for immigration to do their thing, then Laney was officially an American Citizen. Again no pictures allowed in immigration. Your Government does not want proof that they work leaked out.
This is Laney and Tina after we touched down in Los Angeles, too tired for much fanfare but happy to be in America again.
Today if we want to, we can drink tap water!!!
After another nine hours of planes and airports we made it home to our boys and friends. Tina could see the boys as we taxied up to the airport terminal and she started crying before the plane stopped. The boys were staring out the window waiting for us to get off the plane. It was a wonderful sight to see them again and we are truly glad to be home and extremely thankful and appreciative of our friends who took care of them and our house and dog while we were gone We owe you all so much.
Laney greeted her big bothers Wesley and Austin with a smile and figured that they are all right. She had a little tougher time greeting the new time zone and sleeping in her new home for the first night, but the second night is going well. We will post more soon.
