Coming Home Part 1

The day began with a 3:30 am wake up call. I showered and got dressed and then my husband did as well. We had to put our luggage outside our door by 5 am and had to be in the lobby by 5:30 am. A bus was going to take us to the airport.

I woke Katrina up at 4 am and she was not happy even though she saw a bottle in my hand. She drank the bottle and then she pooped. I hope that will be the first and last poop of the day because changing a diaper on a plane does not interest me in the least.

We checked out of the hotel at 5:20 and waited for the bus. It was going to be an hour bus ride to the airport. Because we would not have time to eat at the hotel, our coordinator made arrangements to have the hotel pack us all breakfast to go. I really didn't want to eat, but I tried to gag down some bagel with butter and orange juice. Too excited to eat really, because we were going home!

We arrived at the airport at 6:30. We had to drag our four pieces of luggage, the diaper bag and Katrina around the airport. We waited in line to check our luggage and get our seat assignments. That is when we found out that we did not have a seat for you! We thought you had your own seat, but it turns out that you only have your own seat for the Beijing to New York flight, not for the Guangzhou to Beijing flight. I would have to hold her for a four hour flight.

We sat in our seats and the flight attendant brought over a lap belt for Katrina. It hooked into my seat belt and went around her waist. She was on my lap and was playing with her stacking cups. One of the cups fell into the aisle. Without thinking, I leaned over to get the cup. As I leaned to eth side, Katrina flipped sideways too and grabbed at me to hang on. When I realized what I was doing, I freaked out! Not only that, but the guy sitting in the aisle seat across from me looked on in horror. I could just read his mind. "They gave these people a child??? Clearly there has been a mistake and someone should take the baby away from them!" My face was beet red.

Other than the spinning baby trick, this flight was uneventful. When we landed in Beijing we found out that our luggage had to be collected by us, and then checked in for our next flight to New York City. We only had 40 minutes to get our luggage, check in our luggage and clear customs. We were not going to make it.

We waited at the luggage carousel with Pam & Steve. Their luggage came out first and so they raced to the check in counter for our next flight. Our luggage took forever to come out. We got to the counter next, but the line was really long. Our flight was already boarding. Sound familiar???

The airport personnel went through the line and pushed those of us trying to make the flight to NYC ahead of the other passengers. They told us to run to the gate, but of course, we still had to clear customs. I had to fill out a custom form for Katrina. Hers was in Chinese! A nice man helped me fill it out though. Then we were on line for security screening. I didn't beep this time, but the security person had a problem with the fact that I had a Thermos filled with liquid. I had one on the flight from Nanchang to Beijing too and no one cared. She asked me to open the thermos. She sniffed it and then let me put in back in my bag.

After clearing security, we raced to the gate. We actually boarded the plane from the tarmac! They did hold the plane for us, Pam & Steve and a few other travelers.
I was exhausted and we still hadn't even left China yet.

Coming Home Part 2

Because we were so late checking in, our seat assignments were screwed up. We didn't have to get a seat for Katrina on the way home, but we chose to do it so that we would ahve the extra room. We could not get three seats together! We had 3 bulk head seats, but only two of them were together, thus negating the roominess we thougt we were going to have. They provided us with a bassinet that screwed into the wall. I gave Katrina some liquid Benedryl and she promptly fell asleep in the basinet. However, AR sat with her and I saw a row to the right of them with our paid for unused empty seat. Kind of annoyed about that, but what can you do, right?

I did have to change Katrina's diaper, but no poop ones. At first I took her into the bathroom at teh front and actaully balanced her standing up while I changed her diaper. There wasno baby changing station on the plane, or at least, that is what I thought. Later on, I used the bathroom towards the back and there was a baby changing station (Okay, it was small, but it was there)in it. I had used the wrong bathroom, I guess.

I was able to move around pretty freely into the kitchen to get hot water for Katrina's bottle. She didn't cry and stayed pretty quiet. When we landed, the plane hit the runway pretty hard. She grasped onto to AR as if to say, "Daddy, please protect me," and he did so proudly.

We disembarked and retreived our luggage. Then we had to clear customs & immigration, which would be unusual for us since we were bringing Katrina into the country. We had to go to a special office to give more paperwork. It went very smoothly there and we were in and out in minutes. We said goodbye to our new friends, Pam, Steve and Gracie and went on our way. They had to catch yet another flight to Boston. We wished them well.

We were wondering what was going to happen as far as our car service goes. If you'll recall, getting to teh airport was a nightmare. We had paid them for serveice to and from the airport, so I was worried thate the car wouldn't be there and worse still, I was wondering if it would be the same driver.

As we were walking with our luggage,I saw a chauffeur holding a sign with our name on it. AT first I was relieved, and then I saw that it was the same guy! Not so thrilled with that. Anyway, I let AR deal with him, while I ushered Katrina into the bathroom to change her diaper again.

We went to the car and the chauffeur was apologizing up and down for what had happened that day two weeks ago when he was taking us to the airport. He just thought this was a vacation for us. He didn't realize that we were going to get a baby. We made amends of sorts and off we went. It was rush hour though and we had lots of traffic.

The chauffeur commented how he thought our house would be decorated with ballons and stuff. I hadn't thought about that. I mean, we live with my dad, but he wouldn't think to do anything like that. It made me sad to think that there wasn't going to be any kind of fanfare for her arrival.

Finally, we arrived at our house. The first thing I saw was this giant banner that said, WELCOME HOME KATRINA! in big pink letters. I started to cry. My dad was going to be a wonderful grandpa.

My dad came running out of the house and was at the car even before I got out. "Let me see my new granddaughter," he said. I handed Katrina over to him and he ran inside the house with her, so eager to look at her and hold her. Ar and I just laughed and we couldn't wait to get inside the house to start our new life together as parents.

Last Night in Guangzhou

We met Kim & daughter Peyton, her mom Marie, Pam & Steve and their daughter Gracie in the restaurant lounge to get our free drinks. When we arrived at the White Swan, we were given coupon for a complementary free drink and we all decided to save it for the last night. It was relaxing and we all chatted and watched the sunset over the Pearl River.

We decided to take our own red couch photos of our three girls. They didn't know what the heck was going on, but we had fun doing it. It certainly was less confusing than the day we tried to get the red couch photo with all the kids from our travel group!



Katrina is on the right, Gracie is in the middle and Peyton is on the left. Katrina took the cup of Cheerios that Gracie was holding and then Gracie began to wail, which pretty much ended our evening. We all needed to get to be early anyway because of the long excursion home.

We went back to the room and started packing We both had brought along clothing that we planned on leaving behind at the end of the trip. Things like socks and underwear that had seen better days were thrown out so we were able to fit all of the new stuff we bought in China in our bags. Other people we traveled with had to purchase another suitcase to bring home all of their stuff!

We gave Katrina a bath and we all went to bed. We have to get up pretty early tomorrow!

Last DAY in Guangzhou

Today is our last day in Guangzhou. Tomorrow is going to be a very loooong day, so we took it easy today. We slept late and didn't go down for breakfast until 9 am. We came back to the room at napped until noon!

We put Katrina in a stroller and walked around the aprk. We were videotaping the area when we spied a tea house and decided to go there for lunch. They took us to our own private room. It was beautiful and there were water features throughout the teahouse. We had noodle soup (surprise!) and fried rice with lotus tea. Our server showed us the proper way to drink tea and we had fun following and imitating her moves. Katrina even drank some tea, but the server scolded me about not letting her drink too much. She thought Katrina was beautiful and picked her up to show her the koi in the pond. Katrina tried to touch the fish

I bought loose jamine tea to take home with me. Jasmine tea is my favorite tea in the world. It smelled fabulous and came in these wonderfully colored tins taht I know I will treasure for years to come.

We're Still Here

Many familes in our group have left for home today, but we are still here for another two days. The airfare was so much cheaper (Over $1500) if we stayed two more days, even after factoring in hotel & food. Our friends the Mowers, the Lyons, the Cristofolettis were still here too, so at least we had company.

We did much more shopping today. We bought souvenirs for everyone and more and more clothes for Katrina. I tried to buy silk dresses for her in different sizes so that we would have them for years to come. It was so much cheaper to buy in China than at home.

I bought my dad a chess set and some hand painted mini vases for my grandmother. I bought 10 lighters with Chairman Mao's face on them as great gag gifts. I bought a Chairman Mao t-shirt for my uncle Vinny.

We ate at Lucy's for lunch and I had a ham and cheese, no ham sandwich there with tomato soup. Katrina ate a whole bowl of mashed potatoes, plus cucumbers and french fries. Later I got sick from what I ate. It tasted good going down, but coming up was another issue. We had noodle soup for dinner again today and it was another early night for us.

American Consulate Appointment & Farewell Dinner

Today we had an appointment at the American Consulate. Sabrina (our coordinator) took our paperwork over in the morning for our visas. She came back at 3 pm to take al of us over to the building.

We were not allowed to bring in cameras or video recording equipment inside. We had to show our visa paperwork to a clerk and then show her the baby she she could see that the photo matched the child.

A man and a woman came in and introduced themselves as the head of the adoption unit. We all raised our right hands and took an oath on behalf of the child that all of the information we provided on the Visa application was true to the best of our knowledge. That was it. Very anti-climatic, but as soon as Katrina sets foot on U.S. soil, she will be an American citizen.

We all met for a group farewell dinner paid for by our adoption agency. We hopped on a bus and went to a dim sum restaurant. The food was okay, not great. There were a lot more vegetarian dishes than I had expected to find though, so that was a nice change of pace. Everyone was excited because we knew we were all going home soon. Some were leaving tomorrow right after the American Consulate appointment and a few families would be staying an extra day like we were.

Sabrina gave a very emotional speech regarding the orphan babies and adoption. She was in tears telling us what a wonderful thing we were doing for these Chinese babies. She hoped that we would keep in touch and let her know the progress that the children are making. Later that night Sabrina came by to give a gift to Katrina from the adoption agency. The gift was two cds with Chinese music and songs for children. We gave her a shirt and some candy that we brought for her.

Visa Photo, Medical Exam & Shopping

Today was pretty cold for this province. Long sleeves and jackets were needed for everyone. When we arrived at the photo place, there was another adoption group already there so we had to wait. Like everything else in China, this was going to take some time.

Once we were all done getting photos taken, we walked over to the hospital for the medical exam. All babies must pass this exam of they cannot leave China. Even though our daughter was sick, we didn't think it would be a problem, but still I worried about it anyway.

First we waited in line. We saw many doctors walking around. Finally we were called and we had to remove all of Katrina's clothes, even her diaper. They measured her head and chest. Of course she started screaming her head off! They listened to her heart and poked and prodded her a bit. She was weighed and measured for height. 16 pounds and 29 inches long.

Her hearing was tested while she sat on my lap. The doctor rang bells, banged on a small piano to see if she turned when she heard the noise and recorded how long it took her to react. They asked about her cold and we said she was taking cold medicine. It didn't seem to be a problem and her medical exam was approved.

For lunch we had noodle soup. We bought these containers of ramen noodles that come with a fork. You just have to boil water and pour in over the noodles. Since we were all a little sick, we figured soup was a good idea. I had purchased these in a grocery store. A really cheap meal, but it tasted so good!

We went shopping after lunch. I bought many Chinese outfits for Katrina. I picked up a chop with the sheep on it since she was born in the year of the sheep. We put her American and Chinese name on the chop as well along with a dragon and the symbol for happiness. We had her name painted with animals which also had both of her names on it. Her favorite purchase though, was squeaky shoes. As the child walks, the shoes squeak. The squeak can also be removed, but whats the fun in that! Not that Katrina is walking yet, but the shoes still look good on her feet and they still squeak when she is bounded up and down as her feet hit the floor. Fun for all!

Changing Money

Oh, boy. Does this take time to do in China! I found out that the White Swan Hotel will not change money for people if it is bank hours. You have to walk around the corner to the Bank of China and exchange your money there. This is quite a hassle.

When you walk in, you take a number. You then have to fill out paperwork for the reason of your visit to China. Sit and wait and wait and wait until your number is called. Not everyone is there to exchange money, so it can take a while depending upon why each person who is ahead of you in line is there at the bank that day.

After having had to do this twice already, I decided that I was going to exchange enough money so that I hopefully would not need to do it again. You definitely have to allow for at least an hour to exchange money at the bank. ARGH!!!

Shopping & Eating

As a group, we hired a bus to take us shopping for pearls. I was able to buy a lovely necklace for my daughter. I watched them string the pearls right in front of me. We will give this to her on her 15th birthday I think.

We finished up our shopping quickly and the bus was not going to return for another hour or so. Since it was nearing lunchtime, we decided to get a bite to eat. AR saw a McDonald's on the corner and it was like a beacon pulling us in.

The McDonald's was a three floor restaurant. We went to the second floor and waited on line like everyone else. A manager came over to us and asked us to sit down. In fact, they asked people who were eating to move over so that we could sit and eat there and they did!

The manager sent an employee over to take our order. Everyone orders the same way. They are given a plastic laminated menu and they point to the picture of what they want (locals too, not just us foreigners), so we did the same. They took our money, brought us our change and then our food.

We were pretty puzzled as to why we were being treated like royalty. Others in our group went to the same McDonald's and they were not treated the same way, so we don't know why we were treated so special. I made a bottle for Katrina and she gulped it down quickly. Then she ate some french fries!

Later at night AR went down to the medical clinic too. He came back with all kinds of medicine, including a similar looking herbal tincture. After he tasted that he said he knew why Katrina was screaming when we squirted the medicine in her mouth. It tasted awful!

Since two of the three of us were sick, we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant this evening. Katrina kept dropping food on the floor and the waiters kept running over to pick up the food. I had to drop off some paperwork in our travel coordinator's room tonight. We were getting Katrina's visa photo and medical exam in the morning.