WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2004: GUANGZHOU, CHINA

It’s time to come home!!! Today is our last day in China, and we’ve started packing for the trip home. For those who check email in the morning, by the time you read this Wednesday in the US, we should be waiting to board our flight at the Guangzhou airport, and by the time you go to bed we’ll be in Los Angeles.

June 14: Let me back-track a little. On Monday, we left after breakfast to go and see the Six Banyian Tree Temple. This is an active temple with Buddhist monks. For a donation, they will even perform a "blessing" ceremony for the babies. They have a number of Buddhas hanging around: The Buddhas of Past, Present and Future in one temple; the Buddha of the lost peanut or something, and about six others I don’t remember. Some of the braver souls climbed to the top of the main temple, while the rest of us looked around the grounds. Lot’s of incense burning, and many Chinese people worshiping. The six Banyian trees died many years ago, but the area still keeps that name.

After the temple, we went to a large porcelain and jade retailer to help spend off our remaining foreign currency, then returned to the hotel in time for lunch. After lunch, Sam had to go for her little physical. After being weighed officially, she is only 16 pounds, and 28 inches long. (Tall and thin)!!! We went out afterwards and picked up some more clothes that fit a little better, (everything we brought with is a bit large).  Monday was a quiet night in the room with another nice Philly Cheese Steak form Danny’s Bagels. Knowing how much I love Chinese food, (I have 3 woks for those who don’t know), what I’m about to say may seem like sacrilege: Too much of a good thing is bad! Believe it or not, I’ve had my fill of Peking Duck and all other dishes Chinese on this trip. With such a heavy diet of Chinese cuisine, even though it was really great Chinese food, a cheese steak and fries at this point is like a filet mignon with a loaded baked potato! Okay; you can stop with the jaw dropping now.

June 15th: On Tuesday, all of our paperwork was finalized and turned in to the U.S. consulate at 9am, and at 3:30pm we were sworn in (3 dozen families at once). We had to stay in our rooms until 3pm just in case there were any more questions that had to be answered. Sam didn’t take her nap in the morning (usually sleeps a couple of hours), and had only been down for a half hour yesterday afternoon when we had to take her to the consulate, so she was very cranky when we tried to put her to bed last night: Didn’t want to eat, didn’t want to sleep, didn’t want to play- just wanted to fuss! Come to think of it, we feel the same way sometimes! We were supposed to go to a restaurant with the rest of our group at 5:30pm, since it was our last night here. Due to Sam’s demeanor, we decided to pass, and tried to figure out how to get Sam fed, happy, asleep, etc. In the end, Sam won; We’ll be glad when she gets to an age where we can reason with her! So, we ordered delivery from Danny’s Bagels for the fourth consecutive evening (which we are not complaining about). By the way, Sam has been introduced to french fries, and she is nuts about eating fries! I think it’s her new favorite food. She played with her toys, ate off and on, had two diaper changes, and finally fell asleep while Debbie was holding her, somewhere around 9pm I think. For some reason, she really didn’t want to be in the crib yesterday. Every time Debbie tried to put her in the crib, she started crying and thrashing about, scooting around 360 degrees in the process. The good thing is that when she did finally go to sleep, she was out for 10 hours. Once she has been asleep in our arms for twenty to thirty minutes, we can lay her in the crib for the night, nap, or whatever.

Sam’s health is fine, and she shows no signs of fever or problems. We’ll continue to give her the antibiotic until she has finished it. We hope the disruption in schedule and 20+ hours in flight to Houston will not be too much for her. Of course, getting to this point with her has helped prepare us to care for her during the flight home, so we think it will be alright. Sam is very ticklish around her feet, knees, and ribs, and we have great fun tickling her. She laughs hysterically, then stares at you with a smile anticipating that we’ll tickle her again. I sang "Old McDonald" for about an hour last night to entertain her, which encompassed dozens of animals! (Good thing I watch the Discovery Channel frequently). She loves for me to be silly and seems to have a lot of fun with songs like that. She also likes the "hand spider." I put my fingers down and use them as legs while my hand crawls around. Eventually it crawls up and over her body and head, then tickles her ribs. She laughs quite loud, then stares at my hand until I do it again. All three of us have bonded quite well during the last 11 days. I know the rest of you can’t wait to meet her.

June 16th: This morning we were to have some professional photographs made, however, the photographer had a wreck on the way due to the rain, and the photos were canceled. (This part of southern China is tropical, and we have something just short of a typhoon coming in). So, everyone wound up taking their own photos with their own cameras, which was very hectic. 

This afternoon we picked up Sam’s passport w/ US visa about 3pm. Our luggage, now up to four suitcases and four carry-ons, went ahead of us to the airport about 5pm, and we departed the hotel at 6pm. After being glared for the last time by security, we are now in the waiting area until about 8:30pm for boarding, then we are scheduled to depart for the US at 9pm. We gain a lot of time, arriving in Los Angeles at 6pm today.  As I write this in the waiting area, I have to pass on a horror story. We have been anxiously waiting to see if another couple we met this week will make this flight. They are with another agency, and when we left the hotel, their guides were still not back with the babies' passports and visas. Since they’ve already been checked out of the hotel, their luggage is here at the airport, and this is the only flight back to the US tonight, I shudder to think of what they face! Just one more affirmation that we chose the right agency to work with! Our guides have been astonishing: Ultimate professionals who really know what they are doing. I guess it really makes a difference when the guides are employed by the Agency. Many of the other people here are in the hands of third party guides that work for numerous agencies, travel offices, and so forth. In conversations each day over breakfast, the difference in service is significant. We frequently hear- Our guides didn’t do that- we had to figure it our for ourselves.

We are really looking forward to getting back home. As international travel goes, this is the longest trip we’ve ever made (outside of my two years in Germany), and we are glad it is coming to an end. There are many conveniences of home that we miss (washer, dryer, fridge, our dogs, WalMart- even the one in Huntsville), but most of all we miss you all, and long to get Sam home into her new world and family. We can’t wait for everyone to meet her! This Sunday is Father’s Day in the United States, but for me- Father’s Day has been every day since we got Sam. It’s been interesting and fun seeing different parts of China, both ancient and contemporary, and we have enjoyed everything except the food poisoning! What an extraordinary people and culture: I just wonder what our culture will be like after our nation has been around for 5,000 years. Anyway, our journey is at the same time ending and just beginning.

It is now 8pm, and we will begin boarding soon, so I’ll stop now to send this. There is still no sign of the missing family; I guess they’ll miss the flight. Anyway, for my last email from China, let me quote that great philosopher and guru of wisdom- Dorothy of Oz- and say on behalf of Debbie and myself: "There’s no place like home."

We’ll see you all stateside.

Jeff