Last day in China

July 17 – Guangzhou

Have I mentioned the peacocks? I cannot believe I have not mentioned the peacocks. That’s the funny thing about China. In any other location, at any other time, the peacocks would make a great story in and of themselves. But this is China after all, and something as germane as peacocks does not rate nearly as high as the other things we see every day on the streets here.

At any rate, on our first morning in this hotel, we awoke to what sounded like a cat stranded high in a tree and howling for help. It was an odd cry – not quite a cat, but we could not place what it was. It started about dawn, and then stopped after awhile. We heard it and forgot about it. Then, that afternoon, we were finally looking out our hotel window, right across the ally, and lo and behold – there it was. A peacock (and other large tropical bird) cage with at least 3 peacocks and various other specimens, in an open air outdoor pen, atop the roof of the adjacent building. A building that by all measures looks abandoned from the street. But it’s clearly not abandoned. There are peacocks in residence.

We got a good laugh over that, but then moved on to other adventures and experiences.

Today is our last full day in China. Unbelievable that the time has gone so quickly, and yet when I look back on the photo of Karen, Emma and me leaving the house in Seattle (last time as family of three!) for the airport, that time seems eons ago.

We were basically unplanned for the morning. Tried to do a little shopping on the Island, have some lunch, and then head to the US Consulate for our swearing in. Emma, Zoe, and I went to the park while Karen packed the room a bit in the morning. We had some lunch, and then met Cordelia and the rest of our group for the 45 minute van ride to the new US Consulate building in East Guangzhou – a modern neighborhood with tall skyscrapers, cutting edge architecture, and fancy automobiles. Unfortunately I did not take my camera with us because it was forbidden in the consulate building. But the sites were pretty impressive and the feeling was antiseptic compared to the rest of the city.

The swearing in was rather unceremonious after two weeks of paperwork and meetings. We verified our faces to the man behind the window (yep – family and kid match our records), we got a bit of a lecture from a consulate official about being a good parent, and then, as a group, 30 families (over 100 people in the room) collectively swore that we did not lie to anyone when we filled out our paperwork.

Then it was done. All of 45 minutes later the process was complete, and Zoe is clear to travel to the US with her Chinese passport and entry Visa. Once we step foot on American soil, Zoe becomes a US Citizen, but she can retain her Chinese passport as well.

We pile back in the van, and John’s new daughter (Lan Lan who is about 8 years old) starts singing a beautiful traditional Chinese song with a happy smile on her face. Cordelia joins her but tells Karen and me that she (Cordelia) usually cannot sing the song because it’s so emotional to her. The lyrics describe how a happy girl is a girl with a mother, and it’s clear that Lan Lan knows it well and must have been singing it for years in the orphanage. It’s a bit of an emotional moment.

We get back on the island and go our separate ways. Our family is hungry; Randy, Amy and Naomi have one more day here and will lay low this evening, and John and Lan Lan head to the airport tonight. So Emma, Zoe, Karen and I head back to Lucy’s at Emma’s request for one final meal in China – at the American restaurant…!

After dinner Emma needs the bathroom, so Karen takes her back to the hotel (it’s a short walk and a guaranteed Western-style toilet) and I take Zoe in the front pack. Unfortunately Zoe is having none of it this time. She is screaming in despair, and nothing I can do will calm her. I am on the street, at prime evening time when everyone is out, and I have an inconsolable kid on my hands. As I try to ignore the furrowed brows and steely stares, I being to walk with her. No dice. Then I bump into a nice shop keeper who we have met before and where we shopped this morning. He looks at me and sees my predicament. Asks where Zoe is from – I say “Shangrao.” He says, “oh – Jiangxi Province” and immediately breaks into calming Mandarin phrases “Please don’t cry,” and “You are a good child.” Zoe stops crying immediately and looks at him in wonder. Either the words are magic, or it’s the familiar language, but at any rate it works. He asks me to repeat the phrases in Mandarin several times until I get it right, gives me a thumbs up, and sends me on my way. Zoe is calm now. She tries to cry a bit, but then I speak to her in Mandarin and she calms back down, looks up into my eyes, and smiles.

We walk into the public park and watch the badminton players who come out in the evenings when it finally cools off. Karen and Emma return, and we set out on our way again as a group.

Collectively we shop quite a bit. There are plenty of interesting stores we never explored in our few days here, and we try to take it in now. We spend the last of our Yuan, and head to the hotel for a bath for Zoe and swimming for Emma. Tomorrow is an early wakeup call (4:30) and a long day of travel, but I don’t fear it nearly as much as I did even one week ago.

Emma and I are disappointed to find the pool has closed early tonight – a real bummer for her on her last evening here. We try to shake it off, but she is pretty devastated. We return to the room and she has a bath – then some final packing and off to sleep for everyone.

I would love to be able to sum up this trip into something pithy and meaningful. But you will all understand once you meet Zoe that it’s not so easy to put whatever “it” is down into writing. I feel like we are incredibly lucky and am excited to return home to start Zoe’s life in the U.S. She’s a funny, strong, engaging kid and the fact that we’ve struck gold with two kids in a row is almost too hard to believe.

My biggest initial fear when Karen and I first talked about adoption was whether I could possibly feel bonded to an adopted kid like I feel bonded to Emma. Would my love for her be the same, or would it somehow be conditional? How would I know? It felt like a really big gamble to me, and I was afraid it would be unfair to adopt a kid that I felt less love for compared to my natural child. But this kid is amazing. After less than two weeks I feel like Zoe is an integral part of the family. I feel strongly protective of her and I wonder how I could have ever worried about adopting in the first place. The best part for us is that this is only an early chapter in our family, and we have lots more adventures ahead of us.

The first of which is 15 hours of airplane time…

I’d better get to sleep.