Consulate Appointment, Cow Bridge and close to home

We are back on Shamian island at the Victory.  After our plush accommodations in Foshan, we are grateful for our respite there!  It is also good to have these last days on the island.

Much of today was taken up by our Consulate Appointment.  We swore that all of the information we presented to the government regarding our request to make Emma Katherine YuXiao Silburn a citizen of the United States of America was true and correct.  We also watched as numerous other families took the oath with us.  It is always a moving sight to behold.  

We learned that last year there were only 3,000 US adoptions from China.  We were quite shocked by this number as in 2005 when we were here to bring Anna Elaine home the number was 7,000.  That is a FOUR THOUSAND difference, and I have to think reflects in large part the governments slow down of non-special needs adoptions (as if being an orphan wasn't a special need itself).  What a tragedy for all the children languishing in orphanages here.  

That said, there are thousands of children available on the special needs list, and their adoptions are expedited and moved along much more quickly.  Ours took ten months start to finish.  That is not long (even if it felt so at times!).  People do NOT need to wait five to eight years to fold a child into their families, if they are beginning the adoption process now.  And Jim and I are MORE than happy to speak with any of you about our process and what we know of the process, if you would ever consider blessing your family with a child through adoption from China.  We'd encourage you to adopt from any country, including the United States, we just are most familiar with China's processes as we have adopted from here twice.  

No we just await processing of Emma's visa and on Thursday while we wait at the train station to go to Hing Kong, Michael our guide will pick it up at the consulate and rush it over to us so we can leave for home!

HOME!  We all cannot wait to get there....even Emma Kate who has no idea she is going there.  She is ready for it.

We had a lovely celebration dinner at a wonderful Thai restaurant "Cow Bridge".  It was so delicious, and if I could have picked up that dish of red curry and drank it right at the table I would have!  We all unanimously agreed we are eating our last meal on mainland China there tomorrow night.  Yum!  I'm already excited about it.

There was a little bit of shopping today, although Jeb is still back and forth on his kite purchase.  I thought I had the boys talked into buying dried spicy squid to bring to their friends at the lunch table...I think I am funnier than they do.  No one bought any!  I think I may take matters into my own hands tomorrow, knowing that once they are home they will long for proof of their adventures here.  Maybe I just need to do that all around...Hmm.

Now we are back at the Victory.  Cooper and Jeb are playing games on their ipods, which is another way of saying they are checking out.  They have been real troopers on a trip where there is a lot of boring time, and appointment time to fill.  I know as much as their are parts of the trip that were amazing for them, it was also a dose of how hard international travel can be, and also what adding a child to your family in a foreign country is like.  They win endurance medals.  They've also endured Jim and myself, usually at separate times.  There have been moments when we all would love to not be together, and they pass.  It's all normal.  We've lived in extremely close quarters with no breaks from one another for almost three weeks now.  I think we all have done splendidly.  Especially me.  Just kidding on that self-award.  

Emma has now unpacked her backpack ALL OVER the floor of the room.  I think it is soothing to her to remember all her "stuff".  It's quite cute.  I attempted to put her jammies on a bit ago and she was firm that it wasn't time yet.  Sounds good, girl!  But soon, Momma will prevail.  Soon, as in two minutes soon.  I'll let her choose what she wants on first, the tops or the bottoms, but that's as much of a "choice" as she's getting.  She's really tired, and to bed is going to be a good thing.  

Tomorrow we are going to tour the "People's House".  I believe it is a place where many artists display and showcase their art: embroidery, watercolor, etc.  I think that artisans are actually creating their art there, too.  Some people in our travel group said they went and it was wonderful.  That is in the morning, and in the afternoon the boys are going over to the electronics market.  We need to figure out the code they should look for on the video game boxes to indicate they will work in the US.  

Then the Cow Bridge for dinner, a movie in the room perhaps and bedtime!  Oh, and lots of packing!

Thursday morning we have free, and we leave at 2pm on Thursday for the train station for Hongkong!  We are down to 2 sleeps to travel! Three sleeps to home!!!!  Yay!

I can't wait to touch the ground in Seattle.  I might kiss it in Minneapolis.  And then kiss all of you!  We can't wait to see you!  

Love from Shamian island! 

Good night on Tuesday night, with our almost-citizen Emmacakes