November 16, 2004
Adoption Day
We flew out of Beijing the evening of January 4, real late - the flight was delayed, a very long delay. The flight was supposed to leave around 6pm, and we got to the airport real early - we didn't want any complications. I think we got there around 3pm. The flight wound up not leaving until after 10pm. That was a long wait, so all we could do was read our English books or watch Chinese TV (there was a cute dairy commercial with a bunch of singing cows and a little girl saying something real cute in Chinese - I think we saw it more than a hundred times). When we were en route to Nanchang, I was struck by how dark the countryside was, even as we approached Nanchang. I think we arrived about 1am. Our adoption agency had a representative there to meet us (you'll see her picture in the following pictures), and the second thing she said to us after "hello" was "paperwork!" Yes, we had to turn in some paperwork right then and there so she could have it ready for the morning.
We were put in a van and drove to the hotel, about an hours drive. Got to our rooms, and told to be ready at 9am, we would travel to the CCAA to pick up our little ones. We find out the beds are hard as boards, the floor is literally (and I do mean literally) softer than the bed. The room has twin beds, a baby bath, a stroller, and a crib. Very well equipped for our mission. We go to bed, and I can't sleep, thinking about the adoption (I also got no sleep the night before we got married - very similar to how I felt this night).
We go to the JiangXi office of the CCAA (this very office was featured in a National Geographic special China's Lost Girls earlier this year), and find out the orphanage personnel are caught in traffic and can't get there for a long time. We go back to the hotel, and are told to wait in our rooms - we'll be called when the babies arrive. So finally, I get a little bit of sleep, and about 2pm, our phone rings!
Click 'Continue reading...' below to see what little Fu Dong Lan thought of us (the Chinese lady next to Amy was the woman representing our adoption agency)
