Day 13

Morning on the Pearl River (view from our hotel room)

White Swan Breakfast

This morning, our cooordinator went to the American Consulate for Ji Hao's visa appointment. We had to wait in our room for one hour in case the Consulate had any questions about our paperwork. Thankfully, they had no questions, and tomorrow we will go to the Consulate to take "the oath" and to receive Ji Hao's visa.

Next on today's agenda was the adoption group photo. Traditionally, adoption groups take the children's photo on the White Swan Hotel's infamous "red couch". Then all the families gather in front of the lobby's waterfall for a family group photo.

Group Photo

We had a free afternoon, so we spent it shopping on the island. Knowing we had just a few more days left here, we hit the shops hard in order to finish off our shopping list. The two times we've been here, we've tried to buy both of our adopted kids many things from their homeland. Every year, on their Adoption Day and birthday, we can then give them a piece of their heritage.

The day would not be complete without a trip to Starbucks. Ji Hao has consistently asked for the Tiramisu in the display case and then methodically eats it in thin shavings to make it last. Yesterday, however, we introduced him to the Chocolate Frappucino, and now he is hooked on that! They don't have a Strawberries and Cream Frapp here in China, but my guess is that he is going to love that as much as his little sister. Looks like we'll be needing to limit our trips to Starbucks once we get home, or all these kids will never get to go to college.

We ended our day with a group "Farewell Dinner" at the Cantonese Restaurant down the street from the White Swan. The food is served family-style on a huge lazy susan, and it tasted much better than the last time we ate there. One of the dads in the group was celebrating a birthday today, so our guide asked Ji Hao and Adele (a nine year old girl in our group) to go up in front and sing "Happy Birthday" to him in Chinese. Both of them went up and sang without hesitation.

Tomorrow is our last full day in China. We have had so many unforgettable experiences here, but we are all ready to get back to the routine of life at home. We can't wait to see how Ji Hao and his little Mei Mei respond to one another. We are also excited to introduce him to "normal" life with our family (if there is such a thing as "normal" at our house). Our journey has really just begun...