Our Last Night in China

Before I go on to sum up the rest of our trip, let me just add that despite all the fun we have had with the Xiulan/Edna comparison, Xuilan much like Edna, in the end, was a lifesaver. Her relationships with just about everybody in Kunming allowed us to overcome many obstacles. And she was a true lifesaver for Selene and baby Jada coming around to administer suppositories for Jada(sorry to gross you out), but this was stressful for the family, and without Xiulan it could have been even more so. She was also always ready with the right snack for the babies when they got fussy on the sightseeing tours. And she really made me laugh sometimes, especially when she was haggling with the check-in agent at the Kunming airport about the excess baggage fees when she looked back at me and said in all serious, "Argh!!! I should have brought her a box of chocolates and this would have been so much easier".

Even she and John became good friends near the end and perhaps a little competitive. Not everyone wanted to do the full climb at Dragon's Gate. Even Xiulan said she was going to stay behind for the last leg, but when John said I'm going to give it a shot, guess who joined in? It was a fun climb and she had never done it before. Not too bad for 69 years of age. She attributes her stamina to the Chinese diet of course.

So enough of the Kunming portion....

Where did we leave off last? Ah yes, after filling out three different versions of a notarized vaccination affidavit for Kate before leaving the states, it was determined that I accidentally reversed the Chinese name of Kate, which made the correct form null and void. This meant I had to travel to the American consulate and fill out a new form in front of the notary there in order to have Kate's Visa processed. I had hoped I would not have to make a trip there until the swearing in ceremony today, but Gus had a similar problem, so we went together. Our new guide Peter Pei accompanied us, and the American there was very nice. When I handed the form to the notary she asked how everything was going. And then she said I bet this isn't the first affidavit you had notarized is it? I write this because the paper work has been ridiculous. I have re-done just about every form since I arrived. It seems that no one knows which ones are correct, which have expired, or exactly how they have to be filled out. I'm not sure why we just didn't do a lot of it one time in China, rather than trying to figure it out in the states and then have to redo half of them here. It was even worse for Selene since her husband couldn't travel. As a result she had about triple the amount of documents to complete, AND has more to do when she gets back. The good news is by Monday afternoon we were all approved for baby Visas. So we went and celebrated on a boat cruise, babies on board as well. The cruise ship was nothing special, the food not so good, but all the babies were great on board too, and it was BYOB so who needs food anyway!!!

Our down time here has been mostly spent walking around the multitude of tourist shops operated by very aggressive sales people luring you in from the street. The other families were celebrities with the shop keepers. Especially Jackie ( Selene's mother), John and I would walk into a shop and the shop owner would always ask us where Kate was from. When we indicated Kunming they immediately asked if we knew Jackie? We had a lot of laughs about that at dinner. We told Jackie and Selene they were celebrities here, and had I known that Jackie was such a keen bargainer I would have given her a list and allowance and told her to have at it.

Today, our final day in Guangzhou, was a leisurely morning. In the afternoon the Kunming cousins all dressed up in matching Chinese dresses, selected of course by Selene and Jackie, (I had to buy one when I saw Jada's). We then took the requisite "red couch" photo in the lobby lounge at the hotel, before heading off to the American consulate for the swearing in ceremony and receipt of the baby visas. Everything went smoothly, and upon entry to the U.S. Kate will immediately be an American citizen - WE ARE DONE!!! All the families had to take an oath as part of the swearing in ceremony. I of course have no idea what I said and could barely get the words out because of all the tears of joy!!!!!

And besides the swearing in ceremony Kate took three steps on her own - she is ready to go, and so are we. Can't wait to see you Jack!!!!

Lots more stories to come when we see all of you in person.

Hope you have enjoyed the blog. More pictures to come on the weekend, we (mostly me - John's the organized one) have got to get packing now - no time to download!