Our Last Night in China

Wednesday Evening March 29, 2006 9:30pm
This is my last post from China. We have to be ready to leave the hotel in the morning at 6:30am. Today has been a busy day. This morning, HJ and I slept in late from being up last night. We made it down to breakfast about 9:00am. We discovered that HJ wakes up very slowly. I was on the phone with my kids when she first woke up so we let her lay there for a while. She eventually stood up and gave us a big smile. We went for breakfast and then our final round of shopping. We picked up our last gifts and walked around the island some as it was another warm, sunny day. We stopped at Lucy's for lunch and then headed back to our room. On our walk back, HJ was acting as if she was ready for her nap. However, when we got to the room, she was in a very playful mood. She and CP and I just played and played. I needed to start packing, so CP took HJ down to the play room. He said that there was noone else in there and HJ ran straight for the kitchen playset. This is the first time she has really played much down there. Every other time there were 4 or 5 other kids so I'm guessing she is a little shy. They eventually came back up and continued to play until it was time for us to leave for the consulate. I was afraid that she would have a major meltdown since she hadn't taken her nap. Fortunately, she just fell asleep on the bus on the way there. She actually slept through almost the entire process. She finally woke up as we stood up to take our oath. That was it! She can now legally enter the United States and as soon as her feet touch the ground in Detroit, she will be a US citizen!
We returned to the hotel and decided to go to Lucy's for a farewell dinner with the D's. While there, we ran into the other GWCA Jiangxi families who have been 2 or so days behind us from the start. We had a lovely dinner with K, S and L. We then walked back to the room to finish the last minute packing and settle in for the night.
It has been a wonderful, though at times very difficult, two weeks in China. However, the change in HJ over this period of time is amazing. I joked today that someone must have switched kids on me as the child I saw today is not the same child I picked up in Jiangxi last week Monday. She only had one meltdown today when I left this evening to check out of the hotel. What a huge difference from the child who was having multiple lengthy meltdowns last week. I'm sure we still have a long road ahead of us as she experiences a VERY long flight, meeting our 3 kids and our dog and integrating into our life in the US. Please pray that our flights are on time and that she travels well.
So long and good night. I'll try to post again after we are home and settled in.