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Our Trip
December 5, 2001 - Day Eighteen: Packing It Up click HERE for Day Eighteen Photos Question for Ms. Foster's Classroom: What is the most unusual food item you've eaten? Does your family celebrate birthdays in any special way (do you have special traditions that only your family does)?
Today, the Boomerang Flu came back my way. Killer headache through most of the morning, and finally went away about the time we went to the pool. With everyone gone as of this morning, it kind of felt like the day after summer camp ended and it was just me and a few counselors cleaning up. Very quiet. As Ann writes, we finished up shopping and had to buy a massive new suitcase just to accommodate all the stuff we've picked up along the way. Cultural Observation #1: Chinese girls and women hold hands when walking in public. Something you don't see in the U.S. except in certain neighborhoods in most major cities. Sophia had a moderate sized meltdown just about the time we were going to go and have a big shebang of a final meal in the swanky Asian restaurant on the 18th floor. I suspect she's teething, and she didn't seem like she was going to let up, so we instead did the room service thing again. By the time the food rolled in, she was back to Happy Baby and we put her in the stroller, and took her for a quick roll around the block to see the neighborhood Christmas lights. Very pretty. They've wrapped the trees around the hotel, which is kind of cool. Tomorrow should be one of the longest, if not chronologically, certainly mentally, days of my life. We get up at 5:30 am, fly to Seoul at 8:30 am, get in at 12:40 pm, get a room in the transit hotel for four hours and then fly to San Francisco at 7:30 pm on Asiana, getting in at 12:30 in the afternoon…seven hours earlier then when we left. We'll be at the airport Westin and can hopefully snag a few hours of shuteye before some friends join us for an early dinner. That's Thursday night and on Friday morning we're up at 6 and into Minneapolis via Dallas at 4:34 pm. Thus endest the journey. We're praying that Sophia holds it together tomorrow because if she's crying or sick or teething, it's going to be a LONG(er) day. Keep your fingers crossed. Ann's Comments: Today started out with Sophia waking up at 3:15 a.m. wanting to get out of her crib. Normally I'd just console her and then encourage her to fall back to sleep. But the other day we had a major scare when she wanted to get out and fell over the side head first. Luckily I was in bed right next to her and caught her before she hit the floor. Needless to say, we're both nervous about this crib. It's the perfect size for an infant who can't stand, but not at all safe for a baby who can stand. But I digress. So, she woke up and I took her out of her crib and put her next to me to sleep. She fell asleep almost right away and didn't wake up until 7:00 a.m. The entire time she kept at least one hand on me - on my shoulder, arm, or face. I didn't sleep well (nervous she'd fall over the side of the bed), but she did. We ate the breakfast buffet. Amy and Liniker were there so we sat in the booth next to them. They got the rest of the group to the airport this morning at 6:50 a.m. Tomorrow morning we take a cab to the international airport and then we're on our way. Had Amy translate into Chinese a few sentences that we can send to the orphanage that say, "Hi, We adopted Sophia in November 2001 and wanted to share some pictures with you. Hope you enjoy them." We plan to send them periodic updates so they can see how she is doing. Oh, I forgot. Last night at dinner we were talking about what happens to the children who aren't adopted. We were told by the orphanage director that many of the children/teenagers finish school and then work at the orphanage. It becomes their home. We're thinking that the nannies probably were all girls who weren't adopted when they were younger. The one who gave Sophia to us Paige said is an albino. He said that is probably why she was given up by her parents and never adopted. She seemed like a wonderful young lady - very caring and nurturing. After breakfast we went back the White Swan area and went shopping one last time. It was a fun morning. We went to several different shops. Each one was totally different. We lucked out by going into a tea house to buy some tea. Paige went next door to another shop (a laundry) because the women wanted to play with Sophia. A woman greeted me when I walked in and escorted us to the next shop that had a variety of small art galleries by local young artists. I think she meant emerging artists because some of the artists didn't look really young. If any of these artists were in the United States they could charge 3-5 times as much as they are charging here. We choose not to bargain with them because the price is so low and it just wouldn't feel right if we tried to get something cheaper when we can easily afford the amount of a painting or hand-sculpted dish. We bought a suitcase at Jennifer's Place and packed all the gifts in it. I think we finally have all 18 gifts for Sophia. We're planning on giving her one gift from China on each of her birthdays until she reaches the age of 18. She will her own collection of items to keep and/or pass along to her daughter. Grabbed a taxi and came back to the hotel. Had the buffet lunch. It was kind of odd eating lunch today in the restaurant because now it is just local business people - no adoptive families except for us. Went to the pool and relaxed in the afternoon, went into the steam room, and then had dinner (again at the buffet place). What we didn't mention yesterday were some of the more unusual things you could have grilled: dragon shrimp (shrimp that has to be at least 12 inches long and several inches wide) and octopus tentacles. You could also have your run-of-the-mill baby octopus, baby lobster, wide selection of fish fillets, or squid. For the non-seafood eater, there's a wonderful variety of cheeses, salads, breads, vegetables, and main dishes. Most of the main dishes are meat-based, but it's easy to find vegetarian options. The dessert bar must have had at least 40 different selections - all of which had beautiful ornamental chocolate twists, fans, and other shapes. We repacked everything and are now officially ready to depart tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. for our 8:50 a.m. flight to Seoul, Korea. It's a relatively short flight there, and we have a layover. But then the killer flight will be from Korea to San Francisco. We're hoping that Sophia does well on the flight. It could make 13 hours seem like a 130 hours if she cries or is fussy. |