The Big Day has arrived!!! We are going home!!! .....home to dogs and cats and bills to pay, and jobs and cleaning and unpacking and.....and.....oh yeah, and a new little girl to take care of in America.  Whoa, this is a bit unreal after being in China for over 2 weeks. 

 

We are ready to go home but there is still this feeling that we need to stay a little longer to make sure that Hanna is ready for all this.  Have we done a good job in bonding with her....is she ready for all the changes that will hit her all at once?  Will we be good parents?  Can Trent do this again after raising a family already; will Hanna adjust to the food and the schedule and all the strange people? Questions that we did not have to answer as long as we were secluded in our hotel rooms in China playing out our roles as new parents to this wonderful little girl. 

 

Yes, in many ways we still feel like we are actors in a play and at some point the lights are going to come up and the real parents are going to whisk Hanna away to her real home somewhere in China.

 

Well, whatever happens we are getting ready for it tonight. Packing up everything we bought along with all our clothes and cameras and video gear....not to mention all the toddler related stuff like formula and diapers, and outfits, and toys, wow....this children stuff is tough.  

 

But now it is late and we are tired and Hanna is asleep and the idea that we are going home tomorrow is finally sinking in. 

 

We can't wait to get the travel stuff over with and sleep in our own beds (assuming Hanna will let us sleep) and eat all the food that we prepared and put in the freezer.  Things like lasagna and meat loaf and crawfish etouffe. 

 

And as much as I hate to say it we will probably not have any Chinese food for a while.  Not only because we have had enough but the quality of the Chinese food in American restaurants cannot compare to what we have had over the last few weeks. 

 

I am going to miss the lazy susans in the middle of the table rolling incredible dishes past my plate.  The eggplant and the watermelon and the spicy meats and the fresh vegetables and the strange desserts and the things that I just could not bring myself to try like pigs intestines and snake and many things that I could simply not identify at all. 

 

I consider myself pretty adventureous when it comes to food as I have traveled all over Europe, the US and South America but I must admit that China has challenged my palate like no other country I have every visited.  As they say in Guangzhou, "if it has 4 legs and is not a table we will eat it"  Boy is that a true statement.

 

I think we will miss the people the most.  Our adoption agency guides are the most wonderful people on the planet.  Our guide in Changsha, "News" is his nickname, was so amazing it is hard to describe.  He was always there for us at any time of day or night.  I watched him comfort one of the babies through a huge temper tandrum with patience and tenderness.  He kept our group organized and updated and got us every place on time and in good shape.  We will always remember him. 

 

And Mandy and Jophy in Guangzhou were more of the same.  They got the job done and were patient and understanding and kind and considerate of all our problems. 

 

I would not have theirs jobs as I could never have the patience it takes to shepherd all those crazy parents through the process. 

 

Thank you both for all your help.  Hanna will have an easier time making the transition thanks to you both.