FRC Group 36

FRC Group 36

Jiangxi Province - October 2003

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Slide Show	Click on link at left to see a slide show of all pictures. Clink on links below to look at one day at a time. Enjoy! -Mark
depart.m.htm> Tues Oct 7 Depart	Family Resource Center’s China Group 36 left Chicago on Tues October 7, 2003 bound for Jiangxi Province to adopt 7 daughters from the Fuzhou orphanage. The emails I have sent home each day are compiled below. The links in the left column will display the photo pages at the start of that particular day. Enjoy, Mark
beijing.m.htm> Wed Oct 8 Beijing	Group 36 has arrived safe and sound in Beijing. Tomorrow is the big day. We fly to Nanchang in Jiangxi Province in the morning. And we will meet the 7 girls at the civil affairs office in the afternoon and expect to have completed their adoptions by late in the day Thursday, which will be early in the morning on Thursday in Chicago.
gotcha_day!<_b>.m.htm> Thu Oct 9 Gotcha Day!	We arrived in Nanchang right on schedule at 1:00pm. It was 87 degrees and humid. After a 30 minute bus ride to the Jiangxi Hotel, we headed out to the Jiangxi Adoption Center. We were the only family there so there were no crowds to contend with. Within 15 minutes of our arrival the babies joined us and all of the families met their daughters in person for the first time. Lots of tears all around, but many happy faces. We are all back at the hotel and the adrenaline may finally start to wear off and everyone is ready for a good night's sleep. We hope the babies cooperate. So far Mei Li wins the calmest baby award, so at least Kendra should get to sleep the whole night. ;-)
nanchang.m.htm> Fri Oct 10 Nanchang	Today we brought all of the girls to the notary office. Each family was interviewed. This was a quick process and we were done by about 10:30am. In the afternoon, Mr. Zhou, the orphanage director, came for a visit. He answered questions from the families and explained how there foster families are chosen and how the foster care system works with his social welfare institute. He invited us to visit the orphanage on Sunday. We presented our group gift to Mr. Zhou, which was cash donation for the orphanage, and an FRC T-Shirt along with some Wisconsin Ginseng Root. Did you know that Wis grows some of the best Ginseng in the world. Someone in out group saw Ginseng Tea for sale with a special sign indicating it was from Wisconsin Ginseng. This sort of meeting with the orphanage director is uncommon.
shopping_day.m.htm> Sat Oct 11 Shopping Day	All the girls, and parents, are doing well. The smiles started popping out today. What a great experience for parents to receive their first smile! As the pictures will show, we had a very busy day. No meetings, so we could shop and sightsee. All of the kids did great. In the morning we went porcelain shopping and then to a local market. In the afternoon we went to the Ten Wang Ge pavilion and then stopped at Tom's favorite artist's shop. Tom had the artists prepare a gift for each child, a beautiful scroll. They are great, the families were truly surprised. After a long day, most of us stayed in and had dinner at the Mongolian barbecue in the hotel.
fuzhou_visit.m.htm> Sun Oct 12 Fuzhou Visit	All of the girls are settling in with their new parents. Lots of smiles and even some giggles. We made the 1 1/2 hour drive to the Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute that was responsible for these children. They were all in foster care, so they only lived at the orphanage for a short time. We were graciously hosted by the director, Mr. Zhou. Fuzhou was the first orphanage that FRC worked with in China and we are long times friends with Mr. Zhou. He gave us a tour of the facility and hosted us for a very nice lunch. Upon returning to the hotel we learned that the Cubs won game 4 by a score of 8 - 3. I now have to get to bed so I can wake up at 4:00am to watch game 5 via the MLB live internet broadcast (only available outside North America and Japan).
cubs_on_internet_tv.m.htm> Mon Oct 13 Cubs On Internet TV	Well, the day started early as Billy, Tom and I got up at 4:00am to watch the Cubs Live on internet TV. Free Internet from the hotel and US$2.95 to MLB for the broadcast. Well worth it, except for the Cubs loss. The picture was excellent. I was amazed. On the family front, this was truly an off day. No official meetings, no sightseeing, no bus rides. Some shopping and lots of bonding time for the new families. The highlight of the shopping today had to be Karen seeing Mr. Ju Bing Tai paint a beautiful scroll painting of 3 Heroic Roosters while we watched. Very cool. We did receive our notary documents today and tomorrow we receive passports for the girls. Then it is off to Guangzhou, the last stay on our trip. Tomorrow's travel schedule will be a bit hectic because we fly from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. Not a great time for a flight with 7 infants. But for those who know the White Swan is waiting at the other end, it is worth the travel headaches. For those who are not familiar, the White Swan is the hotel that all FRC families stay at while their US Visas are being processed. It is a 5-Star hotel with amazing service and, what a surprise, amazing shopping just out the back door. We may arrive late tomorrow night, so on your Tuesday morning, don't be disappointed if there are no pictures waiting. I will post pictures as soon as I can after everyone gets settled in and maybe after some sleep for myself. ;-)
Group 33 Greeting	Group 33 sends their well wishes to Group 36 via email!
depart_for_guangzhou.m.htm> Tues Oct 14 Depart for Guangzhou	Well, today we received passports for the girls. Proof read all of the official documents we received in the province for the 3rd time. The important documents are the birth, abandonment and adoption certificates, which are all provided in Chinese, English and are also notarized. We now have passports so we can head to Guangzhou for the last step of the process in China. We have to get visas from the US government to allow the girls to immigrate into the US with their new families. A few of us had time to go for a walk to a nearby temple. It was very impressive and inspiring. I am typing this from the White Swan Hotel. For those who have been here you know I am now in the lap of luxury. We should also be able to watch the Cubs on TV tomorrow morning. That is all for today. We will start to count down the days to our return.
guangzhou.m.htm> Wed Oct 15 Guangzhou	Just a quick note and only a few pictures today because it was a busy day. The first morning at the White Swan Hotel is a treat for everyone. A huge buffet in a dining area along the river. Made more magnificent by the first bright sunshine we have seen in several days. What a welcome sight! First stop today was at the photo shop for visa photos. Then a pleasant 5 minute walk to the medical clinic for our visa medical exams. The rest of the day was spent preparing the final paperwork for the visa applications. These are to be turned into the U.S. Consulate tomorrow morning. While I spent all day in my hotel room working on the applications with each family, the rest of the group was busy with a yet another critical activity, SHOPPING!
guangzhou.m.htm> Thu Oct 16 Guangzhou	Today was the U.S. Consulate appointment. First the visa application were turned in. All the paperwork was in order, so we can pick up the visas tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. Those visas allow the girls to immigrate into the U.S. However, the day did not start so well as we were informed that the ESPN satellite was "broken". Aaaargh. So we quickly got on the Internet and found the live broadcast. We then hooked my computer up to the TV and watched the game with a picture nearly the same as normal broadcast TV. It was amazing … but the game was not. :-( Many people spent the day shopping and then at 4:00pm we all went to the U.S. Consulate, which is about 2 blocks from the White Swan Hotel. It was a beautiful sunny day once again. Some of you who have traveled to Guangzhou will not believe it, but it has been sunny, about 70 degrees and low humidity for our whole visit. At the Consulate the Vice Consul has all of the parents take an oath that they will always care for their new daughters. It was short and sweet and now the 60 girls who were in attendance will be welcomed back to the U.S. with open arms. It has been very busy at the U.S. Consulate Adoption Unit. Last month they processed over 1,000 adoptions. Much of this is a recovery from the backlog built up by the SARS-related travel ban. Tomorrow is our last full day. Of course, some shopping is in order and the traditional "Red Couch" photo of all the girls. And, finally we will have celebration banquet at the outdoor barbecue. It does not seem possible that the adoptions took place only a short 7 days ago. The girls are flourishing, as the smiles in today's pictures will attest. The first-time parents have a hard time remembering the days before children. The second time parents can definitely not remember. ;-)
guangzhou.m.htm> Fri Oct 17 Guangzhou	We received the visas today for the girls. They can now enter the United States. The morning began with a power shopping trip to a jade and antique market. Tom B. deserves a special award for skipping game 7 of the Yankees-Red Sox series to join on us on the trip to the market. The only bad news so far on the trip: today was the most anticipated photo of the trip, the traditional Red Couch photo, and I did not get a good picture of it. The other 291 photos on the web site will have to do. :-( We had a great banquet at the outdoor barbecue. For those who have been to Guangzhou, you will find it hard to believe that it was about 72 degrees and NO HUMIDITY. What a treat. Time to pack for the early morning flight home. It has been an amazing trip. All of the girls have blossomed during the first week with their new families. Now for the longest trip of their young lives.
coming_home!.m.htm> Sat Oct 18 Coming Home!	The last day! Ten days after their parents arrived in China and nine days after the girls were adopted, we begin the trip to their new homes. We got off to an early start. Breakfast at 6:00am. Then to Guanzhou International Airport for the 13+ hour flight to Hong Kong. There were 24 babies on the flight to Chicago.

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