I took Julee to the East Meets West Conference sponsored by my agency, Great Wall China Adoption. It was the 4th one they have organized and the first time it was held in the Southeast region. I thought it would be a good idea for Julee to accompany me so she can meet other families like hers and for us to learn together some new things about what is in store for us in the coming months.
It was held at the Wyndham Hotel in downtown Atlanta on Saturday, April 22, 2006. We left Friday morning and spent the weekend at Phil and Sally's (our cousins) house. We had a wonderful time reconnecting with them and filling them in on all our adventures. It was nice to be with them for the weekend.
We had a full day of sessions about adoptions from China. We learned about some diseases the children might have, how to connect with your new daughter (and sister), what to expect when traveling to/from China and special thoughts about an older child. Julee had her notebook and pencil going a mile a minute and even asked a few important questions (what should she do FIRST when her sister comes home to her new house?)
The highlight of the conference for me was a short one-on-one meeting with the president of Great Wall, Snow Wu. She spoke to Julee and me and thanked us for bringing home our daughter. Snow told us that we do indeed need to go ahead and give our daughter her American name so the paperwork can be filed correctly and Julee told her about how she came up with the name Chelsee Rose. I could tell she was so proud and Snow thought it was a wonderful story. Snow had just returned from the White House after being invited to a special luncheon while the President of the People's Republic of China, President Hu, was in town. She told us that she felt honored to represent Great Wall and the children of China.
They brought in an orphanage director, speaking only Chinese but translated by Snow Wu, who spoke about the care they give to their children and how thankful they are for us Americans to be providing such wonderful homes and forever families. The director was able to reunite with 2 of her former children now thriving in their new families. An American author and adoptive father also spoke about his journey to adopt his 2 children. All speakers and sessions were very entertaining and informative. I loved sharing it with Julee. She told me she felt so normal after seeing all the other people who are adopting Chinese children. Alot of people asked Julee questions about her sister.
We also were able to sneak in a quick visit with Christy and her family. I saw her parents and in-laws too, cause they were celebrating Morgan's 12th birthday! That was sooo much fun being able to see them all again.
All in all, a very quick, exhausting, wonderful 48 hour trip!
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