Home Sweet Home!

Holy &^%$, that was a looong day! We woke up on Thursday morning in Guangzhou at the usual 4am on March 12, 2009 (which was 4p Wednesday March 11 in SC). By 6am, we were on a bus to the airport with one more suitcase and one more person than we had when we started this adventure 2 weeks ago!

At 645a, we had our first snafu. A truly nauseating one! At check in for our flight to Beijing, Julee's and my reservation could not be found in the system. Thank goodness we still had a guide with us; otherwise, we would still be there I believe. With 5 minutes left to spare before check in for our flight was closed, our bags were cleared and boarding passes issued and the 3 families travelling back on the same itinerary were cleared to board. Yes, this "issue" was holding others up too. I really wanted to puke! Having vast experience in the airline business, I knew full well that when reservations are "lost," they are not usually "found." I really don't even want to know what went wrong. Those reservations were made by Great Wall. Racing to the gate, we ran on the plane and plopped down in several different seats a few rows from each other. Fu Mei thought this was a riot! I did not!

But we landed safely in Beijing and had to *gasp* proceed to our international flight all by ourselves. No more guides. As Tricia said, who would have thought we could manage to make our way through the massive Beijing airport just 2 weeks ago? Now, it really was no problem. We had to get our bags, and then check them in with United for our new international flights home. We had about 5 hours to get this accomplished and after a very spicy chicken lunch, we were sitting, waiting for our flight to Chicago. It seemed to take forever to finally board that 777 home. I really don't want to get in to how awful the flight was for me because basically, they got us home (or at least to Chicago, which felt like home after that horrendously long flight). Fu Mei slept for a good bit of it and played with me for the rest of it. She did great. At one point, she slipped off the seat and laid out on the floor beneath my feet. Long gone are the germ phobias that I began this trip with. If you could see the smog and dirt and feel the water bacteria and look at the raw food for eating, an airplane floor would not bother you either!

So fast forward to Chicago! Ahhhh, America! Never has it felt soo powerful and emotional to be back in the USA. We really do have an amazing country! It felt soo good to be home! We made it through immigrations for our newest little immigrant and then through customs without incident but it did take an hour and a half! And finally, after 2 weeks, I turned on my cell phone! Talked to Al right away, neither of us could talk very well, the relief was overwhelming. He told me the whole house was cleaned, the dog was bathed, the fresh groceries were stocked and the car was full of gas and had a brand new car seat all ready to go! So Tricia went in to Aunt mode and bought Fu Mei her first Happy Meal! That went down well for ALL of us! Man, I hadn't had a McDonald's hamburger and a diet coke with ice in a looooong time! Yum!! On to Savannah and the reunion we have all been waiting for!

I carried Fu Mei off the flight instead of in the stroller. I just wanted to be close to her when she met her dad for the first time. As we walked up the ramp to the waiting area in Savannah airport, she was laughing and giggling with me, Julee, Tricia and Garrett....her new family! Wait, uh oh! What is this? You want me to meet MORE family? I just got comfy with you people???

As soon as Julee saw her dad, she dropped her backpack and whatever else she was carrying for me and ran into his arms. I came up from behind with Fu Mei and their eyes met. She just stared! I knew she could tell it was her Baba from all the pictures we showed her, but it was all too much. All she could muster was a stare. We hugged tightly and kept trying to speak to her to tell her it was ok and this is your new daddy! It was hard on all of us. Ken brought Lydia to the airport too and she was crying. She waited a very long time to meet Fu Mei, longer than we did because she had to stay home. All in all, it was a wonderful greeting. Lydia made the prettiest sign and had balloons for Chelsee. It felt sooo good to have made it! So good!

The car ride home was fine. Fu Mei went in her car seat with no problems and Julee and I talked Albee's ear off the whole way home from the airport! 30 hours after starting the day, it was still March 12, 2009! But never has a day been better! We are home!