Hong Kong…here we come

We left The White Swan around 2:15pm. David took both families to the American Consulate in the center of Guangzhou. We handed in paperwork and waited. (Surprise!) Then a gentleman came out with a microphone, said a few words, asked us to stand and raise our right hand. We swore all of our paperwork was correct to our knowledge and that we would take care of this child as well as never abandon nor neglect her. Congrats….we were done. That’s it. Now we wait a few more minutes and we get our immigration packet and leave. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed into the US Embassy so after all this wait, the final leg and most important piece cannot be filmed nor documented. The packet we were given is sealed and needs to remain that way until we get to the airport in Newark.

Then David brought us to the Metro train station. MUCH NICER than the train station we came in on…..thank goodness. The other family was able to get on the 5pm train. We had to wait for the 7pm train. David waited with us and we grabbed some dinner before boarding the train. NO ONE will believe this but…..a porter met us at our van and loaded all seven bags on to a rickety three wheeled cart. We guestimated the weight was over 300 lbs. He strapped them on with a rope and off we went. When we hit the first escalator we FREAKED. He went up the escalator with the cart and the luggage. It was VERY precariously tipped towards us and even fell over to one side. Thank goodness Bill was in front and was able to help fix the cart. We had visions of it tumbling back towards us and creating a horrid domino effect. Okay, we made it up fine. OH MY GOODNESS, now there is another escalator even larger and up he goes. Now, we were so nervous we could not even watch. Then through the metal detectors and we were done with the train station.

The actual train was perfectly lovely. MeMa held Kassie and Kristin sat next to them. We played games and sang songs. MeMa’s favorite game was using the stickers. Kassie would take them from Kristin and then place them ALL over MeMa’s face. As she pulled them off, MeMa said she felt like she was having her face exfoliated. It was very funny and MeMa kept saying if Kristin let her off the train with a star on her behind or on her face – she was going to kill. Of course the threat was being sung while we were laughing hysterically. Kristin kept threatening to take a picture….Kristin never did. The BEST part of the train ride to Hong Kong was after we went through immigration and customs our bags MAGICALLY appeared on a cart. All five pieces….YEAH!!! (Going through all the airports and picking up luggage and meeting guides has been one of the most stressful parts of the trip.)

W stayed at the Novatel in Hong Kong. It is a French chain and the rooms are very modern. The bathrooms had a glass wall in the shower so you could look at the bed or the TV or out the window while in the shower. There was, however, a wall that you could slide over the glass for privacy. We did not get into the room until 10:30pm and then had to leave early to catch our flight. Too bad we had to get up early because there was an outlet mall connected to the hotel. It killed Kristin not to get in one last ditch souvenir shopping. Oh well. At 8am we took the tram to the airport from the hotel in Hong Kong. The airport in Hong Kong was gorgeous. It was truly the most clean airport any of us have ever been in to. You could have eaten off the floors - even in the bathrooms. Never have any of us seen bathrooms in an airport this clean. Although is was a little disconcerning to see the armed military walk by carrying two uzi’s. Our flight left Hong Kong 11:25am. 15 hours. Kassie was really excellent on the plane. She took a 2 ½ hr nap in the beginning of the flight and a 2-hour nap towards the end. She ate the meals (or part of them) perfectly.

She finally conked out in the Newark airport while in her stroller all the while maintaining the death grip on the half-eaten banana. We were able to carry her on to the plane sleeping, buckle her in to her seat (still sleeping) and then fly the 35 minute flight to Albany. Kassie woke when we carried her off the plane. We put her back into her stroller and walked out as a new family to greet those that were waiting patiently at the gate. Thank you Liam and Fiona for the great sign. Thank you Drew for the awesome car. Thanks to everyone else for the balloons and hugs and good wishes. Tears were flying and it was a joyous arrival home.

Bill and Kristin are really going to have a long row ahead. So far two different families have told us the same thing….since Kassie was with a foster family, her loyalty is still to her foster mother and foster father. Bill and Kristin are not going to have that outpouring of affection until she decides it is okay. MeMa and PaPa are fine and she has bonded with them well. We know what lies ahead and we also know how much we love her and want her and therefore that will conquer all!! Thanks for all the comments throughout the trip…..

We do plan to update the blog for a while longer so if you would like to still check in over early coffee or at the end of your day…please feel free. Now that the “Search for Kassandra” is over, the journey of “Kassie -Fu” has just begun.