We have been back from China since August 7, so I decided that I better get busy and post our story to the list. I know how much I liked reading other people's travel stories while I was waiting so I will share ours with you. I kept a journal throughout the entire process so I hope that my story doesn't get too long, if so, please just hit the delete key.
First an introduction. We are Debbie and Phil Searcy and we live south of Huntsville, Alabama. Our dossier went to China in October 1996 and we are non-special needs.
Morgan's Story - Part 1
Joyce, our facilitator, called us at about 1:00 in the morning on Thursday, July 17 to tell us that we have a daughter. She had gotten up during the night and decided to check her email and the referral information was there for our group of six families.
Our daughter was named Huang FuYu and was born October 4, 1996. She was in the Huangshi Children's Welfare Institute in Hubei Province so we would be traveling to Wuhan to get her. We had decided to name her Morgan Lin.
The real shock came when we were told that we would be leaving Huntsville on Friday, July 25 to get our daughter. This meant we had a lot to get done and only a week to do it. Our facilitator coordinated our travel arrangements and got us the best fare available on such short notice.
Since we had no information on Morgan's size, I decided at the last minute to buy some 12 month size clothing just in case she was bigger than we thought she would be. I took a variety of sizes from 6 month to 12 month.
During the week before travel, we got out the car seat and decided to figure out how to install it. We had purchased the convertible kind and discovered that it was rather complicated to install in the rear-facing position. We decided that we should buy a separate infant car seat for ease of use. Now that we are home, I am really glad that we did. It is great for carrying Morgan in when she falls asleep in the car.
On Thursday, July 24 (the day before our departure), I spent most of the day packing. It was difficult to decide which suitcases to use and what to take. I had lots of packing lists to use but it was still very time consuming.
We got up at 3:45 am on Friday, July 25 in order to get to the airport for our 6:50 am departure for Memphis. Four of the families from our group were from the Huntsville area so we were all traveling together. Also, our facilitator, her 2 year old daughter, and her mother were traveling with us. Since some of us were early enough, Northwest airlines put us on the 6:30 flight to Memphis. In Memphis, we met up with another member of our group. The other family in our group would meet us in Hong Kong.
From Memphis we flew to Detroit, then Tokyo, and then Hong Kong. We were flying coach, but Phil and I lucked out on the flight from Detroit to Tokyo. We had seats on the side in an exit row. There were only two seats there and lots of leg room since the flight attendant seats were opposite ours. We finally arrived in Hong Kong approximately 27 hours after leaving Huntsville. We got through customs and immigration with no problems and headed for the airport hotel in Hong Kong to spend the night.
Our flight from Hong Kong to Wuhan was not until 7:40 pm on Sunday so we had quite a bit of time to rest from our journey. We had requested a late checkout from the hotel which meant we could stay there until 4:00 pm. At 4:00, we met up with the rest of the group in the hotel lobby and walked back to the airport. When we went to check in at the China Southern counter, we learned that we each needed 100 Hong Kong dollars for departure tax. Since none of us had any Hong Kong dollars, we sent people off to get money exchanged. Since our flight was not until 7:40, we still had lots of time to hang around in the airport.
Our flight to Wuhan was delayed until 8:00 so it was about 10:30 when we arrived in Wuhan and met Lily, our Chinese facilitator. We had a scary moment when we were ready to get off the plane and I couldn't find our passports. I had them on my lap and apparently dropped them.
We were the first ones in our group through customs and immigration. When we got through, a man came up and told us that he was the local guy and we should put our luggage over by the door. Since we didn't know who this guy was we were rather skeptical, but we walked over there with our luggage and stayed with it. It turned out that he was our local tour guide in Wuhan.
When we got on the bus to go to the hotel, Lily gave us the pictures of our babies. Of course, Morgan is really cute. I cried when I saw the picture, although it was really strange because I know I had seen that picture before. Lily told us that we would be getting our babies at 10:00 on Monday morning.
To Be Continued
Monday, July 28 - Gotcha Day!!!
We didn't get much sleep last night. We went to bed late and then had trouble sleeping. We had the alarm set for 6:30 but were up before the alarm went off. We met the rest of our group for breakfast at 8:00. Everyone was really excited since the babies were scheduled to arrive at 10:00.
After breakfast we went back to the room to get things ready. Some of the others in our group were still down in the lobby when 4 of the babies arrived. Of the six babies being adopted by our group, 4 were from one orphanage and 2 were from another. We knew that Morgan was not one of the ones in the lobby since she was coming from the orphanage where only 2 of the babies were from. Phil and I went down to the lobby to buy some bottled water and saw the babies when we walked through.
By 10:00, all of our group was gathered in the area in front of the elevator waiting to go get our babies. It was after 10:00 when we were finally told it was time to go to the conference room in the hotel. When we went into the conference room, all of the babies were there. They had a formal ceremony of presenting each of us with our babies. We were the second ones to get our baby. Morgan was really laid back and calm when they handed her to me. It was really hard to believe that she was really ours.
After the presentation of the babies, we went back to our rooms for half an hour to change the babies and fix them bottles. Morgan had several puss-filled bumps on her head and some heat rash on her back. Her head had been shaved so she had very little hair. She was dressed in a short-sleeved, short outfit with split pants. She had a diaper under the outfit but it was not fastened. She was also wearing knee-socks that were like nylon stockings. The only time she cried was when I took her shirt off over her head, it was tight and hard to get off. She didn't want a bottle and seemed content to be held.
We went back downstairs to the conference room to do some paperwork. We had to sign several documents and put red fingerprints on them. Morgan also had to put a red footprint on one of the documents. While we were doing the paperwork, the director of the orphanage held Morgan. When we finished, we took a picture of him holding her. We were given several gifts from the orphanage. We were also given a paper to take back to our rooms to write why we wanted to adopt and that we would never abandon or abuse our daughter. It was to contain basically the same information that was on the application letter in our dossier. We had a copy of our dossier with us so we were able to copy most of the letter onto this form.
Once this paperwork was completed for the group, we went back to our rooms to wait for further instructions. Joyce and Lily came around to collect the gifts and the donation for the orphanage.
Morgan sat on the bed with Phil and fell asleep at about 12:20. We had to wake her at 2:30 in order to go to the notary. We fixed her a bottle but she wouldn't drink it. We tried a couple kinds of nipples and even enlarged the hole in one, but still no luck. She wasn't fussy and didn't act hungry.
We went by chartered bus to the notary. We were asked some questions there, although I don't remember what they were. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a grocery store to buy some Chinese formula. Then we stopped to have pictures taken since we needed them for the paperwork. We did not know in advance that we would need a picture of the two of us for the paperwork while in China.
When we got back to the hotel, we tried once again to feed Morgan. She still wouldn't eat, even with the Chinese formula. We also tried to feed her rice cereal with a spoon and tried giving her formula in a cup. She did eat some Cheerios, but that was about all. After that, I fell asleep from exhaustion. Phil also put Morgan to sleep. I slept until almost 8:00. Then we decided to wake Morgan and go get some dinner at the Western restaurant in the hotel. At dinner, Phil fed her some rice which she liked. We ordered her some congee and got a little bit of it into her.
After dinner, we went back to the room and tried to make some phone calls to home. Unfortunately, we were not able to get through. We put Morgan in a sleeper for bed. It was a 6-9 month size and was really too small for her. She went off to sleep without much trouble.
One additional note about Gotcha Day. When I looked back in my journal to a year ago, I discovered that the first time I had a dream about our daughter was one year before we held her in our arms.
To Be Continued
Tuesday, July 29
Morgan slept until about 3:30 am. When she woke up, we put her on my bed where she dozed until about 5. We then tried a bottle with just the formula that Lily said they used in the orphanage. She said it was very sweet. Morgan drank the whole bottle, much to our relief. Phil said he hadn't slept at all because he was worried about Morgan not drinking her bottle. After her bottle, she napped again for a while.
Then it was bath time. We had a small blow-up tub that we put in the big tub. Morgan didn't like it at all and really got mad. We were actually pleased to see her show so much emotion since up until then she had been very quiet and complacent.
We went down to breakfast at a little after 8:00. Eventually all of the families in our group showed up at the breakfast buffet. Everyone seemed to be doing better than they had been the previous day. Morgan ate quite a bit of rice and congee. We stayed down there until Morgan got fussy at about 10:00. When we returned to our room, Morgan went to sleep. We actually saw our first smile from Morgan while we were at breakfast. She was so serious and somber so we were thrilled to see her smile.
This afternoon, we went with our group to the Hubei Provincial Museum. It was interesting but was very hot since it was not air conditioned. The weather in Wuhan was actually hotter and more humid than it is in Alabama. After the museum, we went to a Chinese department store. Everywhere we went, the people watched us and came up to see the babies.
This evening we did manage to make phone calls to our parents. We kept them very brief but wanted to let them know that we had Morgan.
Wednesday, July 30
We did not have any official business to conduct either yesterday or today. We were just waiting for the provincial paperwork to be finished and Morgan's passport to be issued. There were plans to go to the Yellow Crane Tower this morning and the Jade Factory this afternoon. We decided that it was too hot for the morning excursion but that we would go to the Jade Factory in the afternoon. After breakfast, Morgan went to sleep. Then Joyce came and told us that plans had changed. No one wanted to go to the Yellow Crane Tower because of the heat so they were going to the Jade Factory this morning. Even though we wanted to go, we decided to let Morgan sleep. Later when we learned that Morgan's Chinese name means precious jade and her middle name of Lin means jade, we really wished that we had gotten to go to the jade factory.
We noticed amazing changes in Morgan at lunch time. She went from being very passive to grabbing things off of the table. We ventured downstairs to the Chinese restaurant with one of the other couples for lunch. We had to order by pointing to things in the menu. I tried to order spring rolls but the waitress told me that they were seasonal. We ended up with chicken with cashews, fried rice, and dumplings. There was a cooler with soft drinks behind the bar in the restaurant. I tried to order an orange soda from the cooler but the waitress couldn't figure out what I wanted. I went over and pointed to it, to which she responded "Ah, Sunkist". I should have used the brand name.
This afternoon Morgan did not want to take a nap. We tried to get her to sleep but we were not successful. She got rather fussy and we ended up walking up and down the hall with her.
The air conditioning in our hotel was not working very well this afternoon. Holding Morgan made us even hotter. Two of the families in our group changed hotel rooms because their rooms were too hot. Ours wasn't too bad as long as we kept the door to the hall open since it was cooler in the hall.
Thursday, July 31
Phil said that Morgan said "Da Da" this morning. I wasn't in the room so I missed it. We got her to eat rice cereal today and she really liked it. She has become very playful and enjoys her toys while sitting on someone's lap. We did manage to get her to sit on the bed right next to me to play. However, mostly we cannot put her down while she is awake. She wants to be held all of the time.
Phil taught Morgan to feed herself Cheerios today. Now she can pick them up out of our hands and put them in her mouth.
Morgan is moving around a lot more. She managed to get her hands up around the bar on the side of the crib and pulled her head up so she could see us.
Today we had to pay money for several things: we paid $210 US and 200 RMB for Morgan's passport, $600 US for the notary, and $953 US for the hotels in Wuhan and Guangzhou and our airfare from Wuhan to Guangzhou. The travel agent in Wuhan got us good prices on the hotels but we had to pay cash instead of putting it on our credit cards. The hotel in Wuhan cost around $50 US per night and included a complimentary breakfast buffet. The rate he got us for the White Swan was around $85 US per night and also included a complimentary breakfast buffet for two each morning.
This evening we had a meeting in the hotel with Mme. Wang - the head of the Hubei Province orphanages. She gave us Morgan's passport and several other papers and said that Morgan is now officially ours. Wow!!!
To Be Continued
Friday, August 1
We had to get up early to get ready to leave for Guangzhou. The bus for the airport left at 9:00 am and our flight was scheduled for 10:55 am. When we got to the airport, we learned that our flight was delayed but we had no idea how long the delay would be. After waiting a while, they announced that we should go to the service counter for a box meal. The meal had a chicken wing, rice, pork and potatoes, some sort of melon, and a soft drink.
The long delay was really starting to get to all of us and to the babies. Lily went and talked to the airport manager and got him to let us wait in the first class lounge. It was much nicer with soft chairs and room to spread out. While we were in there, two Chinese girls came in and walked around and looked at all of the babies. They ended up spending quite a bit of time in there with us and played with our American facilitator's 2-year old daughter. One positive thing that happened during the long wait was that Morgan laughed for us for the first time.
Some of us did venture into the restroom to use the Chinese toilets during our long wait. It was pretty dirty and the floor was wet and slippery. My biggest fear was that my foot would slip and go into the hole in the floor. One of the women in our group decided that she could hold it after seeing the toilet.
When we were finally given a departure time, it was for 4:10 pm. We finally did leave at around 4:40 pm. Getting on the airplane was extremely hot. We had to stand in the jetway for a while and then the plane was also hot so we were all pretty miserable.
When we got to Guangzhou, we had to collect all of our luggage and take it quite a long distance to the bus. It had rained in Guangzhou but was still very warm. By the time we got to the White Swan, we were worn out. It took a while to get us checked in to our rooms. We decided that room service was the way to go for dinner.
Before bedtime, Morgan was playing on the bed with Daddy and she was laughing some more. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.
Saturday, August 2
We had to go for the medical exam and to get immunizations this morning. The medical exam was really minimal although Morgan did not like them looking at her and poking her. Fortunately, she only had to have one immunization which was for Hep B. The other babies in our group had to have multiple immunizations. We gave Morgan some Motrin before we took her. The person giving the shots, asked if it was OK to use their needle. I guess they have gotten used to Americans bringing their own. We did not object to them using their needle. Morgan did not fuss as much as we expected when she got the shot and fortunately had no reaction afterward.
The weather in Guangzhou was not real great. Typhoon Victor was in the area so it was very rainy and windy. We were glad that we had an umbrella and rain ponchos.
Morgan is really playing a lot now. She laughs a lot and seems to be very happy. This morning we gave her Isomil instead of the Chinese formula. I put some sugar in it and she really liked it. When Phil made some more later, he forgot to put the sugar in and she still liked it.
We went to the business center at the White Swan to send email to our siblings. We were not certain that it actually got sent however. There were some problems due to the weather and the people working in the business center on Saturday evening were not real sure how it was supposed to work. It cost 80 yuan or about $10 US. Unfortunately, when we returned home, we learned that the email did not get sent.
To Be Continued
Sunday, August 3
We made a trip to the Friendship Store this afternoon. We bought a couple of souvenirs and had an interesting time buying silk pajamas. They didn't have the right size for Morgan so we decided to buy larger ones. However, the sales clerk kept saying "too big" and didn't want to sell them to us. It took a while but we finally convinced her that we wanted them.
This evening we found out that Morgan knows how to crawl. She was playing on the bed with Daddy and just started crawling.
Monday, August 4
This was a free day for us since we were not able to get US Consulate appointments until tomorrow. We had an open area in front of our room, so we put down a cover and made a play area for Morgan and any other babies that wanted to join in. We also did some shopping at the shops in the White Swan and at the Shop on the Stairs. We decided to get a chop for Morgan and one for each of our nieces and nephews.
We decided to buy an umbrella stroller at the White Swan since I am going to have to manage Morgan by myself on the trip from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. We were unable to get enough tickets for our entire travel group on the evening flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong on Wednesday. Since our flight from Hong Kong home is Thursday morning and we won't have the babies' visas until 3:00 Wednesday afternoon, the Daddies and travel companions are leaving for Hong Kong on a Wednesday morning flight. All of the Mommies will stay in Guangzhou with the babies until we get their visas Wednesday afternoon.
Morgan has really changed in the week since we got her. She has changed from the quiet, somber baby to a baby that laughs and plays a lot.
Tuesday, August 5
We got the babies' visa pictures taken on our way to the US Consulate to apply for Morgan's visa. When we had the visa interview they did not ask us any questions. It was pretty simple.
Morgan has now figured out how to pull herself up and stand in the crib. She is so proud of herself.
We decided to try one of the Chinese restaurants in the White Swan for dinner tonight. We had some trouble communicating with our waitress. We ordered two dishes, one of them came but the other never did. We also tried to get a refill on our water and were given hot water instead of cold. We had a hard time getting her to understand that we wanted cold water. She finally got someone else to help figure out what we wanted.
Wednesday, August 6
Part of the group had to leave Guangzhou for Hong Kong this morning. Phil took all of our luggage with him. He checked it at the travel office at the White Swan for a cost of 50 yuan per bag. When he got to the airport, he had to pay an additional 240 yuan for overweight luggage since he was taking all of our luggage on one ticket.
At 3:00, Lily went to the consulate to get our babies' visas. Before leaving for the airport, we managed to get pictures of all of the babies. We put them on a couch in the White Swan lobby and snapped a bunch of pictures.
The trip from Guangzhou to Hong Kong went well. Morgan slept on the bus to the airport and played on the flight. Her new trick for today was to show me that she could hold her own bottle.
Thursday, August 7
Homeward Bound!!! We stayed overnight at the airport hotel in Hong Kong and went to the airport to check in at 7:00 am. We were in the check-in line for families behind the rest of our travel group. By the time we got to the check-in counter it was after 8:00 and we had been in line for over an hour. Some members of our group had not gotten advance seat assignments and since the flight was full, they were having trouble getting them seats together. After checking in, we headed for departure immigration and then to our gate. The flight was boarding when we got to the gate.
From then on it was lots of time on airplanes. We traveled from Hong Kong to Tokyo to Chicago to Memphis to Huntsville. Immigration in Chicago was very easy. The flight from Tokyo to Chicago was very long. The flight attendant asked the man next to us to move to the seat across the aisle but he refused since that seat would not lean back.
When we finally arrived in Huntsville, we could see lots of people at the terminal windows. We figured they were there to greet others in our group since we were not expecting anyone to meet us. As we walked across the tarmac (we were on a commuter plane and did not use a jetway) people were waving to us from the windows. When we walked upstairs we found that there were 32 people from our church waiting to greet us and Morgan. It was a wonderful surprise and a great welcome home for our daughter.
Philip and Debbie Searcy in Alabama