Our Adoption Journal: Day 17: Consulate Appointment and Canton Tower

Daddy (Ba Ba) blogger back again...

(500,000 music nerd points if whoomp! there it is just got in your head)

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS!

Months of paperwork, planning and preparation all lead to this day - the consulate visit. Every important document collected along the journey all ends up here. It is fun to see papers previously prepared and provided to the adoption authorities show up again. I enjoy seeing the entire process fit into a single envelope. (500 literary nerd points if you always appreciate alliteration)

We woke up early, got ready, enjoyed breakfast and met in the lobby at 7:35 AM. We took the van to the medical testing building to pick up the final medical report paperwork from the medical appointment over the weekend. It comes sealed. You don't open it until requested by the consulate representative during the visa appointment. It is always cool to get documents that are sealed, especially in today's digital era. After we got the report, we crossed the street over to the Consulate General of the United States of America.

This is one of my favorite parts of the adoption journey. Early every morning thousands of Chinese citizens line up outside of the consulate to try and get in to get whatever it is they need from the Consulate (including visa's like we were there to obtain for Ian). Then there is a line for U.S. citizens. You get to stroll past hundreds and hundreds of people lined up around the massive block and walk right up and into the Consulate. I encouraged the other families to walk with extra swagger. I love me some swagger, and what better time to use it. U-S-A!

You aren't really allowed to take much into the Consulate, and what you do take you have to put into clear containers. We use giant zip-loc bags for diapers, wipes, pacifiers, our passports and the adoption paperwork. No cameras or phones allowed. We cleared security checkpoint inside and then headed up to the second floor. It is interesting how one can acquire a fondness for various locations. The elevator to the second floor is one of them for me. Sort of random, but it is the thing that literarily takes you to the end of the in country adoption process. It is a precious place.

We were the first family in line for the day. We got our number from the window to solidify our place in line. The first two adoption visa visits we got fancy printed tickets with our number on it. This time we got scrap paper with a number one written in permanent marker. Fancy. We then took our seat to wait for our turn. The Consulate added a beverage vending machine to the waiting area. That was a solid upgrade. Of course, Ian was fascinated by it and pressed a bunch of buttons. It was 5 RMB for a can of soda. Ian apparently didn't have a 5, so he tried shoving five 1 RMB bills (folded nonetheless) into the machine all at once. Like most 13 year olds, money burns a hole in his pocket. So I suppose if something is on fire in your pants, shoving it into a machine isn't such a terrible idea. However, as you may have guessed, the machine did not accept his money. I went and put a 5 spot into the machine for him and he got a sprite. And then set it on the window ledge. And left it there. Didn't drink it the whole visit. Or that day. You'll have to keep reading future blog posts to find out the fate of this beverage.

Number 1 was called and I headed up to the window. I submitted our paperwork packet. Such a good feeling. They returned the medical report back to me and requested that I open it. I did. Old-timey awesome. They looked through everything and prepared everything for processing. They gave me back two of the four items I was supposed to collect during the appointment, and then I took my seat to wait for the visa interview.

The visa agent then opened the interview window and had 1 representative from each family come up to take the oath that all of the paperwork we prepared and submitted was true and accurate to the best of our knowledge. I repeated the oath and then it was time to wait for our interview. The kids all played with the toys in the play area during the various waiting times. One of the windowpanes of glass had shattered prior to our arrival. My guess is one of the wooden toy blocks got thrown into it. Lily thought that theory was viable. One of the adoptive dads in our travel group had previously worked in the glass industry. So he taught Lily all about how the glass is heated and cooled to make the shatter proofing effect, and shee the wheress was strongest, and why it cracked the way it did. She loves to learn (even if she sometimes doesn't think so while school is in session).

Then we got called up to do the visa interview. The agent asked us a few questions about Ian and what we knew about him from his file. We said we wanted to adopt him and care for him as our son. With the first two adoptions, this concluded the interview. But since Ian is over 10, the agent also asks him questions too.

During the oath taking earlier, the agent explains the process for the day and then asks if any of the adoptees are over 10 and if so explains the additional steps for them. We were the only family in this group with a child that age, so everyone else had to listen to the instructions that only I needed. That's how I roll.

The agent spoke to Ian in mandarin and asked him questions. Things like are we taking good care of him, does he like his new family and most importantly, do you want to go live in America with them. This last one is a big deal. The adoptee must consent to go to the US, otherwise the Consulate will not issue a visa. Much to our pleasure, Ian answered this question with a big smile and a yes. The agent summarized for us what he had been talking about with Ian (since the only words we heard that we knew were mama and baba). He let us know that the US visa would be ready for Ian's Chinese passport the next day. He gave us the remaining items we needed to collect and we were done.

We waited in the consulate for the other families in our travel group to finish up. We could have left - but there were thousands of people outside and there was no play area, so we waited. When everyone was done, we headed back to the medical appointment building to meet our guide. Then it was back to the hotel.

When we got back to the hotel, I put away all the important paperwork and then grabbed my backpack for a shopping trip. I got a taxi to go back to Shamian Island to pick up a few items we missed over the weekend. I grabbed a sandwich and a travel mug from Starbucks. I met another adoptive family there and had a nice chat. I then made return trip's to Michael's, Amy's and Jenny's to get a mei mei / little sister shirt for Jemma and some more squeaker shoes for her too. I took a quick peek at the lobby of the white swan hotel - it was closed for rennovations during Jemma's adoption, and we never made it to the island during Sammy's. I snapped a quick picture and then took a taxi back to the Garden.

(100,000 literary nerd points if you counted all of the occurrences of alliteration in this post)

No cameras allowed in the Consulate, so not many pictures. But don't worry, we took one hundred million photos of the view atop Canton Tower. And they are all awesome. We've provided the highlight reel for you faithful readers.

Lily found lilies while waiting for medical paperwork needed for visa

Lunch at Paddy's

First taxi ride

As seen on Amazing Race

"no climbing"

I'm sure everyone first sees my adorable daughter in this photo, followed by the stunning view of being up higher in the air than skyscrapers. But did anyone else notice the fire extinguisher? If not, now you can't unsee it. Sorry. It was a cute picture. Hopefully you enjoyed it before I ruined it.