Kari is hanging in there. Last night, she went to bed early with Christopher, so my phone call woke her up and I only got a brief report on the day.

Yesterday's business included completing the Chinese adoption papers so that now, in China's eyes at least, Kari is officially Christopher's mother. Christopher seems to be coming to the same realization, although he's taking his time about it. After Kari finished signing the documents, Christopher began cheerfully yelling at her in Chinese, “Come on, Ma-ma, let's go!” After a few unsuccessful attempts, he said something that set the other ladies in the room tittering and covering their mouths. When Kari asked, someone finally translated Christopher's indignation: “I don't know why I'm talking to Ma-ma. She doesn't understand anything I say!”

After returning to the hotel, likely triggered by further communication frustration, Christopher had a meltdown and started crying for his “Auntie” (Kari's travel guide) and his Chinese mother. Kari held him and tried to soothe him and he eventually caved in. Shortly thereafter, Kari's jet lag kicked in (and probably some emotional exhaustion as well) and she decided to take him to a nearby park to tire him out.¹ Her plan seemed to work and they soon returned to the hotel room for a quick dinner and then bedtime.

Kari's efforts were ultimately rewarded when Christopher, nearly asleep, climbed into Kari's arms, snuggled against her neck and gave her a kiss on the cheek--a moment that I'm sure Kari will cherish forever.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Tonight I got to hear my son's voice. It wasn't much more than several repetitions of “Ni hao, Ba-ba! Hello!” followed by several repetitions of “Tsai chien! bye-bye!” and lots of giggling, but it sounded like music. Ben (aka, Guh-guh) got a chance to converse with his new little brother and, after a few minutes of mutual incomprehensibility, handed the phone back to me with a bemused look. Ben is going to have his hands full.

It was explained to Kari that Christopher might have a hard time accepting her, given that he had spent the previous years in a foster home as opposed to an orphanage. So, Kari steeled herself as Christopher entered the room where she was waiting. He was all smiles and giggles though, saying “Ni Hao, Ma-ma,” as he headed straight for the toys and started playing. He got really excited when Kari gave him a toy fire truck and car and he seemed to have no hesitation heading back to the hotel with her. There was a brief meltdown in the hotel just prior to bedtime, but it may have been the frustration of the language barrier more than anything else.

After the first night, Kari feels a little more sure of herself and Christopher sure sounds happy. While I talked to Kari, he kept interupting her with some kind of important news, something that involved truck sounds and beeping noises.

Kari has a long day ahead as she begins doing battle with the Chinese and American bureaucracies. She's up to it, though. She's tired from jet-lag, but happy. And the source of that happiness will be right there with her, for the rest of her life.

Posted by ksmoker at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Thirty-four hours. That's how long it took Kari to get from one side of the world too the other. Unlike my mostly uneventful journey, Kari's trek included some, well, events. Getting up at 4AM to catch her connecting flight to Dulles was no big deal, but she knew the fun was beginning when she found herself seated next to a crotchety ex-insurance adjuster for the 13+ hour flight to Beijing. To give you an idea: after hearing all about the sorry state of American politics, culture, economy, etc., Kari was also given to understand that this gentleman's prostate surgery three years ago has had no adverse impact on his relationship with his Chinese girlfriend, if you know what he means.

So after bidding adieu to her traveling companion, Kari left the international terminal at the Beijing airport and entered China proper. There, she had a seven-hour layover in which to get accustomed to the disorienting absence of English, the lack of personal space, and the constant stares. This all pretty much creeped her out, but she got some comedic relief when a couple dozen 8-12 year olds, apparently on some kind of field trip, descended upon her not long before the flight to Nanning was about to leave. Eager to practice their English, they all took turns asking her the same questions over and over again: “How are you?”, “What is your name?”, etc. Of course, Kari was her naturally accommodating self so she kept up the conversation en route, as the kids fought over who would sit next to her on the plane. In the end, she actually autographed a dozen or so notebooks, two t-shirts, and a baseball cap.

Unfortunately, one of the kids sitting directly behind her was not feeling so well and made use of all the air sickness bags in the rows immediately surrounding his seat. Needless to say, Kari did not get any rest on the way to Nanning. Luckily, knowing that her flight would be arriving late, the agency scheduled the adoption for the afternoon. Hopefully she'll be able to rest and build some strength for the frenzied and full days ahead.

So, Kari is currently in Nanning, safe-and-sound, hopefully sleeping, and just a few hours away from meeting Christopher.

By the time Ben wakes up tomorrow, he will be a brother.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

That's what Kari is going to be. On Saturday she leaves for Nanning, the capital city of Christopher's home province of Guangxi. On the southern edge of China bordering Vietnam, Guangxi has a subtropical climate. Here is the weather forecast for days just prior to her arrival:

Quite a contrast from the mid-January weather that Ben and I experienced in Shenyang.

Posted by ksmoker at 6:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We got the call. We're official. But because it's Saturday morning in China, we have to wait until Monday to find out when Kari can leave to get Christopher.

It's going to be a looooong weekend!

UPDATE 7/16: No dates yet, but we're hoping that son and mother will be back in the first half of August...

Posted by ksmoker at 7:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)