Hello from Columbia, Missouri, United States of America!!!
Well, life is now---as you parents know---a complete whirlwind, and I got sick on the way home for a day or two, so I've been unable to write, but I figured I owed you guys a conclusion to the ongoing Cooper saga. I'm extremely happy to report that we made it home Saturday morning. Finally.
COMING HOME
We had last Thursday "off", so we made one last shopping tour to get some souvenirs (a touristy Chinese-print tie will be making an appearance at an office near you!) and made one more swim with the kid (even in light rain). Jennifer visited the American Consulate on Thursday to get Cooper's visa package, which turned out to be way more than just a visa sticker on his passport like it was for us from the Chinese Consulate. He got a whole package of documents, encased in a non-descript, letter-sized brown envelope, itself encased in plastic. We were told not to open the contents and to deliver it directly to the Immigration officials in the United States. The envelope even had ink stamps across the flap to discourage us from opening it. We felt like international spies or something.
Friday was one of those days like the outbound trip, exhausting but exciting. We could not wait to get home. We woke at 5 AM (now totally shifted into China time, which has a single time zone), flew from Guangzhou to Shanghai (2.5 hours), waited 5 hours, then boarded the marathon flight of 14 hours back to Newark, NJ. Thankfully, the Boeing 777's entertainment system was working and we made sure not to sit by the freezing exit door (things opposite the outbound flight). We departed at 3:45 PM, flew 14 hours, and landed around 6 PM---halfway around the word on only 2.5 clock hours! We read, watched movies, ate four meals, and entertained our young passenger. I celebrated with Cooper on his new citizenship, which became effective the moment we hit US soil. We have decided that Cooper is a really good traveler: a few minor upsets, but no real problems with flying for 14 hours, and again no issues with air pressure changes. Wow (even Dad had a little bit of the latter).
We waited in long lines for Immigration and then US Customs, and eventually got to a hotel to spend most of our 11-hour layover. We caught the 5:30 AM flight to Houston, and got into IAH around 8:30 AM Saturday. I was so weak and feverish, I could hardly walk, but we made it somehow.
After we got home, it took days to get adjusted to Houston time, since we were completely shifted to China time which is 12 hours later. We were so out of whack that I slept Saturday night until 4 AM Sunday and stayed awake until early Tuesday morning. Immersing myself in Americana, I relished the Cardinals beating the Cubs on ESPN and---very exciting---I took Cooper on his very first Taco Bell visit! The sleep deprivation program continued overnight on Monday, as Meghan and I stayed up all night and watched movies because we were so awake.
After some important visits to Cooper's doctor and two day-care centers (ironically, we received an offer at the JSC one while we were in China), and decided that Cooper was such a good traveler, we'd set out for Missouri to meet the (quite anxious) grandparents. Fifteen hours on the road suddenly seemed less daunting after all those hours on an airplane. (Cooper must think he was adopted by gypsies.)
COOPER AND DAD
Cooper continues to make progress, and this whole affair with him feels a bit like a love story to me. He is absolutely amazing. Like all parents I assume, I've come to know all his little faces and sounds and what they mean, and can usually anticipate what will make him laugh or cry. I love the little grunting sound he makes when he sees a dog, how he claps his hands when his toy car plays its song, and the big smile he always gets when I offer to pick him up. I can't wait for our relationship to be enriched even further with language (he can already say several words we've taught him, and can understand even more), and I can feel my love for him growing every day. Again, this is old stuff for you parents, but I often wonder where this intrinsic parenting motivation comes from. In this case, I can't attribute it to him being "mine", biologically, but it's still there. It must be instinctual, as we saw many other people in China adopting kids from another country because they did not have any (or enough) of their own. Anyway, it's just an amazing thing, and I'm glad to get to experience it. I know it will be a lot of effort and cost and worry, but for me, it's the only thing that really matters in life when all is said and done. I can't wait to watch him grow and learn.
CHINA
Finally a word of reflection about China. I realized on my last day there that I had this dichotomy going on in my brain: I was so tired of all the people, people everywhere, but I had really enjoyed meeting Chinese people on a personal basis. From half a world away and often without language to help us connect, we made some friends across the planet. There was the old man I played "cheen toe" with (hacky sack but with a weighted feather) in the park. There were the giggling teenage girls who asked to take Cooper's picture inside KFC, or the ones who wanted Meghan's picture or my picture (you can just hear them saying later, "look, here are some strange Americans we saw in the city"). There was the waitress in Xi'An that could not stop smiling and staring at Cooper, fixing his bib, filling his water, serving him congee unsolicited. There was the shopkeeper Jordan that spoke very good---and very sales-oriented---English---who wrote Cooper's name in Chinese calligraphy for free. Our guides, "Celine" and "Jennifer", had been exceedingly helpful, Celine even going inside the airport and waiting in line with us to make sure we got checked in, and Jennifer performing the life-saving task of ordering us a pizza from Papa John's on our last night (need I say how good THAT tasted?). And, of course, I was touched by Cooper's orphanage "Grandma" and teacher, who greeted me with big smiles and showed absolutely no suspicion or resentment about their wonderful "Xinyan" being uprooted to another country by a complete stranger. I had wondered if we would experience any feelings of resentment from the Chinese people, perhaps generated from a foreigner taking one of their children away, but in fact---while it may have been a case of "if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything"---we had several Chinese strangers on the plane or on the street tell us that they believed Cooper was lucky or would have a good life. Without exception, especially when people laid eyes on Cooper, we were met with a smile. (I realized later that, since verbal communication was usually impossible, the smile alone had been the common facilitator in all the personal interactions above, proving to me once again that it may be the cheapest, greatest gift you can give anyone. It truly serves as the universal communicator of good will.)
DONE BUT JUST STARTING
OK, so now my new life and Cooper's new life begin, together. I truly appreciate you reading these "blog" entries and coming along with me on this journey. Knowing that I had a connection to people back home really helped me survive the international, inter-cultural isolation. After we get back from Missouri next week, I'll see those of you in Houston soon so you can meet my little import.
Thanks for coming along,
Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment