After a LONG 22 hours in route, we are HOME!!!
Our trek started by meeting in the hotel lobby at 5:30a. I'll spare you the details, but you can imagine the happiness and outpouring of love we received from an 8 year old boy and 9 year old girl with only 5 hours of sleep :) I have to admit that I wasn't a picture of joy myself! However, the lack of sleep, believe it or not, was part of my big plan to get back on Eastern Standard Time!
Our flight from Guangzhou to Tokyo was great. The only little "snag" we had was barely making it on the flight from Tokyo to HOME. Once we arrived in Tokyo, we had to go through security again, with our 7, yes, I said 7, carry-on bags. I, of course, chose the line with the "trainee" security guy with an attitude. Is it just me, or is there someone else out there who ALWAYS picks the line with the slowest workers? Happens at the grocery store, the bank, and anywhere else I have the opportunity to choose my own line! Arghh. Oh well, anyway, we had to run from security to our gate and made it as they were announcing that the gate was closing!
On a better note, I wanted to mention our great seating arrangement. From Guangzhou to Tokyo Kam, Thea and I sat together and Mark was across the aisle. Behind us sat a fellow adoptive mother, her 10 year old son and the 12 year old daughter they had just adopted. Behind Mark was the grandma. The mother, Pam, and I talked between seats for quite a while during the flight. Kam introduced himself to her son, Ian. They played Nintendo DS together for most of the flight.
Pam and I had so much in common (she also has a 6 year old son at home, adopted from China 2 years ago and a 5 year old daughter). The boys had a great time together and BONUS . . . (at least from Kam's perspective), they both spoke English! :) I asked the mother where they were headed after Tokyo. She told me her flight number - it was the same as ours! Then I asked for their seat #'s. We were in seats 60 D,E,F & G. Their family was in 59 D,E,F & G!!! Out of more than 600 passengers, we were seated right next to eachother! ! This was not a coincidence. I have more to say on that in another post. Kam and Ian enjoyed playing games together, drawing together and watching movies together for most of our 12+ hour flight. Kam was so happy. Mark was able to sleep for most of the flight (whateverrrr). Thea enjoyed movies and slept on and off as well. She was an angel, no issues the entire duration!
As for me, well, I don't sleep on airplanes (not without medication anyway :)). I was trying, hoping, praying to sleep through "27 dresses", "Horton Hears a Who", "Definitely Maybe" or assorted episodes of "Cash Cab". I would have paid to sleep through the airline instructions on how to keep from getting leg vein clots!! In short (well, not short, I don't do short, remember?), by the time we landed, I had been up for almost 36 hours straight.
On arrival, we were greeted by Ben, Janie and Eva, both Grandmas, my sister Kim, my nieces and awesome friends! If you know me, you won't be surprised that I arranged for the kids and I to wear hokey matching shirts. Mark boycotted his matching shirt at the last minute and I certainly wasn't up for a rebuttal at that point.
We arrived at 1:45p and had to stay awake until bedtime. My next entry shows pics of our first "1/2 day" home :)
Photo for PaPa Mark. I was trying to capture the golf course in Tokyo as we landed.
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