Christmas 2010 has been a time of reflection for our family. In a little over two years we have grown from empty nesters to raising two energetic and joyful little girls. Last year we stood in the Nanjing Civil Affairs office holding the small hand of Chu Fang Ran and vowing to love and cherish her as our 2nd Chinese born daughter. The journey to Anna was exhilarating as well as exhausting. In five short months to the day that we first saw her picture and learned her story, Anna found her forever family.
I remember the trip as if it were yesterday. On December 23rd, 2009 we left Seattle on a non-stop flight to Beijing arriving at 4:20 PM China time on Christmas Eve. We were scheduled to have a two hour lay-over in Beijing and then fly on to Xuzhou to arrive at 6:30. A delayed flight caused us to miss our connection to Xuzhou by 10 minutes. I was devastated. After fruitlessly pleading with the gate agents to hold the flight, I called our orphanage director (Ms Tang). She arranged for a friend to come to the airport and help us get to a hotel in Beijing close to the train station. Thirty minutes later a young man showed up, lead us down a flight of stairs, and put us into a taxi. It was Christmas Eve in Beijing and we tried to get some sleep.
Christmas Day 2009 in China
After some sleep we got up Christmas morning, had breakfast, and hired the bellman at the hotel to help us get to the train station. I am not sure why we only had two tickets. Perhaps that’s all they had, or maybe Ms. Tang was trying to save us money. Whatever the reason, we endured a six and half hour train ride from Beijing to Xuzhou with Lily bouncing between laps. There wasn’t a ‘business class” car on this train so we were riding with normal everyday people. I’m sure they were very entertained as this little Chinese girl strained the patience of two exhausted white-haired Caucasians.
As lunch time passed and we all got very hungry, John went looking for something to eat. He discovered that the available snacks were mostly unrecognizable, and those he did recognize weren’t something that he thought we would find appetizing. Many were packaged meat products, including a whole Peking duck. There were large cups of noodles-like cartons containing ingredients that he couldn’t make out. But he did finally settle on a bag of peanuts and some warm juice drinks. It got us through to Xuzhou.
We arrived at the train station around 5:30 in the afternoon. Two nice strangers helped us drag our luggage up the stairs and out of the station. As we came up out of the station tunnel, our eyes scanned the hundreds of faces for familiar ones. After about 20 very nervous minutes, Ms. Tang and Ayi (Lily’s nanny who speaks English) came running up to us. We were so relieved and happy to see familiar faces in this unfamiliar place. We were taken to their van and told that we’d be going directly to the orphanage. During our drive they prepped us that there would be media cameras and newspaper reporters to greet us. They also shared with us that everyone had been waiting since 2 PM that afternoon for our arrival. We had worked so hard trying to get to Xuzhou that we hadn’t had time to reflect on the enormity of the occasion.
We were lead into the reception room of the orphanage to find a decorated Christmas tree with presents and a low table with lots of food. And the media. Reporters immediately surrounded me and spent 10-15 minutes asking questions. The reporters had been told that I wanted to be able to spend Christmas with Anna and all the orphanage children. Ms. Tang shared with us and the reporters that our desire to spend Christmas at the orphanage had warmed the hearts of the orphanage directors and the city dignitaries and a special concession was made for us to visit on Christmas day. We were given several gifts from the City of Xuzhou as well as the orphanage, and a special plaque from the City of Xuzhou. We were humbled by the gratitude being shown to us. During all the media attention I couldn’t help but wonder where Anna was. By now it was dinner time. Would we be meeting her today or had we arrived too late?
And then suddenly I saw her in the doorway. Ms. Tang motioned her to come in and she quietly and slowly walked across to room toward me. She and I never took our eyes off each other. I was sitting on my knees with my arms reaching out to her. When Anna got to me, she fell into my arms and sobbed. She wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and her body melted into mine. Her whole body trembled as we held onto each other cheek to cheek. I looked over at Ms. Tang who was sitting on the floor next to me and she had tears streaming down her face, as did everyone else in the room. The three of us then hugged as Ms. Tang told me that Anna had been waiting so patiently for us to come, and had not slept the night before anticipating our arrival. We are blessed to have a copy of the News cast that will forever capture our first moments with Anna. Xuzhou SWI, Christmas 2009.wmv
I remember the trip as if it were yesterday. On December 23rd, 2009 we left Seattle on a non-stop flight to Beijing arriving at 4:20 PM China time on Christmas Eve. We were scheduled to have a two hour lay-over in Beijing and then fly on to Xuzhou to arrive at 6:30. A delayed flight caused us to miss our connection to Xuzhou by 10 minutes. I was devastated. After fruitlessly pleading with the gate agents to hold the flight, I called our orphanage director (Ms Tang). She arranged for a friend to come to the airport and help us get to a hotel in Beijing close to the train station. Thirty minutes later a young man showed up, lead us down a flight of stairs, and put us into a taxi. It was Christmas Eve in Beijing and we tried to get some sleep.
Christmas Day 2009 in China
After some sleep we got up Christmas morning, had breakfast, and hired the bellman at the hotel to help us get to the train station. I am not sure why we only had two tickets. Perhaps that’s all they had, or maybe Ms. Tang was trying to save us money. Whatever the reason, we endured a six and half hour train ride from Beijing to Xuzhou with Lily bouncing between laps. There wasn’t a ‘business class” car on this train so we were riding with normal everyday people. I’m sure they were very entertained as this little Chinese girl strained the patience of two exhausted white-haired Caucasians.
As lunch time passed and we all got very hungry, John went looking for something to eat. He discovered that the available snacks were mostly unrecognizable, and those he did recognize weren’t something that he thought we would find appetizing. Many were packaged meat products, including a whole Peking duck. There were large cups of noodles-like cartons containing ingredients that he couldn’t make out. But he did finally settle on a bag of peanuts and some warm juice drinks. It got us through to Xuzhou.
We arrived at the train station around 5:30 in the afternoon. Two nice strangers helped us drag our luggage up the stairs and out of the station. As we came up out of the station tunnel, our eyes scanned the hundreds of faces for familiar ones. After about 20 very nervous minutes, Ms. Tang and Ayi (Lily’s nanny who speaks English) came running up to us. We were so relieved and happy to see familiar faces in this unfamiliar place. We were taken to their van and told that we’d be going directly to the orphanage. During our drive they prepped us that there would be media cameras and newspaper reporters to greet us. They also shared with us that everyone had been waiting since 2 PM that afternoon for our arrival. We had worked so hard trying to get to Xuzhou that we hadn’t had time to reflect on the enormity of the occasion.
We were lead into the reception room of the orphanage to find a decorated Christmas tree with presents and a low table with lots of food. And the media. Reporters immediately surrounded me and spent 10-15 minutes asking questions. The reporters had been told that I wanted to be able to spend Christmas with Anna and all the orphanage children. Ms. Tang shared with us and the reporters that our desire to spend Christmas at the orphanage had warmed the hearts of the orphanage directors and the city dignitaries and a special concession was made for us to visit on Christmas day. We were given several gifts from the City of Xuzhou as well as the orphanage, and a special plaque from the City of Xuzhou. We were humbled by the gratitude being shown to us. During all the media attention I couldn’t help but wonder where Anna was. By now it was dinner time. Would we be meeting her today or had we arrived too late?
And then suddenly I saw her in the doorway. Ms. Tang motioned her to come in and she quietly and slowly walked across to room toward me. She and I never took our eyes off each other. I was sitting on my knees with my arms reaching out to her. When Anna got to me, she fell into my arms and sobbed. She wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and her body melted into mine. Her whole body trembled as we held onto each other cheek to cheek. I looked over at Ms. Tang who was sitting on the floor next to me and she had tears streaming down her face, as did everyone else in the room. The three of us then hugged as Ms. Tang told me that Anna had been waiting so patiently for us to come, and had not slept the night before anticipating our arrival. We are blessed to have a copy of the News cast that will forever capture our first moments with Anna. Xuzhou SWI, Christmas 2009.wmv
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| The Christmas tree at the orphanage |
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| Anna has a Mommy |
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| Anna's First Christmas tree with her family |
