Saturday, March 6, 2010
WE MADE IT HOME!

Below are two video links!

Julia Video
Forever Family Day (2/22/10) at Changsha's Dolton Hotel

Emma Video
Forever Family Day (12/10/06) at Fuzhou City's Lakeside Hotel

Packing, creative packing and selective packing was the theme of Thursday (March 4) morning. It helped that we started the process the night before! We met Molly at 1:30 PM for our van ride to the local train station. Molly had already purchased us four one-way tickets to Kow Loon, a Chinese town just north of Hong Kong. While we waited at the train station, Molly went back to the U.S. Consulate to pick up Julia’s visa and the “brown” envelope that is needed to submit to the U.S. Customs personnel at the JFK airport at NYC. Molly was absolutely a gem during our entire trip; we were grateful for her assistance, sense of humor, and calming manner.

From our first class section seat windows, we saw the rural China. As we disembarked from the train at Kow Loon, we went through customs (again!) and baggage claim sections at their train station. We taxied toward the Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel. It was a great swanky hotel!

At the hotel, we had a tricky situation – our travel agent advised us that Hong Kong hotel rooms normally book for three people and went ahead with a booking of a double-bed room with a cot. With the four of us staying in one room, our agent suggested this route – when exiting the cab, Erin carries Julia as a baby with a blanket and waits outside the hotel entrance while Mike check-ins with Emma at the registration desk at the same time. Mission accomplished when Mike went back outside after registration and told Erin the room number. Erin with Julia and Mike with Emma entered the room at separate times. The bellman wisely did not ask Mike why he had to haul in two major luggage pieces, three backpacks (including two kid-sized ones) and a shopping bag to carry for a room reserved for father with one kid. Whew! We then ordered room service – chicken wings and a gourmet pizza! Delicious!

On Friday (March 5) from the hotel, we had arrived at the Hong Kong airport at 6:30 AM for our 9:45 AM flight to NYC. It was an almost fifteen-hour flight. The girls did well during the entire flight. Both of them had napped about 5 hours out of the entire flight – not bad! The girls were happy to get Disney Mickey’s ToonTown Farm bags from the Cathay Pacific stewardesses!

We landed at the JFK airport at 1:00 PM. Without any fuss, Julia became a U.S. citizen upon entry through the customs area of the airport. The first single photo of Julia was taken right after that moment! We then flew to Rochester out of NYC on a 3:40 PM flight. Closer to home with the shortest leg of the entire trip! We had a small welcoming committee of two family friends greeting us at the airport. Thanks for all your help with the groceries, our car, and the homemade dinner! Julia had her first corn on the cob during dinner! A neighbor posted a “It’s a girl!” sign on our front yard.

With Emma’s help, Julia became familiar with our house – it was nice to be with Julia as she walked throughout our entire house. Julia liked every room! Our day ended up with the two girls acting as stewardesses, using their play kitchen as their cart, between aisles of passengers in the living room – a fitting end of our going-home trip!

Love,
The Kanes