Well it's going to cost us a lot more to fly to China than we thought. We were thinking about $1000 each, maybe $800 each if we got lucky. Nope, it's $1700 each. Motherfuck! OK, it's going to be OK. This is going to cost a lot and we knew that. Still, wow.
I've been trying to exercise and eat right, but tonight I'm baking a cake with lots and lots of icing. I need to go into a sugar coma for a while.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
We just got our itinerary! This makes it feel very real!!
Dear Families,
Congratulations! The American Consulate has confirmed your appointment for August 5, 2009!
It is very important that you read and understand this entire email as many of your questions will be addressed here.
Tentative group travel schedule:
7/23 - Depart U.S.
7/24 - Arrive in Beijing
7/25 - Beijing Tour
7/26 - Fly to your province
*If you skip Beijing you must be in your province by 7/26 *
7/28 – Gotcha Day!
7/31 - Fly to Guangzhou on the morning
8/4 - AC appointment
8/5 - Family goes to AC to pick up passport with visa and take oath in the afternoon
8/7 – Earliest you can depart from China
Please book your flights before 4:00pm Tuesday!
Graham is starting to make calls now. We will most likely have to leave from Seattle or San Francisco. I wish we could leave from Anchorage, but this adds on about $2000, so that's out of the question.
This is so cool!!
Dear Families,
Congratulations! The American Consulate has confirmed your appointment for August 5, 2009!
It is very important that you read and understand this entire email as many of your questions will be addressed here.
Tentative group travel schedule:
7/23 - Depart U.S.
7/24 - Arrive in Beijing
7/25 - Beijing Tour
7/26 - Fly to your province
*If you skip Beijing you must be in your province by 7/26 *
7/28 – Gotcha Day!
7/31 - Fly to Guangzhou on the morning
8/4 - AC appointment
8/5 - Family goes to AC to pick up passport with visa and take oath in the afternoon
8/7 – Earliest you can depart from China
Please book your flights before 4:00pm Tuesday!
Graham is starting to make calls now. We will most likely have to leave from Seattle or San Francisco. I wish we could leave from Anchorage, but this adds on about $2000, so that's out of the question.
This is so cool!!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
We got our passports back with our Visa in them this morning! They were mailed last Thursday Second Day Air and showed up this morning, 6 days later. Way to go FedEx!!
But that's OK because we weren't really in a time crunch to get them back. However is is nice to know our passports are safe and sound and not floating around somewhere in California at the Chinese Consulate.
But that's OK because we weren't really in a time crunch to get them back. However is is nice to know our passports are safe and sound and not floating around somewhere in California at the Chinese Consulate.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Travel in a month (probably)
This is what I got from our agency today:
Hi Families,
We have tentative travel dates for you! We are hoping to have you traveling from July 23rd – August 7th or so. I will be requesting consulate appointments today and we should have confirmation of these dates within the next few days.
I did request earlier travel dates for your group, I know July 23rd feels like it’s a long way away right now, but these were the earliest available dates. Civil Affairs has recommended that you travel during this time and we will be following their recommendation.
Please remember that we do recommend families wait until Consulate appointments are confirmed to make any definite travel plans. Until we receive that confirmation, these dates are still subject to change.
When the dates are finalized we'll go ahead and purchase the airplane tickets.
I was hoping we'd travel sooner. I hope this month goes by fast!
Hi Families,
We have tentative travel dates for you! We are hoping to have you traveling from July 23rd – August 7th or so. I will be requesting consulate appointments today and we should have confirmation of these dates within the next few days.
I did request earlier travel dates for your group, I know July 23rd feels like it’s a long way away right now, but these were the earliest available dates. Civil Affairs has recommended that you travel during this time and we will be following their recommendation.
Please remember that we do recommend families wait until Consulate appointments are confirmed to make any definite travel plans. Until we receive that confirmation, these dates are still subject to change.
When the dates are finalized we'll go ahead and purchase the airplane tickets.
I was hoping we'd travel sooner. I hope this month goes by fast!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Keep your fingers crossed
No news about travel dates yet. If we don't hear today I'm hoping for tomorrow! I'll post as soon as I hear somthing!
Friday, June 19, 2009
More Good News!
Remember on Tuesday, June 16th when I wrote about the gift package I was sending to Mia. It was through a site called redthreadchina@yahoo.com. I had heard such good things about Ann, the person who runs it, that I felt comfortable ordering from there. Well, she emailed me today saying that she is going to send out her care package tomorrow. She also talked with the orphanage and her FOSTER MOTHER and got updated information!!!!!!!!!!!! I had no idea she was going to do this. Here is what she sent:
Dear Elizabeth :
Below is all the information I got for you :
height :79cm
weight :10kg
head :45cm
chest :45cm
feet :13cm
teeth:up10down 10
Fu Yan Mei loves her foster mom very much ,she always hugs and give kisses to her mom ,she does not like to stay at home ,love to be outside ! If she stay at home for a little long time ,she will cry ! She loves to drink yoghurt ,she drinks baby formula the most ,she used to eat congee too,but now she does not like it very much ,maybe because it is a little too hot there now ...When her mom hold her hand ,she can walk too....That is all I got for you from the orphange ! I will mail your package out tomorrow ,love,Ann
Wow, we didn't know she was with a foster mother, everything we had said she was in the orphanage. This is such good news! She's been loved and taken care of and seems very happy. I'm sorry she will be sad to leave her foster mother, but with us she'll have her forever family.
Wow, I'm so excited I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight!!
:)
Dear Elizabeth :
Below is all the information I got for you :
height :79cm
weight :10kg
head :45cm
chest :45cm
feet :13cm
teeth:up10down 10
Fu Yan Mei loves her foster mom very much ,she always hugs and give kisses to her mom ,she does not like to stay at home ,love to be outside ! If she stay at home for a little long time ,she will cry ! She loves to drink yoghurt ,she drinks baby formula the most ,she used to eat congee too,but now she does not like it very much ,maybe because it is a little too hot there now ...When her mom hold her hand ,she can walk too....That is all I got for you from the orphange ! I will mail your package out tomorrow ,love,Ann
Wow, we didn't know she was with a foster mother, everything we had said she was in the orphanage. This is such good news! She's been loved and taken care of and seems very happy. I'm sorry she will be sad to leave her foster mother, but with us she'll have her forever family.
Wow, I'm so excited I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight!!
:)
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Woo Hoo!!!
This is the email I just got from our agency:
Congratulations, families!
Your TAs have arrived! As this package is slightly unexpected, I will be checking in with our staff tonight to get a better idea of guide and appointment availability. From there, I will request consulate appointments for all the families who are “paperwork ready”. (These are families who have current fingerprints and I-171h on file with Great Wall. If I am missing anything from you I will be in touch ASAP).
It may take a day or two for our staff to determine availability and then a day or two for the Consulate to confirm appointments. I will hopefully have a better idea about travel dates early next week.
Congratulations!
OMG I'm so freaking excited!!!!
:)
Congratulations, families!
Your TAs have arrived! As this package is slightly unexpected, I will be checking in with our staff tonight to get a better idea of guide and appointment availability. From there, I will request consulate appointments for all the families who are “paperwork ready”. (These are families who have current fingerprints and I-171h on file with Great Wall. If I am missing anything from you I will be in touch ASAP).
It may take a day or two for our staff to determine availability and then a day or two for the Consulate to confirm appointments. I will hopefully have a better idea about travel dates early next week.
Congratulations!
OMG I'm so freaking excited!!!!
:)
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