Friday - Farewell China

Friday was supposed to be our only day of travel but once we found out our plane was delayed by 7 hours, we knew it would be a two day trek home. Blah! On the bright side, the delay gave us a little more time in China so we decided to have a relaxing and long breakfast and then walk a couple of blocks to the Aeon store that we had heard so much about. We had been wanting to get there all week but it wasn't ever a priority and never made it onto our itinerary. The girls were excited to go because they had heard from their friends that there was an awesome play area. Well we heard it was quite expensive so we prepped them that maybe we wouldn't partake but that all changed once we saw the place. Leave it to the Chinese, it was so cool! At first we only had the girls playing in it, not wanting to overwhelm Magnus, but soon realized he would have a blast in there too. Mike and I took turns shopping and playing. The store is like a very, very nice Target and I have yet to meet a person who doesn't love them some Tarjay! I found some wooden toys for Magnus and a pair of squeaky shoes which I was determined to find...to Mike's dismay! He searched high and low and found...a door mat. Hahaha, I love this man! We stayed for quite awhile and then headed back for some lunch and relaxation in our room for the last time. We weighed our suitcases and said, 'sayonara' (wait, that's Japanese, right?!). We said 'bye, bye' as they do in China.

Our agency arranged a private van to take us to the Hong Kong airport and we were met by our guide, Elsie, who had just arrived from Nanchang. Sadly, we didn't get to say goodbye to our favorite guide, Sarah. We left some gifts for her as well as unused scabies cream and lice treatment for the next families who may need them. Thankfully, we didn't! We hopped in the van for a long 3 hour ride to Hong Kong. Our driver was nice but apparently had never dealt with children or cracker crumbs in his life because he expected his van to remain impeccably spotless. Uh, that's not how we roll. Nope, not with hours in this confined space. After several minor spills and one small vomitting session from Mags (which was quietly and swiftly cleaned up), we arrived at the airport. I wish we could have spent several days in Hong Kong. It was so beautiful with lush, green mountains, beautiful bridges connecting the island and numerous skyscrapers. 

After throwing some last minute items in one bag, we somehow were over our 50 pound limit and had to do some rearranging. We then needed to waste several hours and luckily happened upon an available table in the food court after searching for nearly 20 minutes. We headed to our gate where we were then ushered to another gate. Oh no, not again! We had been put through the ringer so many times in airports that we surely thought we were running into a another roadblock. Luckily and shockingly, we boarded our plane right away. I had been dreading this part of the trip for months. I expected it to be a disaster and prayed for a smooth 13 hour flight to Dallas. Just like time and time before, my prayers were answered and we pretty easily made it to the U.S. of A. I changed Magnus into his red, white and blue outfit right before we started our descent. I was overcome with the anticipation of our landing. As soon as those wheels hit the runway, our son was an American citizen. The magnitude and privilege of this is not lost on me. He will have endless opportunities here and have a promising future in our wonderful country.

My moment of sentimentalism was quickly overshadowed by the predicament we had to deal with since we missed our connecting flight to St. Louis. We traveled with another adoptive family from Omaha who we instantly adored earlier in the week. American Airlines was sending us to the same hotel, a Days Inn. After pure chaos, miscommunication and waiting for over an hour at 11pm at night, both families took taxis to the hotel. Now as you know, we are not hotel snobs by any means but after nearly 3 weeks in 5 star hotels, the Days Inn was quite disappointing. The trail of blood from the hallway into the elevator (you can't make this stuff up!) and the dirty kleenexes and old sheets in the pull out couch were enough to have us running for the hills. Truthfully, we were too delirious to really care at that point so we carefully avoided everything gross. We quickly went to bed and were all ready for the excitement that Saturday was to bring!

'Chinafied' Duff Family of Six