Journal - 09/27/2000

JOURNAL FOR 09/27/00

adoption site | contacting me by e-mail | Jiangmen main journal page | home page | Meredith's page

<== Last episode, our hero...
In our next thrilling adventure ==>

(09/27/00)
Today was D-day for one of the other most anticipated events in China - and dreaded; dealing with the US Consulate to get our baby's visa.

The reason I say 'dreaded' is more because the Chinese red tape and paperwork are behind you. At this point, you have all of the paperwork you need to go from China - the medical statements, the adoption papers, the passport from the PRC for your child. Generally, the bulk of the adopting parent's paper load for China was resolved many months ago, when you had submitted a request to the Chinese Government office that oversees adoption matters. (In our situation, that was in November 1999.) The process in China to get the local paperwork is closely overseen by a representative of the international adoption agency, and they take a lot of the pain out of it. (With the exception of the steam bath of the provincial offices the week previous to this point.)

The last holdup at this point in the process is to deal with the requirements of the US government in letting your daughter into her new home country; and they are demanding. The 'brown envelope' that is mailed to you by the US Consulate in Guangzhou is full of Immigration forms, and they're picky and detailed. Without someone to guide you along on how they're filled out, it can get pretty hairy to deal with these. Luckily, the night before, Susan had set down with the other China Seas parents and the agency's representative, and they had an impromptu class to deal with the paperwork.

And, of course, there's a lot of other papers to file with those - copies of the Chinese paperwork, three years worth of taxes (to prove you can support your new daughter), and so on. And a personal interview by The Government To Determine If You Can Bring Her In.

So, going on eleven in the morning, we trooped out in a group with the babies to face the long lines at the US Consulate. The folks in the lines (usually anywhere from 100-300) are native Chinese waiting for resident Visas to the US for whatever reason. The only US office to issue these to Chinese citizens is here, the historic gateway of China to the west and America in particular.

Of the Chinese who have emigrated to North America, the vast majority have migrated from the area we are in - the area Meredith was born in. This is why the 'Chinese' food in the USA is primarily (indifferently cooked) Cantonese, and why the majority of Chinese in the USA do not speak Mandarin Chinese.

As we reached the Consulate (which was built like a fortress) we saw that the line, while not a formidable as usual, was plenty long. However, the consulate people, who have the only special office for adopting children in American embassies throughout the world, saw us and ushered us through and past the line.

One thing I haven't stressed enough is that security in China is strong, depending on where you are. When you look at apartment buildings, you'll see each one with their balcony, jammed with drying clothes, plants and you name it - and all enclosed by heavy metal bars. As in the USA in high crime areas, these bars may be made in some decorative pattern, but you can see they'd be a challenge to get through. All hotels have their security staff, including and especially the ones that cater to Westerners and the wealthy. And while they're understated, I would not want to mess with them. As a western tourist, you will probably notice this, but it is there.

We only saw guard with guns actively drawn and ready to use them once, back at the subway stop outside the Chen Clan Academy. And they were obviously armored-car staff, transporting money. But all the same, you wouldn't want to mess with them.

With the Consulate, there were several layers of security; two levels of dump-your-pockets metal detectors, security people up to your ears, checks and double checks, lots of bulletproof glass and bars. Again, as an American, you'll have a relatively easy time getting in as compared to anyone else. Or out. No pictures inside the Consulate, no strollers upstairs (in the interview rooms), park and lock it.

You wind your way through the outer guard rooms, and into an open area outside the main Consulate (where I took a picture of Susan next to a VISA UNIT sign, then into the from glass doors. Past another security check, and into a hall where you leave the strollers (which is separated from the office workers' elevators by heavy steel bars) and up a flight of concrete stairs to the interview area. There's some kind of an overflow area for parents to wait, but we didn't go there - we went directly into the interview area.

The interview area had a few couches and chairs in it for parents and kids, and three large desks in a row dividing the room in half. There were a number of thematically related framed pictures - one was a collection of quilt squares with Chinese adoptees's names on them (obviously done up by the parents) and the rest were Chinese child-level folk paintings and the like. Behind the center desk were two ethnically Chinese women, going through and checking the paperwork of the parents who had been called forward, and on either side of that were couples being interviewed by other staff members, going through the papers with them.

To tell you the truth, adoptive parents, if you have your paperwork together, this room is not a real problem for you. Shasha, our facilitator, and the China Seas staff in general, had gone through all the hoops with us before, and everything was in order and perfect. The Consulate person was very nice, and talked to us for maybe six or seven minutes...the most involved part was swearing that the stuff in the documents was the truth, the whole truth and so on. She quickly sent on us on our way.

There were two things to relate about the visit. First, Susan had forgotten to bring the visa fees with her, so she ended up going back through security to pay that off. Second, Meredith was getting a little restive, so I copied another parent in the waiting room and started blowing raspberries against Meredith's belly, with peals of baby giggles resulting.

Listen: there is nothing as wonderful and precious as baby giggles. Like spring sunshine or the gold and pink of a sunset, is as nothing you can bottle or keep - but it is precious and makes the world so much better. It will reward you for a sleepless night with a sick child, for the times she peed on you while you were changing her, and for wails from when she's strapped into a car seat.

Susan finished off some more shopping for her family and friends, and picked up the engravings of Meredith that she'd ordered. When she left, she gave me a cold bottle to give to Meredith, and I told her I wasn't sure how Meredith would deal with it. She pish-toshed, and left me in charge. When I fed her, Meredith (as usual) bolted her food down, and afterwards set off a tremendous cry. She was having stomach cramps, and it was really bad, just as I'd suspected.

Let me say here that I generally don't give warning or suggest alternate courses of action without cause. I know various times at work or in con-running when I've given a warning about doing X (because it won't work) and been told to keep quiet and let the powers that be do their thing. Almost inevitably, the problems I've detailed come up and cause bigger problems than existed before. Up until very recently, I cared a lot about such things - but I've found that the stress and worry generated in all of this isn't worth it, most especially for my own health and well-being.

As Susan is far more versed in baby care than I am, I figured that I wasn't going to make a big fuss on things - I would open my mouth to warn, but unless it was an emergency, I wasn't going to force the issue.

So it went. I was sleepy, and ready to take a nap, and the baby was howling in pain. The only thing I could do was to take her and hold her and comfort her as best as I could, and the two of us fell asleep. When Susan came back, she took a picture of the two of us cuddled up and asleep - the baby as usual with a thumb in her mouth.

JOURNAL FOR 09/27/00
adoption site \| contacting me by e-mail \| Jiangmen	main journal page \| home page \| Meredith's page
<== Last episode, our hero...	In our next thrilling adventure ==>
(09/27/00) Today was D-day for one of the other most anticipated events in China - and dreaded; dealing with the US Consulate to get our baby's visa. The reason I say 'dreaded' is more because the Chinese red tape and paperwork are behind you. At this point, you have all of the paperwork you need to go from China - the medical statements, the adoption papers, the passport from the PRC for your child. Generally, the bulk of the adopting parent's paper load for China was resolved many months ago, when you had submitted a request to the Chinese Government office that oversees adoption matters. (In our situation, that was in November 1999.) The process in China to get the local paperwork is closely overseen by a representative of the international adoption agency, and they take a lot of the pain out of it. (With the exception of the steam bath of the provincial offices the week previous to this point.) The last holdup at this point in the process is to deal with the requirements of the US government in letting your daughter into her new home country; and they are demanding. The 'brown envelope' that is mailed to you by the US Consulate in Guangzhou is full of Immigration forms, and they're picky and detailed. Without someone to guide you along on how they're filled out, it can get pretty hairy to deal with these. Luckily, the night before, Susan had set down with the other China Seas parents and the agency's representative, and they had an impromptu class to deal with the paperwork. And, of course, there's a lot of other papers to file with those - copies of the Chinese paperwork, three years worth of taxes (to prove you can support your new daughter), and so on. And a personal interview by The Government To Determine If You Can Bring Her In. So, going on eleven in the morning, we trooped out in a group with the babies to face the long lines at the US Consulate. The folks in the lines (usually anywhere from 100-300) are native Chinese waiting for resident Visas to the US for whatever reason. The only US office to issue these to Chinese citizens is here, the historic gateway of China to the west and America in particular. Of the Chinese who have emigrated to North America, the vast majority have migrated from the area we are in - the area Meredith was born in. This is why the 'Chinese' food in the USA is primarily (indifferently cooked) Cantonese, and why the majority of Chinese in the USA do not speak Mandarin Chinese. As we reached the Consulate (which was built like a fortress) we saw that the line, while not a formidable as usual, was plenty long. However, the consulate people, who have the only special office for adopting children in American embassies throughout the world, saw us and ushered us through and past the line. One thing I haven't stressed enough is that security in China is strong, depending on where you are. When you look at apartment buildings, you'll see each one with their balcony, jammed with drying clothes, plants and you name it - and all enclosed by heavy metal bars. As in the USA in high crime areas, these bars may be made in some decorative pattern, but you can see they'd be a challenge to get through. All hotels have their security staff, including and especially the ones that cater to Westerners and the wealthy. And while they're understated, I would not want to mess with them. As a western tourist, you will probably notice this, but it is there. We only saw guard with guns actively drawn and ready to use them once, back at the subway stop outside the Chen Clan Academy. And they were obviously armored-car staff, transporting money. But all the same, you wouldn't want to mess with them. With the Consulate, there were several layers of security; two levels of dump-your-pockets metal detectors, security people up to your ears, checks and double checks, lots of bulletproof glass and bars. Again, as an American, you'll have a relatively easy time getting in as compared to anyone else. Or out. No pictures inside the Consulate, no strollers upstairs (in the interview rooms), park and lock it. You wind your way through the outer guard rooms, and into an open area outside the main Consulate (where I took a picture of Susan next to a VISA UNIT sign, then into the from glass doors. Past another security check, and into a hall where you leave the strollers (which is separated from the office workers' elevators by heavy steel bars) and up a flight of concrete stairs to the interview area. There's some kind of an overflow area for parents to wait, but we didn't go there - we went directly into the interview area. The interview area had a few couches and chairs in it for parents and kids, and three large desks in a row dividing the room in half. There were a number of thematically related framed pictures - one was a collection of quilt squares with Chinese adoptees's names on them (obviously done up by the parents) and the rest were Chinese child-level folk paintings and the like. Behind the center desk were two ethnically Chinese women, going through and checking the paperwork of the parents who had been called forward, and on either side of that were couples being interviewed by other staff members, going through the papers with them. To tell you the truth, adoptive parents, if you have your paperwork together, this room is not a real problem for you. Shasha, our facilitator, and the China Seas staff in general, had gone through all the hoops with us before, and everything was in order and perfect. The Consulate person was very nice, and talked to us for maybe six or seven minutes...the most involved part was swearing that the stuff in the documents was the truth, the whole truth and so on. She quickly sent on us on our way. There were two things to relate about the visit. First, Susan had forgotten to bring the visa fees with her, so she ended up going back through security to pay that off. Second, Meredith was getting a little restive, so I copied another parent in the waiting room and started blowing raspberries against Meredith's belly, with peals of baby giggles resulting. Listen: there is nothing as wonderful and precious as baby giggles. Like spring sunshine or the gold and pink of a sunset, is as nothing you can bottle or keep - but it is precious and makes the world so much better. It will reward you for a sleepless night with a sick child, for the times she peed on you while you were changing her, and for wails from when she's strapped into a car seat. Susan finished off some more shopping for her family and friends, and picked up the engravings of Meredith that she'd ordered. When she left, she gave me a cold bottle to give to Meredith, and I told her I wasn't sure how Meredith would deal with it. She pish-toshed, and left me in charge. When I fed her, Meredith (as usual) bolted her food down, and afterwards set off a tremendous cry. She was having stomach cramps, and it was really bad, just as I'd suspected. Let me say here that I generally don't give warning or suggest alternate courses of action without cause. I know various times at work or in con-running when I've given a warning about doing X (because it won't work) and been told to keep quiet and let the powers that be do their thing. Almost inevitably, the problems I've detailed come up and cause bigger problems than existed before. Up until very recently, I cared a lot about such things - but I've found that the stress and worry generated in all of this isn't worth it, most especially for my own health and well-being. As Susan is far more versed in baby care than I am, I figured that I wasn't going to make a big fuss on things - I would open my mouth to warn, but unless it was an emergency, I wasn't going to force the issue. So it went. I was sleepy, and ready to take a nap, and the baby was howling in pain. The only thing I could do was to take her and hold her and comfort her as best as I could, and the two of us fell asleep. When Susan came back, she took a picture of the two of us cuddled up and asleep - the baby as usual with a thumb in her mouth.