Day 15: Our Final Day

We enjoyed one final breakfast with the Guarino's before the packing marathon began. There are several things I am going to miss about China and they are #1 on the list. What an amazing experience the four of us have shared over the past 11 days. Lori and I became friends during the wait to travel and our DH's hit it off right away in China. I am going to miss sweet Lily and the infamous blue backpack, her sweet smile and her happy dance. We can't wait to travel "up north" for a visit so the Chief and "Tony" can show off their matching North Fakes Face jackets. Hopefully by the time I agree to get on a plane again, Lily will agree to wear her traditional Chinese dress and MeiMei will agree to wear her dress without screaming. Lori--you need to find Cape Cod's version of the red couch? We spent most of the morning packing. We did a lot a little shopping while we were in China so we had to be creative to get it all home. Truthfully we needed to purchase another suitcase but decided to risk it with what we had. With only one international flight, our limit was bumped up to 50 pounds per checked bag which was a huge help. The real problem was the 8 pieces of luggage, a stroller and a baby to wrangle through two train stations, three taxi rides, five baggage check/claims, four security stations, three customs, three immigrations and finally the mini van on the way home. That realization made my arms hurt before we ever left. Considering I wasn't even allowed to PUSH the stroller without MeiMei screaming her head off I knew who was going to be dragging most of that luggage (and I am not the one with the muscles in this marriage).

Our driver picked us up from the Victory at 2:40 pm, drove us to the US Consulate and dropped us out on the curb where we waited for our facilitator. There is nothing like watching all of your personal belongings speed down a busy street in China without you. As he drove away we both looked at each other and said, "Uhhhhhhhhh...I sure hope he comes back!" Right before we went in I finally met my agency pal Joan, her new daughter Mary and the rest of her family. We had missed each other thus far because they spent their first week in the province of Mary's birth. We have corresponded by email off and on for months so I'm glad we got to meet even if it was for a short time. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. It was a pleasure to finally meet you.

All three of our agency families attended the Swearing In Ceremony together. You can not enter the building with anything but your passport so I do not have any photos from the ceremony. The oath was short and a little anticlimactic but we were all teary by the end. We clapped, cried and hugged our babies in celebration. After all this time, this is FINALLY over. No more stalking Rumor Queen. No more frantic calls to our agency. No more deep discussions with the FedEx guy about the importance of our packages. It's over. Our girls are finally OUR GIRLS and we can move on with our lives. I wish Wild Man and Little Miss could have been there with us but I made sure they were there in spirit.After the swearing, Lori and I kept looking at each other and saying "no tears"--"no tears" because we knew what was coming. Goodbyes. Ugh! We were leaving immediately from the Consulate to go to the Guangzhou train station. They were returning to the hotel for a morning flight out of Guangzhou. The 4 of us hugged and cried (even the guys were a tad bit misty) and then it was time for their shuttle to leave. It was like one of those sappy movies where someone is standing on the sidewalk waving and the person in the car are car is pressed to the window waving goodbye until everyone is out of sight. That was the toughest part of the day. Their friendship has been a blessing to us and we can't wait to see them again. Soon Lori, very soon.

It was at this point our whirlwind 40 hour travel marathon began. Immediately after saying our goodbyes, Gracie took us to the train station. We took the 6:15 from Guangzhou to Hong Kong which was about a 2 hour ride on the bullet train. I was concerned about the medical check before we boarded with MeiMei's crazy rash still running wild. I could see ahead they were randomly screening people as they came out of security. Would you believe both the person in front of us and the couple behind us were waived through the medical check lane and we were waved directly to the boarding area? Woooohooooooo! Thank you Lord! Once we found our seats and a place to stow all of our stinkin' luggage, the train ride was uneventful. Gracie purchased first class tickets which I found rather hard to believe. If that was the first class car I would hate to have seen economy. Those little white papers on the headrest totally grossed me out. Let's just say I don't think they are changed with each train ride. I think I rode the entire train ride with my head slumped forward. We were hungry before we left Guangzhou but we were so tired of Chinese food we just couldn't eat. Well, I doubt MeiMei was tired of Chinese food but her Mom and Dad were. Once in Hong Kong, we breezed through customs, immigration and medical inspection (PTL!), claimed our luggage and exited the secure area. It was at this point we saw the most glorious sight. Glorious I tell ya. I'm pretty sure the sky parted, the angels sang and a bright light shined upon the golden "M". That's right...I have NEVER been so thrilled to see a McDonald's (which I normally despise) in my life. There was only one tiny problem...Hong Kong uses a different currency and we did not convert any money before we left the mainland. Ahhhh!!!! Even more frustrating was it was after 8 pm so there was only one money exchange open in the entire train station. Ahhhhh!!!! After searching frantically for the money exchange we finally got our hands on the correct currency. I guarded the luggage and MeiMei while the Chief ran upstairs to find the holy grail.Even MeiMei was excited about our dinner plans which made us wonder if she already recognized the golden "M". Or maybe she was feeding off of our ridiculously giddy excitement? Who knows but within minutes MeiMei was chowin' on her first McDonald's french fries. I committed a great travesty by not capturing the moment but honestly I forgot. We were too busy stuffing our faces with the BEST cheeseburgers and fries we have EVER eaten to whip out the camera. Well, that and holding on for dear life. We ended our time in China with the craziest taxi ride to date (and we experienced MANY crazy ones while we were there). The taxi driver zoomed past 100 mph on the expressway and he was just keeping up with traffic. :-0 We were so tired and hungry, all we could do was laugh. I was thinking if this is THE BIG ONE, at least our last meal was Wild Man and Little Miss' fav-o-rite.

Hong Kong was BEAUTIFUL at night and felt even more modern than Beijing. It did not even resemble Guangzhou by any stretch of the imagination. I wish we could have spent some time there but 16 days is too long to be away from home. Maybe next time. ;-) We made it to our hotel, the beautiful Novotel Citygate, around 9 pm. It was along way from the train station but about 5 minutes from the airport which was perfect for our morning departure.A quick bath for MeiMei and we all collapsed into bed for our last night in China. Our weary heads were looking forward to the comfort of our favorite Egyptian cotton sheets. That night I went to bed wishing my name was Dorothy...

there's no place like home...there's no place like home...there's no place like home...