Friday & Saturday: Hong Kong & homecoming

This will be a lame post. It’s 3 days late and has no pictures. We’re tired & a little overwhelmed. Better stuff to follow soon. We promise!

B’s first impression of Hong Kong: Oh right, they drive on the wrong side. Dang Brits. Escalators are on the wrong side too. What wasn’t clear was the walking convention. Do you stay left or right?

B’s second impression: Everything costs way too much. This really bugged me more than it should have. Of course we only bought things in the airport hotel, but still >$100 for dinner & dessert?!?! I’ll be happy to leave this behind.

Bed time was a bit of a disaster. Our room was reasonable in size, but smaller than the others so no visual separation. We struggled…a lot. Finally got to sleep through some tears.

Major misunderstandings this morning with Ca. All the barrettes were used at once. It was cute. Until we had to take off the nightgown. They got bumped, then angrily removed. She became indecipherable in her sadness and anger. She was repeating the same phrase again and agin, but was doing it in such a way that no one could have understood her. It was whiny and indistinct, probably due to the fact that she knew that even if she were clear, we wouldn’t be able to understand because our language is so poor. Was it the seams in the socks, the shoes themselves, the pants? We were stumped for about 15 minutes when her big brother redirected her. That moved her from naked to clothed in yesterday’s outfit, but still barefooted. Then we had another indecipherable spell…all of this while we’re hurrying to pack for the flight and get out the door. Really frustrating for all of us. I (big brother) was a huge help and in far more control of himself than either Mama or Daddy. 

Flight delayed by 60 minutes. Strange since the plane had been in Hong Kong for more than 14 hours.

The plane flight was difficult. 15 hours is a long time to be stuck in one place. Plus turbulence is scary. Very little sleep for everyone involved. Not to mention, E & B had both developed colds in Hong Kong and were congested. E had the worst of it with a perpetually runny nose. Along the way we got some help from a flight attendant and a stranger at translating, but still there were several angry, frustrated, scared, misunderstood times. E took the brunt of these times too since Ca wanted nothing to do with Daddy once more. One thing we learned…Ca wants her hair to grow longer. We told her that was fine with us and she was happy. The flight from Newark was uneventful though our tickets were for four completely separate seats. The airline was no help, telling us from the time we bought the tickets that there was nothing they could do until we actually got to Newark. In Newark the gate agent couldn’t help either, telling me that he wished we had talked to him sooner. After 15 hours in one of their planes, I (B) was in no mood to be scolded. I had to bite my tongue…this was for the best for a number of reasons, not least of which was by this time I was approaching incoherence and probably would have had trouble composing a complete sentence with which to express my deep dissatisfaction. In the end, the other passengers came to our aid and happily swapped seats so we could all sit together…and Ca actually slept until the plane landed, startling awake at the last second. Not the best way to wake but the sleep was good.

We were delighted to be home and to be greeted by about 30 friends and family at the airport. Thank you so much for coming to see us! We are so grateful for your love and support. S & Co were ecstatic (as were we) at the reunion. Of course we were exhausted so we only stayed for 15 or 20 minutes. The ride home was a thrill for Ca, sitting in her car seat and sharing the van with her family. Several weeks ago E had compiled a photo book for her which showed lots of sights from home - brothers & sister, grandparents, the bedrooms & kitchen of our house, the van and her car seat. It was clear that she knew each of these people and things from the book when she saw them in person. 

The first night was hard for all of us. Ca didn’t fall asleep until after midnight and was up just about every hour. B’s parents took care of I, Co & S so the other 3 of us slept in until noon. 

The second night was nearly as eventful…though we are adjusting gradually.