We woke up at 4 a.m. to make sure everything was packed one last time, and then we set our 4 large bags outside our door. We each took our usual showers, awakened Jenna and got her ready to go. At about 5:20 a.m. we loaded up all of our carry-on bags and Cheryl carried Jenna in her carrier and we left room 1212 behind. We headed down to the check-out desk so I could turn in our card keys, and then we went down to the tour reception desk to board the bus. They were still loading our luggage that they picked up earlier on this bus and I could verify that all 4 of our bags were there. Once our group was all aboard the bus we headed for one last drive through Guangzhou to get to the airport. They handed each of us our boxed breakfast courtesy of the White Swan, which contained various fruit, rolls, water, and orange juice. Only 6 of the families were leaving now and we would all board the same Northwest NW10 flight from Guangzhou to Tokyo at 8:20 a.m. Then from there 2 families would fly to Portland Oregon, and the rest of us would fly to Minneapolis Minnesota.
At the Baiyun Airport we received our 4 bags from the piles of luggage that was unloaded from the bus, and I loaded them and the rest of our bags onto a pushcart. We went to luggage check-in and received our boarding passes and checked our 4 large bags. I had 2 carry-on bags – one which contained our laptop computer among other stuff, and my backpack which had all of our cameras and a Discman. Cheryl was carrying one carry-on bag, which contained our important immigration paperwork among other stuff, and she also carried Jenna in her carrier. We were carrying a load for this long trip home but there was no way we could’ve put any of this stuff in our checked luggage. I stopped and filled out our departure card and customs form and then we proceeded through security without any problems.
Northwest Flight 10 (NW10) from Guangzhou,China to Tokyo-Narita,Japan.
Chinese Scrolls at Guangzhou's Baiyun Airport.
A China Southern Plane.
Gate Area - Terminal A - Guangzhou Baiyun Airport.
Cheryl and Jenna before our flight.
Next we headed to our gate for our flight for which we had a little over an hour to wait. While we were waiting I took some pictures around the airport. I took pictures of our plane which was being loaded for the trip, and at some point an airport worker came up to me to tell me that taking pictures wasn’t allowed in the gate area. Oh well I had already taken enough pictures anyway. There were no signs anywhere that said “no pictures allowed” unless it was only in Chinese. Jenna had been behaving well as usual – taking everything in stride. Soon we boarded flight NW10Y and found our seats in row 20DEF. I had the window seat, Jenna had the center, and Cheryl had the aisle seat. As we would be leaving China I would be looking southeast. I got our Pentax and video cameras ready to take pictures and video out our window as we leave. Taking pictures out the window of a plane is often iffy, but I’ve never taken video out the window of a plane as it was taking off and that is what I did when we took off. Jenna was crying because she was mad that she had to be buckled in (despite the fact that she had to be buckled in on our last flight and didn’t seem to mind). Maybe she was somehow aware that she was leaving her birth country behind, or maybe her ears were popping – I don’t know. I must say that the video turned out kind of cool (despite the soundtrack of Jenna crying). It shows us taking off from China and then it shows China (Guangdong) from the air until it finally fades out under the white clouds. As soon as Jenna could be unbuckled she was OK again – we did check to make sure the belt wasn’t too tight. This leg of the flight was from 8:20 a.m. to 2 p.m. but would actually only be a 4 hour & 40 minute flight because of the hour’s difference between Guangzhou, China & Tokyo, Japan. Essentially we were going back in time on this trip home. We received a breakfast and a lunch on this flight and there was some detective movie showing on the movie screen that I didn’t really pay much attention.
Goodbye China - looking down on Guangzhou.
Floating on the bed of clouds.
Landing in Narita-Tokyo, Japan.
We arrived at the Tokyo/Narita Airport on time at around 2 p.m. and we deplaned with our carry-on luggage. We walked until we found the flight boards so we could see where our next gate would be. The next leg of our journey home would be flight Northwest flight NW20Y from Tokyo/Narita to Minneapolis Mn. It would be from 3:40 p.m. (July 26th) to 12:40 p.m. (July 26th) hence the back in time part from going back across the international dateline again. Since Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of Central Standard Time that means when we take off it will be 1:40 a.m. back home. Since we arrive in Minneapolis at 12:40 p.m. that means this flight is 11 hours with the jet stream at our back as we fly across the Pacific Ocean. We headed to our gate (which was Gate 23) and after we arrived there I went to a small shop to get us some refreshments. This small shop was staffed with about 5 girls who all wore uniforms and watched every customer like a hawk. This led me to assume that shoplifting must be a problem here, or these girls didn’t have anything better to do. One time back in the olden days I spent a 4 day weekend in Tokyo (from Seoul) and I thought it was a fascinating city then. It would be interesting to see it now over 20+ years later but I only seem to see just this airport as we pass through on our way to other places.
The plane next to us (like ours). Northwest Flight 20Y (NW20Y).
taxi on the runway at Tokyo-Narita Airport in Japan.
A view of Japan from above.
There is a video that I took of our children before we left that I had on our laptop and I watched it several times during our time away usually when I was thinking about them and missing them. It is mostly a typically crazy and funny video, but there’s this one part where our 4-year-old son Benjamin is looking up at me (at the camera), reaching out his hand and saying very seriously “Dad – I want to be a man” again and again. It usually brought tears to my eyes for some reason I can’t really explain. Really what he was asking me, and what he finally did say was he wanted to be the camera man. I did finally let him take control of the camera and he gives the viewer the “roller coaster ride” effect – shaking all over. We have such great kids and we are very blessed to be their parents. I know when they are bigger I will miss how they were when they were all little – a lot, but time moves onward.
Our Boeing Jet departed Tokyo/Narita Japan at 3:50 p.m. and we settled in for our 11 hour flight back home to Midwestern U.S.A. Cheryl and Jenna seemed to get a lot of sleep on this flight but I don’t think I slept much at all. I mostly listened to music and I got up and walked the aisles a few times. I don’t recall that they showed any movies on this flight at all, but I didn’t mind. We didn’t go hungry – they fed us 3 meals at least, and with all the negative stuff people say about Northwest Airlines that wasn’t really our experience at all. I thought their service was fine and all our flights with them were on time. I thought they overdid it with the seatbelt lights at times. Even if we hit just a small bump of turbulence - on comes the light for a significant period of time. I suppose they are doing it to cover their butts from potential lawsuits.
Jenna on the flight to the U.S.A.
Cheryl on the long flight homeward.
Sunset on the Pacific Ocean's horizon.
The sun was shining on the Twin Cities as I looked down on them from the air but there were some angry looking clouds visible in the distance. We landed at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport at around 12:20 p.m. on the very same day that we left China. After a short while we deplaned with our carry-on baggage, entered the international terminal, and made our way to the immigration line. We have arrived at our point of entry. Once we arrived at the immigration checkpoint we were the 3rd family in line. Frank and Kelli were first, Jon and Rebecca were ahead of us, and the Ladell, Michele, and Ashley were somewhere behind us. Basically the immigration checkpoint had a uniformed man in a booth who examined our immigration paperwork and our passports. He had a lot of stuff to go through so it took us about 25 minutes to get past this point. When he was through with us he gave us back our passports, Jenna’s passport-visa, and I believe he kept all the paperwork. Then we just had a short walk to the baggage carousel to pick up our 4 large checked bags. To get a cart to haul these bags we had to pay $3 dollars. This is the only airport where we had to pay to get a cart to haul our bags – welcome to the U.S.A. – the land of greedy opportunists! It turns out we only had to haul them a short distance as well, because after we turned in our customs form at the customs checkpoint the place to recheck our bags was right there. Oh well I still needed a cart because we already had our hands full with carry-on luggage and Jenna. After we rechecked our luggage for the last leg of our journey we had to go through a security checkpoint. Off with our shoes, take off my watch, remove change from my pocket, remove our laptop from bag along with 35mm photo film, put them all in plastic trays, and proceed through the metal detector. On the other side we collect everything, put it all back away, I put on my watch, we put on our shoes, Cheryl loads Jenna back up in her carrier, and off we go. Going through airports sure is good exercise.
The Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport.
Well we had a long layover here. We took turns sitting at a bench resting while the other one freshened up in the restroom and attended to Jenna’s needs. I noticed it was 1:30 p.m. and our flight NW2805Y leaves for Cedar Rapids, Iowa (home) at 4:50 p.m. and arrives at 5:55 p.m. Our gate was C25 which is clear across this rather large international airport. We decided to stop at some pizza place at the food court to eat lunch. When we were done we decided to head for our gate and hang out there until we can board our flight in 2+ hours from now. It was a long walk but we had the moving belt walkways to help us along. At least twice during this long walk we heard Ladell being paged on the airport intercom. We were curious as to what happened to Ladell. By the time we arrived at our gate we were early enough that a previous flight was boarding at this gate. Once everyone left the gate to board the flight the lady at the counter packed up and left – so we were alone at the gate for a while until a few other people showed up. I was too tired to read and maybe too anxious to sleep. Jenna however was tired and she crawled under the seats we were sitting on and fell asleep on the floor. At some point I got up and toured the general area but there wasn’t a lot to see from where we were located.
Jenna sleeping under the seats at our gate area.
From where we were sitting at gate C25 we had a good view of the outdoors and the weather outside was starting to look mean. Soon it started pouring down torrential rain. We started hearing announcements of flight delays and later even of some flights being cancelled. Eventually an airport counterperson showed up at our gate and actually put up signs that said KLM flight NW2805Y to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The rain stopped after about 15 - 20 minutes and soon our plane arrived from Toledo, Ohio. So the passengers from Toledo soon deplaned into our gate. Other people from other flights that got cancelled soon showed up at our gate trying to get on our flight to get them closer to home. Some of them were trying to get to Peoria, Illinois. Most of them ended up riding on our flight. Peoria is probably about 120 miles or so from Cedar Rapids. We were allowed to board our puddle jumper at about 4:30 p.m.
Our gate to home.
Jenna was still sleeping on the floor so we picked her up and showed our boarding passes to get on the plane. We did end up departing on time at about 4:50 p.m. so now in a little over an hour we would be home. I was trying to decide from above if Minnesota really was a land of 10,000 lakes – it is probably a slight exaggeration. They were probably including some ponds and mud puddles in that total, but to be fair I’m sure I couldn’t see the whole state. We each received a cold can of Pepsi (Diet Pepsi for Cheryl) with a cup of ice during our flight and the skies over Iowa were clear enough that we could see all of the farmland and small towns below.
Jenna heading toward sleepyland on this flight home.
Soon we were over Cedar Rapids – whose slogan is “The City of Five Seasons”. When we were kids we called it the city of five smells because of five different large factories within the city limits which each emitted their own distinctive odors (and pollution) on a daily basis for us inhabitants to remind us of where we are. We landed at the Eastern Iowa Airport on time just before 6 p.m. We weren’t expecting a large crowd to meet us because we didn’t really invite anyone. We deplaned for the last time with our carry-on luggage and Jenna and soon left the gate area to get our luggage at the baggage claim. On the way there we ran into Lois (Cheryl’s mom) and Kristen (Cheryl’s sister). They came with us to the baggage claim area while Cheryl introduced them to Jenna and told them about our flights and trip. I’m guessing she did it using fewer words than I used in this story.
Our Journey is complete!
I was able to locate our 4 large checked bags soon enough and I loaded all of our baggage onto a cart (it was free). Kristen & Lois took some pictures of us and then we wheeled the luggage outside in front of the terminal while I went to get our van from the long-term parking lot. Neither Cheryl nor I had much cash, but I had some traveler’s checks left. We kept every denomination of Chinese currency except for some reason that escapes me now we had to spend our 50 yuan bill. I remembered from before that long-term parking isn’t cheap so we borrowed $60 from Lois so I could bring our van around to pick up the bags and drive us to my parent’s house so we could be reunited with our children. As I was driving the van it felt weird because I haven’t driven anything in 2 weeks, and I’m used to driving every day. When I reached the pay booth I discovered that our parking fee for 16 days was $80, but fortunately they accepted traveler’s checks. So I was able to give Lois her $60 back. We loaded our bags into the van and they took up so much space I didn’t know where we were going to put the rest of our family, but we would find a way I’m sure. We said our goodbyes to Lois and Kristen and then we drove to my parent’s house in Cedar Rapids where Leah, Alexander, and Benjamin have been staying. Soon we were there and I had our video camera out to take video of our reunion and them meeting their new little sister Jenna for the first time. We rang the doorbell and Leah and Benjamin answered it and we heard loud choruses of Daddy! Mommy! And soon we saw Alex too. Our journey is complete – it’s great to be home! We got lots of hugs and kisses and everyone fussed over Jenna, who was giving us big smiles.
Jenna and Mommy.
Alex, Cheryl, and Jenna.
Jenna with her new big sister Leah.
The kids at home - two brothers and two sisters.
So this is the story of our journey – congratulations and thank you if you made it this far, it’s a long story I know. It is the story of our fourth adoption journey but our first one to China so it holds a special place in our hearts. Hopefully Jenna will read this story one day and be glad that she did. Then I will be glad that I wrote about it – I wrote about our other journeys as well. I would've never guessed in a million years that I would ever go to China, let alone adopt a daughter from China. What a trip it was, and what a trip it will continue to be! I have no clue as to whether it is interesting enough for others to read about - I suppose it could be like asking someone to read about our vacation and see our vacation pictures. It just seems to me like it was something much more - something magical!
Brett (Cheryl’s husband and proud father of four great children).
Leah Lorraine (Kim, Jang Mee) – South Korea, adopted May 31, 2001 when she was 10-months-old by us through Holt. She is now 7 and in second grade. Leah’s next birthday will be her golden birthday – she turns 8 on 8/8/08, the day the Summer Olympics start in Beijing China.
Alexander Matthew (Choi, Jung Wook) – South Korea, adopted February 7, 2004 when he was 22-months-old by us through Holt. He is now 5 and in kindergarten. Alex is our April Fools boy, born on 4/1/02.
Benjamin Jae (Huh, Min Jae) – South Korea, adopted May 26, 2005 when he was 22-months-old by us through Holt. He is now 4 and in preschool. Benjamin was born on 7/12/03. Nothing special about this date, except that it’s Ben’s birthday!
Jenna WenXin (Xiao, Wen Xin) – China (Hunan Province), adopted July 16, 2007 when she was 3-years-old by us through Holt. Jenna’s birthday (according to her finding note) is 5/12/04.
GOD Bless
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