Goodbye Shanghai!

It was mixed emotions as Chris and I took Mason to the Hongqiao airport in Shanghai to fly on China Southern Airlines to Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan province, the province where Mason was born.  Shanghai is the only city that Mason has ever really known since he was 4 months old, and I don't think we'll be back there anytime soon, as it is just too expensive to travel, and logistics with 4 kids at home will make it very difficult.  Perhaps when he is a teenager!

On the other hand, leaving Shanghai means that we are making big progress in this adoption process and each day gets us closer to when Mason will officially be a Schiller (for better or worse, kiddo!)

The flight was just a little under two hours, and Mason did beautifully, only fussing a little.  He really enjoyed looking out the window around take-off and landing to watch the houses and countryside outside.  We brought a bag of tricks (ok- really toys) to keep him occupied, and he enjoyed those.  Then the flight attendents handed out the lunches, which were very Chinese, and Mason gobbled down all of his noodles (adult serving size) and half of Chris'.  Chris nor I dared to eat that stuff.

First airplane ride!

 

After we landed, collected our bags, and got ripped off by a taxi driver (I don't know enough Chinese to argue back to him about the price, so we just paid the extra money and dealt with it), we arrived at the Crowne Plaza Zhengzhou.  The hotel lobby is beautiful, and the room is...well...it's okay and it works.  It smells like, well, hmmm...like the horrible pollution outside (will show pics of that later).  We are now a part of a travel group, and a small one at that with three families (one from Illinois adopting a 4 1/2 year old son, and one from NC adopting a 14 month old son).  Tomorrow is what is known as "Gotcha Day" or "Family Day" when most families, except for us, go meet their child(ren) for the first time, sign a 24 hour guardianship agreement before the adoption is finalized, and take their new child(ren) back to the hotel with them to start the bonding process.  Even though we have already experienced our own Family Day with Mason, we are so very excited to watch these families become more whole, as their new loves enter their lives in the flesh.  I know that this process will be hard on many of the children, as it has been the parents who have been pursuing this dream and have been waiting for months, and sometimes years, to hold their new child, and some of these children have not been told what is about to happen, and all will grive at some time in their own way.  I just pray that the transitions go as smoothly as possible for the new family members and their parents!!!