Consulate Appointment

The newest U.S. citizen.

We met our guide Kelly at 7:50 a.m. to head to our 8:30 a.m. U.S. Consulate appointment. There are 4 other GWCA families in Guangzhou right now, 3 on the same timeline as us, but our consulate appointment is a day earlier than the other three, so we went alone and had our 8:30 a.m. appointment with a large group of Holt families. The new consulate office just opened last week and it is very nice. While the process is significant, in that it is the last official step in bringing Emma Claire home and that it processes her paperwork to give her U.S. citizenship, it isn't the most heartwarming event. You take a number, like at a deli counter, have all the instructions told to you by the consular officer, take the oath on behalf of your child and then wait for your number to be called so you can communicate with the consulate official through a glass window about your child's paperwork.We were back at the hotel by 10:30 a.m. for Emma Claire's nap.

Waiting to get into the consulate.

To make the consulate appointment even more "special", I dressed Emma Claire in the same outfit Chloe wore in 2005 for her consulate appointment. It was also Chloe's red couch photo outfit at The White Swan Hotel, but there is no red couch anymore, so we settled for photos in the park and at the Marriott hotel courtyard.

Emma Claire and I today at the China Hotel, Marriott, after the consulate appointment.

At the waterfalls in the hotel courtyard.

Emma Claire on the swings.

Chloe and I at the White Swan Hotel after the consulate appointment--May 13, 2005. She is wearing the same outfit Emma Claire wore for her consulate appointment today. 

This afternoon our adoption group went to Yuntai Gardens and afterwards we went to eat at Tekila, a Mexican restaurant in Guangzhou. It was nice to go eat with the other two couples in our adoption group and their children. Probably not the best decision to send four Texans and two Californians to eat Mexican in China. Nevertheless, it was fun and we enjoyed ourselves for our last night in Guangzhou.

Yuntai Garden, looking at the greenhouse.

The Roman columns.

The water feature when you enter. It kept threatening to rain and it cooled off a lot, which made for a nice walk through the gardens.