Life marches on in Taiwan and Sam is headed home. There is a GREAT folk arts camp every summer in Anchorage (www.alaskafolkarts.com) that I just can't bear for him to miss, so he's off for a different adventure.
I had an insight after our May trip to Hong Kong when I was feeling so frustrated about dates and waiting and so forth. The thought came to me that perhaps Heavenly Father has a bigger picture for us that may not be clear to us at present (not perhaps, I know He does). That weekend in Hong Kong, Sam had ridden the bus home alone with 2 new friends. It made quite an impression on him; he talked about going home to Anchorage and doing lots of things on his own--just a new image of himself. (from a kid who doesn't like to check the mail because of bears and moose) Not that I sought out a 12 hour plane ride to grow his independence, but it feels right. He's been an enormous asset here, playing with the kids and keeping me company.
He's had some great opportunities to grow here in unique ways..
Independence will matter when mom and dad have three more people needing care.
as for adoption updates, the final ruling came. Now we wait for medical exam results to get sent to AIT (equivalent of the US Embassy). At the moment, our AIT interviews could be as early as the 13th or 14th OR the 20th...depending on when they get the medical info. That is sort of what it's feeling like....wait, wait, get new information that you think might move it along, then wait, wait (over and over again).
Today was the AIT interview with its multitude of papers. It went without incident except for some health information that was different than any we'd seen before. We were told that the aforementioned machine didn't work (from a different post), meaning the visas would probably not be ready today; an additional wrinkle is that a typhoon is supposed to cross over Taiwan tomorrow which generally means government offices will be closed...leading to no visa and no going home on our flights. Call at 3:00 confirmed that visas would not be ready today. Another painful parting (for Mei-Yun) from Janet, our guide/helper who has assisted in many ways.
We went to 228 Park for awhile where everyone got along swimmingly, then to Han-han's old house where we had lunch and played for the afternoon..an easier home base than the hotel room. Hui-li gave us an hour's respite, which was WELCOME and helped them take a "rest". She also helped with dinner, another painful parting,
and we headed back to the hotel, where they took a bath. It had to be another first. They were completely insane. I know none of them have had bathtubs in their previous homes and finally Zhong-Lin had to get out because he was so hyped.
We shaved three and 1/2 hours off our bedtime from last night...thank goodness!!
