Consulate Day

January 14, 2004

We're almost done! Today we traded off and each did some shopping while Jaden napped. I'm sure we're going to wish we were buying more, but we feel like we're getting a lot right now. The US Consulate is right next door to the White Swan so it was a quick walk to get there. We all went together (Hunan 1 and 2) and then just sat around waiting for the place to fill up with other families. Once everyone arrived, we went through a line to a window, showed the lady the copies of our passports, smiled and kept right on moving. Once everyone had gone through the line, a very funny consulate official came out and we took an oath that the info we had provided was all true and correct. The guy made a joke of it all saying that the babies were actually supposed to take the oath, but he understood that wouldn't happen. It was all over in a matter of about 45 minutes total, including walking there. That was it! We should be officially done with all this stuff which means NO MORE paperwork (at least in China)! Later we headed to Lucy's for our last group dinner with Hunan 1. Only one more full day, then we head HOME!