Guangzhou Consulate Ceremony

Today we went to the new Consulate site in Guangzhou for the swearing-in ceremony, and to pick up Rachael's immigration papers and visa. This used to be a two-minute walk from the White Swan, keeping everything within easy walking distance. However, the Chinese government booted/asked the U.S. Consulate off Shamian Dao, and they're now a 45-minute bus ride across town, in a high-rise complex that shares space with several other businesses (most notably, a dozen visa/immigration lawyer and processing firms). Since you can't take anything but baby and passports, we weren't able to take diapers, bottle, or cameras, so have no pictures to show of cranky baby that wanted a bottle, then took a nap. Rachael cried for the first 90 minutes of her Gotcha Day process, and slept through her swearing-in ceremony, so she's not enjoying two pretty significant life events when they happen. But, she's a baby, what do you expect?

Note: We are furiously packing, so this post is done sans pictures. Checked baggage goes outside the door in 42 minutes, then we're hitting the Hawaii pool for a last swim under the waterfall. Wakeup is at 5am, breakfast at 6am, and we hit the bus at 6:25 for our 27.5 hours of travel. Oy! Saying that hurts. Please pray for us, since we weren't able to get seat information, let alone reserved seats, and we may have all three of us in dispersed seats on the plane (which is only feasible for 66.7% of us). We're getting the Chinese runaround so far, and have now been told that we can't change seats until we get to Hong Kong. Hey, great plan! I'm sure that no one else will have gotten assigned seats 60 minutes before the plane boards, so it should be a piece of cake. {set sarcasm=off} Seriously, if they aren't accomodating, United will have two options: refund on the spot the money we paid for Rachael's ticket, or we plop her in a seat between two strangers, and see how long it takes for one of them to switch seats with us. I'm thinking plan B has a near-certain chance of success. :-) Kids -- see you tomorrow!