The Long Road...

I finally have the time and energy to get back to updating the blog after a few days at home recovering and adjusting to having a 10-month old to keep track of. Suitcases still need unpacked and clothes washed, but we are settled in for now.

Let's rewind and revisit the end of our journey.

U.S. Embassy in Hanoi - Visa Interview:
I know there are many adoptive parents reading this blog - both those who went through the old I-600 process and those who have yet to travel and aren't sure what to expect out of this process. After having heard all of the horror stories about the Visa interviews under the old I-600 process, in spite of Lilian's assurance that this step is short and sweet, I was still extremely nervous about this step.

We arrived at the U.S. embassy around 1:45 for our 2:00 appointment. According to the schedule, the lunch break at the embassy was supposed to be over at 1:30. As we sat in the waiting room, there is only dark office cubicles through the glass service windows and not a person in sight. So we sit...and sit...and sit. While we are sitting, 2 other American families come in with their little ones. We continue to wait until around 2:30. By this point, even my patient father is irritated and expresses to me how disgraceful it is that THIS is the best representation of our country that this government office can manage - and this coming from a man who is a retired employee of the U.S. Postal Service :)

The office behind the windows begins to finally stir a few minutes after 2:30 and we go up to the window and pay our fee then wait for our turn. Lilian points to a small door at the side and says that small room is where we will be called for the interview.

In a few minutes, a young man comes to one of the windows and calls the name of one of the other families. They go up to the window and within 2 minutes, walk away with their receipt in hand. The second family goes up and the process repeats. My dad gives me a puzzled look and says "are they just doing this through the window?" I too am shocked.

Finally, my name is called and I walk to the window. Here is the EXACT transcript of the "VISA interview":
Embassy Employee: "Mr. Stickley?"
Me: "Yes"
EE: (shuffling through my file) "Is your wife here?"
Me: "No, she was unable to make the trip"
EE: "So you are going to complete the adoption..."
Me: "...when we get back to Hawaii, yes."
EE shuffles through file papers, holds a picture up of Juneau and compares it to the little girl I am holding, is satisfied it is the same child, grabs a rubber stamp and applies today's date to a blue receipt card.
EE: (passing the card through the window slot) "Your Visa will be ready between 4:00 and 4:30 this afternoon"

That is 100% the entire interaction. Based on the amount of time the families who were there with me spent at the window that day, I'm sure there experience was the same. Now, I know some of you went through painful interviews during the old I-600 process so I'm sure you are just shaking your head. For those of you who are yet to travel, I can't guarantee your's will go that easily, but hopefully you'll get the same embassy employee I had who coincidently, shares the exact same name as a very famous former Yankees first baseman.

One sidenote about our experience at the embassy: While I was at the window, Lilian spoke a bit with the other 2 families. They were looking for shopping near the embassy so they could kill the 2 hours they had to wait for their Visa to be ready. They had asked Lilian for help because the moment their interview was done, their in-country rep. from their agency left and wasn't willing to help them figure things out. We talked to them a bit about this and it was clear they weren't overly pleased with the help they had received during their stay. Basically, this person would just meet them at an office or appointment when necessary then quickly disappear. They had apparently been left to fend for themselves when they first arrived in Hanoi to get from the airport to the hotel (which is over 25 km) and ended up with a ridiculously pricey taxi fare. The one husband said he would have appreciated have some assistance that amounted to more than just serving as a translator from the in-country person. I won't say what agency they were with (though it was one everyone would know) because my point isn't to bad-mouth the manner in which other agencies choose to handle their in-country processes. I simply describe all this to contrast what a great experience we had due to the caring commitment toward the families demonstrated by HIC's in-country coordinator, Lilian. She was basically part of our family for the 2 weeks we were there...as a former travel agent, she knew where everything was and not only told us where to go, but met us at our hotel and took us out to see things. She was completely "take charge" in every situation where we had do something official and made sure things got done. I can't understand Vietnamese but based on tone of voice, I think she actually
got into it a little a couple of times when people were giving us the run-around (like when Juneau's passport was mysteriously "missing"). It was clear that she was invested in the famlies and children she works with. Until our interaction with those families at the embassy on the last day, I took for granted that all agencies' in-country reps were like that but clearly that was not the case. Clearly their in-country coordinator is one of HIC's greatest assets.

That night we left Hanoi around 11:00 p.m. Juneau fell asleep as soon as we got on the plane and slept all the way through to our lay-over in Osaka. Thank God for those bulkhead bassinettes. We arrived in Osaka early in the morning and have to kill time until 10:00 p.m. that night before our flight to Honolulu. Luckily, JAL arranged for a free hotel room for the day at the hotel attached to the Kansai airport so we all managed to get a little sleep while taking turns playing with Juneau. Juneau again falls asleep just before we get on the plane in Osaka and sleeps all but the last hour of the flight to Honolulu.

The coolest and most well-designed airport any of us have ever been in:

Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan

Killing time during our 17 hour lay-over in Osaka

We finally touch down in Honolulu 31 hours after leaving Hanoi...glad to be home. One clear lesson learned from our trip: JAL continues to lead the industry in customer care...By far the best flying experiences any of us have ever had in our lives. Even if it costs a little more, fly JAL. (If JAL ever started running a route from Honolulu to Cincinnati, I'd be the happiest person around).

Juneau finally on American soil outside the Honolulu Int'l Airport

We arrived home around noon on Friday. We introduced Juneau to her new home and her 2 dogs. The rest of the day she is a bit reserved and apprehensive and it is clear that once again we have shaken up her world, just when she was getting used to the Hoa Binh Palace Hotel. However, by the time she wakes up the next morning, you would think she has lived here her whole life. Though our house isn't big, she loves being able to crawl around wherever she pleases. By Saturday night, she is crawling from one side of the bed to the other chasing our 6lb poodle/chihuahua mix named Summit and giggling the whole time. Summit loves all the attention and starts bringing her toys over to Juneau hoping she will throw them so she can fetch. Instead, they actually start playing tug-o'-war and Juneau can pretty much hold her own against a 6lb dog.

Juneau is not too keen on her car seat yet but she is getting better. When we took my dad to the airport on Sunday night, she was tired and pretty much screamed the whole way there and back. Juneau had become really good pals with Grandpa Stickley so I'm sure she will miss him but Grandma is still here for 3 more weeks and they are quickly becoming thick as thieves.

Juneau, Grandpa and Sherpa

Juneau getting used to her new high-chair (we think Grandma is trying to revive the disco craze in the background)

Juneau and Grandma Stickley on the first of many fun days to come while daddy is at work

So for now, we are home and settled and Juneau is doing great. We'll call this phase 1...little does Juneau know we are getting ready to throw her 1 more curve in 19 days when she meets her mommy and little sister...stay tuned.

A few pictures to close:

Juneau has become a top-speed crawler

Grandma Stickley taught Juneau to play "patty-cake" and she is currently obsessed with it. She will frequently stop what she's doing and spontaneously break into it (while trying to saying the words) and expect you to join in...and as you can see, Summit is never far off.