U.S. Consulate Appointment, Day 18, February 21, 2008

David headed to the US consulate first thing in the morning with Sampson to get our vaccination affidavit notarized. This did not take too long and David took a cab back to the hotel while Sampson continued to work the paperwork. The good news was that our swearing in ceremony was moved up to this afternoon so we would receive our daughter’s visa today as well. This would leave our last day in China stress free as we would have all our paperwork in hand to bring our daughter home.

We went out for a little walk in the morning where our daughter got us to experiment with some meals on a stick. Not sure what we had but it was pretty tasty. We then met up with the other two Gladney families to head to the consulate at 2:45. The consulate does not allow any cameras or virtually any other electronic devices into the consulate so we will have no photos of this ceremony.

After we finished at the consulate and had all our prized documents in hand we ventured out to dinner once again with Sampson. Another small family restaurant. This restaurant was obviously known for its fresh fish selections. You knew this as one wall of the restaurant was occupied with aquariums with the future meals swimming around inside. We witnessed a few netted out of their temporary cramped quarters only to be, ahhh, eventually dispatched to a table next to ours. I must confess we did not have a fish dish, other than some fish rolled into balls that were part of one of our dishes. Another good meal at a small authentic Chinese restaurant near our hotel. We are thinking this beats the heck out of the hotel diner buffet and a whole lot less expensive. Just have to have someone with you who knows how to order.