Yesterday was a very relaxing day. We got on a dragon boat just outside of our hotel and cruised down to the Slender Lake area (a very famous tourist destination in this town). We had Chinese dumplings for lunch followed by some pretty lame shopping. Not many presents coming home this trip.
In the evening we had a very nice farewell banquet at the hotel, with the same politicians, directors and workers that have been at every event these past 3 days. It was not a performance at all it was just a heartfelt thanks to us for bringing our girls back to see their roots and a thanks to them for going above and beyond to make us feel so welcome. I said that there are not many presents coming home, actually we have an entire suitcase filled with gifts from the orphanage, from the tour agency and from the town so that Claire will never forget where she came from. The best was a DVD of our entire trip along with a small photo book and 2 8x10 pictures mounted on a plaque of our entire group.
This will probably be our last post as we wind down this journey. It has definitely been a trip of a lifetime. We have been able to learn more about Claire's past as well as make some amazing new friends.
We've had a very busy week and we've got a long day ahead of us. We are getting ready for a 1 hr taxi ride, a 2 hour train ride, another 1 hr taxi ride before we climb on the plane for a 12 hr flight to be followed by a 1 hr flight. We are supposed to get home around 11:00 Sat night.
Thanks for following our journey.
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I enjoyed following along with you guys on your trip. It will be such a special memory for Claire in years to come. Praying for safe travels home!
ReplyDeleteCarla
I really enjoyed following your trip as well. I hope to take KateLin on a reunion trip when she's old enough to remember it as well. Safe travels home. Claire, you did a fabulous job blogging....you'll look back in years to come and treasure this time you wrote about.
ReplyDeleteHugs from another Yangzhou Mom!
Hope Wallace