This is the 18th installment in a series of columns I am devoting to the adoption journey my wife, Claudette, and I started in 2005. Hank Bond, publisher and editor of the Greenup Beacon, asked that we share our story with you. Maybe you have an interest in adoption or know someone who does. If so, I hope this information is helpful. We adopted our daughter, Josie Claire Siyan, from China in 2007.

While in China, we communicated with our friends and family members via a website we set up prior to leaving for our two-week journey throughout China.

In a post titled “We’re ready to leave Nanjing,” dated Feb. 2, 2007:

“It is now 9:34 a.m. on Saturday morning in Nanjing.  Claudette, Josie, and I have our bags packed and are ready to leave for the airport.  Our guide, John, just called to let us know that the bell boy would be by our room around 10:15 a.m. to get our suitcases and then John will be by to help us with our carry-on items.”

“We had a nice breakfast this morning downstairs.  Josie enjoyed French toast, eggs, and apple juice.  My throat, while still a bit sore, is much better today.  I had two large cups of coffee, so I'm feeling great!  Claudette and Josie are both feeling very well.”

“I've taken some photos this morning, but everything's packed away, so I'll add them when we get settled in Guangzhou.”

“Guess what?  I got my first kiss from Josie last night!  She's been letting me kiss her, but has never kissed me back.  She's been kissing Claudette for several days now, and last night at bedtime she kissed Claudette and the next thing I know I see her raising up, moving toward me, puckering up, and she gave me a kiss on the cheek!  She's such a loving little lady.  She also likes for Claudette and me to count her fingers and toes at the same time (Claudette on one hand/foot and me on the other).”

“That's it for now.  Our flight is at 2:40 p.m., and should last around one hour and 40 minutes.  We don't mind flying; it's getting through all of the foot traffic at the airport, and getting everything checked in and ourselves settled on the plane that's horrible.”

“When we first arrived in Nanjing I was very polite about getting out of the way of others when they would very rudely walk in front of us to get to where they are going.  I decided that I would take my father-in-law's approach.  While he's lost quite a bit of weight, Larry's still a big, strong guy (power lifter with many world records).  His approach has always been to give people a couple of chances and then go into a linebacker mode.  So, my 6' 1", 260 pounds have stood their ground and made others move around us!  It's amazing how people will almost plow you down to get to where they are going.  I've made numerous people move in the other direction when I go into this mode (most of them are much shorter and weigh much less)!  I just don't appreciate how they walk directly in front of us (especially in our personal space/zone), in particular when we have Josie with us.  I try to keep reminding myself it's a major cultural difference.”

“See you in Guangzhou!”

Terry L. Hapney, Jr., Ph.D., is a professor in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University, and an eastern Greenup County native. He may be reached at hapney@marshall.edu.