Here's one from the archives!How Our China Punim Became a U.S. Citizen
When it comes to raising our China Punim, there are so many decisions to consider. Of course she will go to Sunday school and be a Bat Mitzvah, but those are easy decisions. Growing up in our area as all kids do is not a simple thing, but it’s decided and settled and right now, we are planning on sending her to public school. What about her Chinese culture? Both my husband and I want Amanda to learn Mandarin. It is not just because if she decides in the future that she wants to be a business person, she will have a definite edge in knowing the language, but we want her to learn about her Chinese heritage. We plan on returning to China, either to adopt another child, a “Mei Mei”, which means “Little Sister” or just to show Amanda her birth country, the culture she was born into.
It’s incredible to us what is going on now in the United States with the immigration issues. I can understand both sides, but one I will continue to support is the laws that affect the citizenship of children that are adopted internationally. One of the most powerful moments in our adoption emotionally was when we landed on U.S. soil in Detroit. Amanda was automatically a U.S. citizen. It felt like we held our breath for 2 weeks until we touched down at Metro Airport.
I remember the day like yesterday. We were sitting on the runway in her birth province, waiting to take off to Guangzhou for one more week. That was where the U.S. Consulate was. As we jetted out, my eyes welt up for her. I felt a tremendous sadness, like I was taking her away from all she knew. It did not feel natural, nor did I feel a sense of relief. It was more like a tremendous appreciation for the land and the unknown couple who created this incredible child to take care of and love. And although the country has its issues that girls are not as “desirable” as boys are, none of that mattered to us. We felt we were given a gift. I knew the next time we would land in the Guangxi Autonomous Region, we would be in the company of a boisterous 5 or 6 year old, or perhaps a moody teenager and we would be Mom and Dad.
Although everything was “Kosher” and legal, there was a sense of being in some episode of Alias, with passports, Visas, fingerprints and all those documents. We walked to the U.S. Embassy in Guangzhou, and our group was ushered past hundreds of Chinese citizens trying to get out of the country and to the United States. Left behind were these desperate faces clinging to and locked out behind the gate in hopes that someone would hear their case. Meanwhile these 14 girls in our group, once seen as less desirable, were about to become U.S. citizens. In retrospect, it was quite ironic.
Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed in the area because of security. We packed into a small room with a couple hundred parents holding their babies and repeating an oath we could barely hear- all the sudden everyone cheered and I knew that was it. Our girls were officially free to leave with us to start their new lives an ocean away.
When it comes to raising our China Punim, there are so many decisions to consider. Of course she will go to Sunday school and be a Bat Mitzvah, but those are easy decisions. Growing up in our area as all kids do is not a simple thing, but it’s decided and settled and right now, we are planning on sending her to public school. What about her Chinese culture? Both my husband and I want Amanda to learn Mandarin. It is not just because if she decides in the future that she wants to be a business person, she will have a definite edge in knowing the language, but we want her to learn about her Chinese heritage. We plan on returning to China, either to adopt another child, a “Mei Mei”, which means “Little Sister” or just to show Amanda her birth country, the culture she was born into.
It’s incredible to us what is going on now in the United States with the immigration issues. I can understand both sides, but one I will continue to support is the laws that affect the citizenship of children that are adopted internationally. One of the most powerful moments in our adoption emotionally was when we landed on U.S. soil in Detroit. Amanda was automatically a U.S. citizen. It felt like we held our breath for 2 weeks until we touched down at Metro Airport.
I remember the day like yesterday. We were sitting on the runway in her birth province, waiting to take off to Guangzhou for one more week. That was where the U.S. Consulate was. As we jetted out, my eyes welt up for her. I felt a tremendous sadness, like I was taking her away from all she knew. It did not feel natural, nor did I feel a sense of relief. It was more like a tremendous appreciation for the land and the unknown couple who created this incredible child to take care of and love. And although the country has its issues that girls are not as “desirable” as boys are, none of that mattered to us. We felt we were given a gift. I knew the next time we would land in the Guangxi Autonomous Region, we would be in the company of a boisterous 5 or 6 year old, or perhaps a moody teenager and we would be Mom and Dad.
Although everything was “Kosher” and legal, there was a sense of being in some episode of Alias, with passports, Visas, fingerprints and all those documents. We walked to the U.S. Embassy in Guangzhou, and our group was ushered past hundreds of Chinese citizens trying to get out of the country and to the United States. Left behind were these desperate faces clinging to and locked out behind the gate in hopes that someone would hear their case. Meanwhile these 14 girls in our group, once seen as less desirable, were about to become U.S. citizens. In retrospect, it was quite ironic.
Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed in the area because of security. We packed into a small room with a couple hundred parents holding their babies and repeating an oath we could barely hear- all the sudden everyone cheered and I knew that was it. Our girls were officially free to leave with us to start their new lives an ocean away.
As we were departing from mainland China for good, flying from Guangdong to Hong Kong, there was finally a sense of relief. We had her VISA to the United States and the famous brown envelope, not to be opened until it was handed to U.S. immigration officers in Detroit.
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