Two Years Ago on Dec.30th-31st

Tuesday, Dec. 30th, 2008

This was the last day we had a chance that the USCIS would call us for an interview before their government offices would close for another five days. After our breakfast we got help from the BCGH to find the Thai Immigration Bureau. There we filled out the application and went across the street to get pictures taken of ourselves and staple our documents together at a business center. Then we went back and waited our turn to go up and request another 30 day extension to our visas. Unfortunately, they stamp "Denied" in our passports, but did give us a courtesy 7 day extension so that instead of expiring on Jan. 7th they would now expire on Jan. 14th. But, we still had to pay the full $110 fee just like for the 30 day extension. After that we went back to our guest house. We spent the rest of the day swimming and hanging out in our neighborhood. This was only Penny's second time of swimming. It was certainly a lesson in trust. We were so glad that another adoptive family told us that we could walk to the Swiss Hotel just two doors down from our guest house and pay a fee to enable us to swim at their pool all day. It was interesting swimming in a pool up on the roof over their dining room, right next to other high rise buildings. As we imagined, we never did get that phone call that we had hoped for. It was a good thing that we had changed our airline tickets. I tried embedding a video about the hotel where we went swimming here, but it didn't work. Instead, I'll post some pictures of the department store where we always went to go shopping and eating.



Wednesday, Dec. 31st, 2008

We got an e-mail warning from the state department asking us to be very careful in Bangkok and not to join large gatherings for New Year's eve due to heightened danger of violence. So, we decided to take it easy and lay low in our own little neighborhood once again. We mostly did things like playing card games, watch t.v. and Penny played with kids at our guest house. The sad part for her was that the friendships that she formed there couldn't last long as the kids always had to leave, eventually. But, she was a true gem. Ever since she saw her parents breaking down crying, she seemed to understand more of our love and her whole outlook seemed to change. It was like she understood that we were not holding her captive but truly wanted her to be a part of our family. On this day at the internet cafe she typed her first ever e-mail message. It took her a very long time, but she was very patient and persistent. She would not give up until she got it right. We were already seeing that she definitely had some very good character traits that would serve her well for the big transition coming up; to learn a whole new language and culture. Here are some pictures of our neighborhood.



You may notice a red Chinese looking roof in some of the photos. That is of a small Chinese temple located between our guest house and the department store that we would visit everyday. On New Year's eve at midnight we heard thousands of firecrackers going off down the street at the temple.

Two Years Ago on Dec.28th-29th

Sunday, Dec. 28th, 2008

Well, the morning started out great with us being able to attend a Christian worship service right in our hotel. We especially enjoyed hearing everyone praying, especially one of our new friends, who was Indonesian Dutch. We said, "See you later," to the Novetel and our missionary friends, the Fujiis. After church we packed up our things and headed back to downtown Bangkok to stay at the Bangkok Christian Guest House. Penny had to sit on my lap because our suitcases took up the rest of the space. Although the room was much smaller at the BCGH, we were relieved to be moving closer to the government offices and even Penny seemed pretty happy to be back in familiar surroundings. She especially enjoyed seeing the Fujii's at the BCGH later that evening as they had a church gathering meeting there. We now were armed with a Thai cell phone that the Fujii's had obtained for us. And we were hopeful with guarded optimism that perhaps we'd finally get that interview. After all, the DSDW had faxed them the explanation form as to why there was another document in place of the original birth certificate. We enjoyed visiting the internet cafe at the nearby mall in the evening and were enjoying other perks, such as free bottled water. Things seemed to be looking up, we thought.






Monday, Dec. 29th, 2008

This day didn't turn out as positive as we had hoped. Penny had a rough night the night before and could hardly be aroused in the morning. So, we had to drag a grumpy teenager to the dreaded USCIS office. There we were told that the fax from the DSDW was not sufficient and they needed the original document. When we called the DSDW we discovered that the social worker dealing with our case was out for a week's vacation. But, they had Penny's file available and so we hailed a taxi and made it there in record time. We picked up the document and left it off at the window of the USCIS office. Then we went back to our hotel, hoping they'd call us. When we weren't hearing anything, we thought we had nothing to lose to just go over to their lobby and wait around. Well, we ended up waiting until closing time, at which point one of the CIS officers came to the window and told us that she could not guarantee that she'd call us anytime soon. Since the government offices would be closing down for another 5-day holiday weekend starting on Wednesday we knew that we'd probably not be able to leave that Wednesday. After hearing this crushing news Jay walked away from the counter and started crying. When we got our electronic dictionary back and I started trying to explain the situation to Penny, I started losing it. Next we went to the NW Airlines office for the second time to change our tickets again, this time to leave on January 10th. We were so thankful that we had chosen to pay for the special adoption fare tickets with NW since we could change our tickets as many times as necessary without any extra charge. While we were there Penny told one of the ladies at NW Airlines that she was really impressed by how her dad would cry. Later, after taking her out for her favorite Thai food, Penny was leaning her head on Jay's shoulder and holding his hand on the escalator. It seemed the hardship we were experiencing in Bangkok was drawing us closer as a family.
Below are pictures of the mall where we went to change our airline tickets with NW Airlines.

Two Years Ago on Dec.26th-27th

Friday, Dec. 26th, 2008

We went to the Bangkok Zoo on a very hot and humid day. We all felt very worn out. But, after the cooler indoor snake exhibit we started feeling a little better. Penny was all out of sorts and we really weren't sure why.



When we left the zoo we saw several political protesters starting to gather outside, since they were planning a rally the next day across the street at the Parliament building. Then we had at least two empty taxis turn us down. So, we were thankful when a cab finally stopped and he got us to our hotel in record time.

Saturday, Dec. 27th, 2008

It was the first time for Penny to swim. She was a little scared, especially because the water was almost too deep for her and it was very cold. But, she was brave and very persistent.

She had one last fun time with her Dutch friends, as they would be leaving for some sightseeing and we would be moving back into the downtown area to the Bangkok Christian Guest House, once again. We were hoping that we'd be granted our interview in the early part of the next week and hopefully leave on Dec. 31st. At least that's when we had rescheduled our tickets at NW Airlines. For our last Saturday at the Novetel we went to the nearby mall and watched a movie. We saw Madagascar II (in Thai). Penny loved it and we really saw her fun personality emerging after the movie as we ate dinner at the Sizzler restaurant. This was a nice way to end our last night at the Novetel.

Two Years Ago on Dec.24th-25th

Wed. Dec. 24th, 2008

The good piece of news was that we received word that the USCIS had finally received the Visa cable 37 sent from Denver. The other good news was that our social worker with the DSDW quickly faxed us a clarification document stating why there was another form in lieu of the original birth certificate. So, we were hoping that once the five day holiday weekend ended that we'd get a chance to submit this document and receive our interview with the USCIS before they'd close for their five-day New Year's break. Penny was getting a bit sad, realizing that she would not spend her first Christmas in America. But, she was also having fun playing with two kids she met at our hotel who were from Holland. We also enjoyed going shopping at two malls nearby our new hotel. In fact, we bought the Thai keyboard I am typing on now for the equivalent of about $8! It's been a great investment, as it has helped Penny be able to type in Thai.


In the evening we ate at KFC and then headed over to our hotel where Santa was visiting everyone in the hotel dining room and lobby. Penny enjoyed watching Santa blow up balloons and create special artwork with them.






Thurs., Dec. 25th, 2008

The good news was that our stomachs felt a little better this morning after having eaten the undercooked eggs at our previous hotel. Penny had really been enjoying playing with her new Dutch friends. It's amazing how they could somehow communicate, even with the lack of a common language, save a LITTLE English. We were loving the food at the Bangna Novetel Hotel. Every meal had an AMAZING buffet, unlike anything we had ever seen.

My missionary friends, the Fujii's, helped us out by getting us a Thai cell phone and explaining how we could get a card at any 7-Eleven to download minutes onto the phone. A very inexpensive, but useful tool to enable us to travel a little farther from home, but still be able to retrieve the important call that should come someday to let us know that we would be granted an interview with the DSDW. These friends also invited us to join them in the afternoon/evening to go to a giant Christmas party in downtown Bangkok at Lumphini Park. They picked us up and next we stopped at the school where they work, BIT (Bangkok Institute of Theology). There we met and picked up some of their students to come along with us to the Christmas celebration in the heart of Bangkok.



There was a huge gathering of Thai Christians there, serving free food and sharing the message of Christ through a huge, walk through nativity set and on stage. They had all kinds of performances, including music, dance and famous people speaking about how Christ had made a difference in their lives. It was a very special way to celebrate Jesus' birthday. Afterwards, we walked over to the Night Market and went into a restaurant where we enjoyed excellent Thai food. Penny was smiling a lot because she loved being able to communicate with the Fujii's.







It was a very Merry Christmas and certainly kept our minds off of being sad that we couldn't be home. Meanwhile, my parents had driven all the way from eastern South Dakota to Colorado to hopefully spend the holiday with us. They, unfortunately, had to turn around and take the 11 hour trip back without getting to see their new granddaughter, yet. It's so nice having them with us this year and to be able to look back at pictures and smile now.