Today was not a good day, adoption-wise.

Though the day started out promising (in and out of the Secretary of State’s office in less than 30 minutes with the final two documents certified), the Consulate was a completely different story.

I was somewhat prepared for bureaucracy, but wow.  I should have known better when I signed in at the guard desk and saw that there was maybe 30 or so names above me all visiting the Consulate. Hmm, strange because it doesn’t actually open until 9:00, and there are people signed in at 8? Weird.

My fears were realized when I arrived at the suite to see the equivalent of a DMV on steroids. Lots of rows of chairs, several cashier-type windows, and one line labeled “pick up.” No one was behind any windows, but people were just… sitting. After making a full orbit of the waiting room, I located a poorly labeled kiosk where in the tiniest font imaginable, it said “Please take a number.” No joke– I was on top of the machine and still wasn’t sure what to do with the doorbell-esque device tucked into the corner. Button pressed, and now I’m B213, whatever that entails.

I parked it in the back of the room and tried to look like I knew what I was doing.  At approximately 9:01, there was a slow procession of employees from the back to their cashier’s windows and it’s go-time. “Now serving A001, now serving B200, now serving C315.” Ahh, so that’s how it works! For the next forty minutes, I watched people filter in and stumble around much like I did. After a few orbits, they’d see the machine and take their deli number. I heard several arguments in varying languages (mostly English), and several folks stormed out. Others were sent off to the antiquated copying machine in the corner of the room to procure the required photocopies of varying documents for submission. Perhaps the most entertaining part was watching when someone was inevitably sent away to do something extra/change their forms. They then had to wait and somewhat “cut” in line before the next number could be called. Someone asked if they could just take another number, but when they saw how slow things were moving, they decided to chance it like everyone else.

Finally, someone was “Now serving B213.” I fumbled up to the counter and without smile, the lady behind the counter said “Give me all your papers.” I passed through my packet-o-adoption, and then proceeded to answer many questions, all of which were answered on the  cover sheet they ask you to fill out. Thank goodness, I was K-prepared (read: overprepared to a fault) and brought xeroxes of all my forms. I was told that all I’d need to submit was just a copy of our homestudy for them to keep on file. Nope. They wanted copies of everything. I hauled out my half-a-tree’s worth of photocopied documents, and we began.

She went through page by page, noting the date, checking notary name, date, and seals, and even held most pages up to the light to check for removed staple holes. So far, so good. By the time we got to the fated bundled reference letter packet, she looked at it and paused.  You know the pause, almost record-scratch. And I kid you not, she pushed a button, which then called someone “from the back” out to stand behind her while she explained to me that she couldn’t seal the document. So while some large man loomed behind her, she explained that there was a problem with the dates on my references. Because they were bundled, we used a cover sheet that was notarized with copies of the reference letters rather than the original reference letters themselves. The State was more than happy with it. However, even with my desperate pleading and arm flailing, it was a no-go. To make matters worse, because she could only seal 14 out of the 15 documents, I no longer had a money order for the exact amount– and apparently they don’t give change. She started to suggest that I go to a bank and get a new order, but I decided at that point that I was done.  She gave me my first smile of the day, handed back all my forms, and I was on my way.

So where are we now? Well, since the bundle didn’t work, we now have to re-evaluate all our reference letters and most likely will need them re-signed and notarized, sealed again by their states, and then farmed out to their consulates. Which means letters will need to be couriered all around the US now for state certification and eventual sealing. We knew this was a risk, and now it’s just a pricy and time-eating bump in the road. I am hopeful now that we can have our dossier in to our agency by Thanksgiving (I was hoping it would be in China by then), but  such is life.

On the plus side, I learned a new Chinese character today. There were signs all around the room explaining what kind of behavior/devices/photography/etc was prohibited. So now, I will definitely be able to recognize a “Don’t Do This!” sign in Chinese.

So yes, today was a bad day, but I’m looking forward to a weekend of fellowship and relaxation. And just maybe a little cooking– I think there’s still a spot open in our chest freezer.