Kaliningrad Opens

We've just heard that the Kaliningrad region is re-opening for international adoptions. Jon and I are both excited about the possibility of adopting from this part of Russia - mainly because of our time spent in the Baltics. Kaliningrad is on the Baltic Sea and shares a border with Lithuania and Poland. Even though neither of us has ever stepped foot in Kaliningrad, we feel a connection to it somehow. We posted a question to our adoption chat group, asking about people's experience adopting from this part of Russia. We only got a few replies, but they were all positive. One couple gave a glowing review of the orphanage there. They were very impressed with the care, and said that the kids all seemed to be healthy and as happy as can be expected. The only down side to Kaliningrad is that they require three trips instead of two. We would have to travel to submit our dossier in person. We don't understand why they have this requirement or how it might affect the rest of the process. Our agency is looking into this for us.

We received a final copy of our Home Study in the mail today. That means the CIS office in Hong Kong should receive their copy this week. Hopefully, we'll get our I-171H form from them in the next week or so. Things will then slow down for a while. Our coordinator from the US is going on vacation later this week, and apparently Russia shuts down for the first couple weeks of May due to national holidays. 

Home Study Finalized

Our home study has been finalized!  We got the good news today. We're heading to the US Consulate in Osaka on Friday morning to notarize a few more documents, and then we'll mail our dossier to our agency that afternoon.  Finally!  It's taken us three months to compete our dossier. Once this is submitted, the wait for a referral will begin.

Ohanami

The cherry blossoms are out!  Actually, they were out. They're almost gone now - I'm a little behind in my posts...  It's a national pastime here in Japan to go view the cherry blossoms each spring.  They even have a name for cherry blossom viewing: ohanami.  A couple weekends ago, we set out to experience this annual phenomenon - I with the Welbi along a river in the city, and Jon on a bike ride in the mountains.  While we certainly thought the blossoms were beautiful, the true phenomenon was the hundreds (thousands?) of Japanese people on their blue tarps, picnicking with bento boxes, sake, and beer under the trees. It was nice to see so many people enjoying the natural world - even if it was a bit crowded.  Our school also participated in the ohanami festivities by having a staff party out on the Green Belt (a path around Rokko Island) under the blossoms.  The women of Canadian Academy host this party for the men of CA each year, in return for the Valentine's breakfast they host for us.  A rather civilized tradition, I must say.

The Little Mermaid

A few other teachers and I went to see the Queensland Ballet perform The Little Mermaid last night.  It was wonderful!  I can honestly say it was the best ballet I've ever seen - meaning that it's the one I've enjoyed the most.  The scenery and costumes were beautiful and believable and gave the genuine feeling of being under water.  And the way the mermaids danced across the stage - with their feet close together and the flared material waving and swishing back and forth around their feet - it looked as if their 'tails' were propelling them through the water. Another interesting technique they used to help create the impression of swimming was having dancers dressed in black from head to toe hold the mermaids horizontally in the air and carry them across the stage, while the mermaids made swimming and diving motions with their arms.  Since the men in black blended into the underwater world so well, it was incredibly effective.  A stunning performance, indeed!

Before the ballet, I re-read this famous story by Hans Christian Andersen (although, I'm not sure that I'd ever read it before) to remind myself of the plot.  Unfortunately, my knowledge of this classic tale had been Disney-ized.  The original story is quite different from Disney's version.  It's much better, if a bit more graphic - I didn't realize that the Little Mermaid had her tongue cut out by the Sea Witch. Still, it's a wonderful story. I've been reading more of Andersen's stories in the book, The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen, by Maria Tatar. It's a lovely book, one I can't wait to read aloud from with a little someone on my lap... Someday. 

Softball Saturday

I'm helping coach the Middle School girls' softball team this year.  Our season started in mid-March, and we've had a few games since then.  We played a double-header yesterday at Marist Brothers, another international school here in Kobe. We won our first game against Marist, but lost the second to Osaka International. More important than winning or losing, however, was the fact that we were much improved since our first game. The girls made some great plays and are starting to get the hang of the game. It's fun to watch them improve! They're a great bunch of girls, and we all enjoyed the day.  

Adoptions Suspended in Kemerovo

We just heard from our agency that adoptions in the Kemerovo region of Russia have been suspended until further notice. This is one of the regions from which our agency has been placing children, and while we don't think this suspension will delay our adoption, it does affect other families currently in the process with FTIA. It's a horrible story, as it involves the death (killing?) of a child adopted from this region by American/Russian parents. We certainly don't know all the details, but according to one news article online, abuse seems likely.  How incredibly sad.  How can people treat children this way?

Our agency will be posting more news as it comes in from Russia. In the meantime, it's possible that they'll be able to start working in the region of Ekaterinburg, as well as continue placing children from the Ufa region.  

My heart goes out to all the families who just returned from their first trip to Kemerovo and met their children. I hope they'll be able to complete their adoptions and bring their little ones home.

No April Fools!

We woke this morning to an email from Margaret saying that Jon's Latvian police clearance has arrived. Finally! When it didn't turn up last week, we were sure it was going to be another week or two. This last document sets everything else in motion:

1. Megan will be able to finish our home study and submit it to our agency
   
2. Our agency will review our home study and send it to the US Immigration office in Hong Kong 
   
3. The immigration office in Hong Kong will issue our I-171H Advanced Approval form
   
4. We will get our last few documents notarized at the US Consulate in Osaka and submit our dossier (which will include our home study and our I-171H Advanced Approval) to our agency
   
5. Our agency will have our documents apostilled and will send our dossier to Russia for translation 
   
6. We will receive a referral and/or an invitation to travel to meet a child 

Our agency informed us that many Russian officials take vacation during the first two weeks of May since there are a few holidays during that time. We're hoping to get our dossier sent to Russia before May 1, so that it doesn't sit on someone's desk for two weeks!