942

That's how many days of dossiers need to be processed before the CCAA gets to our log in date (8th Sept 2008). Nine hundred and forty-two. I was planning to fill a jar with 942 M&Ms and each month when referrals occur I would take out and eat the number of dates they got through. Only thing is, the M&Ms would probably go stale by the time our date rolled around. With the average referral rate about 6 days/month, predictions are that we won't receive our allocation until August 2016. HA! So I need to think of another fun way to mark the referrals each month. Any ideas?

(And for the record, I do not believe it will take eight years to get to our LID... I hold hope that things will improve!)

I spy... something beginning with L!

We have a log-in-date! 8/9/08

Ok, just to confuse half of you, that's the 8th September. Americans would write 9/8/08... which to Aussies would mean the 9th of August. Bah! I have no idea why that is.

I'll be a little clearer.

Our LID is 8th Sept 2008!

After the previous post you would understand my excitement at scoring the number eight in there!

The CCAA have presently referred people logged in up to and including 9th February 2006. Anyone care to figure out how many dates are in front of us?

It's a numbers game!

Last we heard there were eight couples in our batch, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. Apparently the Dept cannot release batch-buddy details to each other until everyone has consented regarding how much info they will share, and there are people who have not done so yet. I hope it is eight couples as it will add to the excitement with eight being a lucky number in Chinese culture.

Yes, here's the Lucky Number Eight post I promised many weeks ago.

When we lived in China we were invited to the opening of an Irish bar at 8pm on the 8th day of the month. We questioned the late opening time and were told that it would bring good luck and prosperity, but we weren't entirely sure why. I asked our mandarin teacher why, and she said it was because the Chinese word for eight - 'ba' - sounds like the Chinese word for wealth - 'fa'. Which doesn't make much sense to me really considering so many words in Chinese sound similar. But the Chinese can be a suspicious bunch, and truthfully I find it quite intriguing.

The impact of the auspiciousness of number eight is quite significant. You may recall the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony kicked off at 8 mins and 8 seconds past 8pm on 08/08/08. My friend at work married her Chinese husband on the same day, along with presumably thousands of others of this heritage around the world. Mobile phone numbers and car license plates can fetch big bucks if they contain the right numbers too.

It's not just the number eight which is significant. You could devote your life to learning about the impact of numbers and number combinations in Chinese culture. The number 4 is unlucky - 'si' because it sounds like the word for death, and 14 is even more unlucky - 'shi si' - because it sounds like want to die. There's only one number I really want to know right now, and that's the date of our Log-In with the CCAA!

Image by KayVeeINC

Dossier to China

Oh, for the longest time I've wanted to be able to say we are DTC... and now we are! Two years and twelve days since lodging our Expression of Interest in being assessed, and 8 months and 15 days since being approved (we do things quickly in Queensland, have you noticed?) our dossier is on a QANTAS plane and making its way to China. I saw a QANTAS plane in the sky on my way home from work tonight and choked up a little.

We are officially Qld batch #1 2008. Don't hold your breath, I doubt there will be any further batches from Qld this year. The China officer advised that in 6-8 weeks she will contact the CCAA (China Centre of Adoption Affairs) and find out our log-in-date.

To say I'm relieved is an understatement.

I know there is a massive wait ahead of us, but I do feel like we have finished one chapter of a book and are starting a new chapter. And that feels good!

Can someone say... slow?

Coming out of hibernation for a quick update. Wish it was better news - looks like our excitement at having an August 2008 (08/08) LID was a pipe dream. Probably was a bit too ambitious to think it could take less than nine months from being approved to being logged in.

*blink*.

Anyway,first update came from the Dept's China officer ten days ago:
'The files were sent to the Notary on 8 August 2008. The files have now been sent back from Notary and I received them this morning. I have now couriered the files to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Once I receive the files back from DFAT I will take them to the Chinese Consulate.'

Then another one two days ago:
'I received the files back from the Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday afternoon, and have now walked the files to the Chinese Consulate this morning.'

With a promise to keep us up to date.

That's all we know! No clue or indication yet how long things will take at the Consulate. I hope to share some DTC (Dossier-to-China) news in the not-too-distant future, followed by LID (log-in-date) news shortly after that.

And I will still update about the auspiciousness of the number 8 soon!

(photo by Randy Son of Robert via Flickr)

We're still checkin' those boxes!

I spoke with the China officer from the Dept today. Good news, eight couples (yah, I know... eight is news to us too!) are ready to be batched and our paperwork is being sent off to be notarised. There is just one document from one dossier that is missing - whoever it is please hurry! We are now required to get some bank drafts in US currency made up to be sent with our dossier to be paid to the CCAA and also to cover translation services.

It's nice to progress a little.

I asked whether everything is on track for the dossiers to leave on the 15th and was told, "I think so". Apparently the Dept is not sure how long the notarisation will take for eight dossiers, as their usual time expectations are based on batches of approximately five.

I am so hopeful that we will get an August log in date. That would mean eight files in our batch in the eighth month of 2008, and eight is a lucky number for the Chinese. I'll do a post about that later this week to explain why.

International Day 2008

Sunday was IAFQ's International Day for 2008. As I wrote last year, International Day is a celebration of our state's adopted childrens' birth cultures.

It was bizarre, while we were waiting for the parade to start we saw a couple we met last year at a dinner for waiting parents where we chatted about having the same social worker and the differences in our experiences with her. This couple were assessed just before us, - and THEY HAVE THEIR BABY ALREADY! It was a mind trip for us. They adopted from Taiwan and received an allocation five months after approval, then travel four months after that. And their little boy looked so young and precious!

Enjoy some International Day 2008 photos:

The China group on parade (my favourite part of the day!)

The gorgeous kiddies from the Philippines and their families

Our Ethiopian munchkins (just love their outfits! and the dancing!)

Hanging around outside

Aaron finishing off his Korean BBQ lunch!

We seem to be pretty lucky with the International Day raffle. Last year we won a DVD player and a Mrs Potato Head. This year we won a TV Game Virtual Pet (I still don't know what it is, but will hopefully work it out soon when it arrives!)

After International Day we headed over to the Coffee and Chocolate Affair, where there were far too many people to make it enjoyable, so we headed home after a while and enjoyed a lazy late afternoon.

Previously, on Checking Boxes

Last week I wrote to the Department after receiving advice that they were now waiting to form a batch of seven dossiers, of which ours would be part of.

Here is an excerpt from my email:

"The inter-country adoption system in China works on a chronological basis, regardless of a dossier's country of origin. The China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) issues referrals each month. Presently couples receiving referrals from China have had their dossiers logged in for 28+ months. You can see from the referral table at the bottom of this web page that the eighteen month average is 6.3 days allocated/month. The twelve month average is 6.1 days allocated/month. This could potentially mean that for each week longer the current batch of dossiers stays in Australia, an extra month+ is added for the waiting couples."

"According to last week's telephone conversation, the Department wishes to create a batch of seven dossiers. As at July 4, 2008 four couples are ready to be batched and three are compiling their dossiers. We respectfully request that if these final three couples have not finalised their dossiers by end of July 2008 that they form part of a new batch. There are three weeks until the end of July. Three weeks is enough time to complete the dossier requirements. If it is not enough time for the remaining couples then they are really not close enough to be included in the current batch. At present referral rates, three weeks equals three and a half months extra wait after log-in. We are aware that referral rates can change, and are hopeful they do. All we have to go on at present is historical patterns and statistics."

I'm pleased that the response I received today included this information:

"Adoption Services Queensland has spoken with other eligible couples and has requested their documents be provided to ASQ by the end of July to ensure the timely batching of files for preparation and onforwarding to China.

I am confident that a minimum four files will be ready at that time and these shall be dispatched on Friday 15 August 2008 (allowing time for notarising and DFAT action)."

"A girl, a photograph, a homecoming"

This 25 minute video tells the remarkable story of a Korean adoption in the late 1970s. It is told by a man who worked as a photographer for Time Magazine. He was given an assignment to photograph Amerasian children (kids fathered by American GIs throughout Asia and then abandoned, of which there were some 40 000 at the time). Through this assignment he came to know a little girl and her grandmother in Korea. The story that follows from there is bizarre, serendipitous, intriguing and heart-warming.

[un]Lucky number seven

I spoke with the China officer at the Dept today to find out the current status of our file and to see whether there were five files ready to be batched and sent to China yet. She advised that they had now decided to put seven files in this batch. Four are ready to go (including us) and another three still have to compile their dossier. While I love the fact that our child would have six other batch-buddies, I would also be happy with three or four.

I politely mentioned that we had been ready and waiting for months, and that every week longer at this end potentially adds months at the other end. She understands why we would be concerned and frustrated - although I'm not sure how much because from every conversation I've had with people in the Dept, I don't believe anyone there monitors the monthly China allocations closely and knows the stats, history, trends or realities. At least they have removed the '17 months wait from China' information from their website.

I asked how long we would wait for these last three files, and was it possible to draw a line in the sand somewhere and if they aren't ready by that date they could wait for the next batch. Apparently this is beyond her control and would need to be decided higher up.

I can feel a letter coming on.