Epicenter of Changeby Hannah | October 2008 "Adopted"… the phrase went around for a few weeks. Wherever I went, I was surrounded by friends who envied me and wanted me to remember them. I was everything to them because I was considered very important. I would hear questions like, "Will you write us when you are in America? Will you come back and visit?" Everything was a blur for the last few weeks at my orphanage as everyone helped and guided me as I got ready to go to America, leaving everyone behind. This was a change I'd always dreamed of and never expected it to come true. This was a change that came too soon because I wasn't ready to leave all my friends and nannies. This was what I've always wanted and also dreaded, but want was stronger than dread because I wanted an education, a future in which I could be independent, successful and lead a normal life. On the morning of July 19, 2004, I left my friends, who meant everything to me, behind and met my new family. They spoke English, which sounded like music and very fast. I understood nothing and felt lost and alone. I called my friends every night and shared with them my adventures as I toured around some big cities in China. Of course my friends were jealous because they all dreamed of being adopted, so they could have beautiful new things and a loving family. A week later I got on a huge roaring plane and left my country possibly forever. In the orphanage I would sometimes hear planes overhead and I'd always imagined the day I would be on one of them. The plane roared like an angry alligator and reluctantly I sat on a seat that smelled of old fabric and sweat. I had absolutely no idea how long the flight was and I was too shy to ask. Twelve hours later (it felt like 12 days) I stepped off the plane with my new family into my new country, new home, new life and a new future. |