Part III - Caroline's story of her Russian adoption. Now 17, she was originally adopted at age 11 with two younger sisters. Two years later, the adoption disrupted and she came to be my daughter. This is the story of her plane trip and early days in America. (Questions asked by mom, answered by Caroline.)

Part I - An International Adoptee's Story
Part II - In Russia Waiting for the Adoption to be Final
(Look for parts 4,5,6 to come - regarding her adoption, disruption, readoption, and current feelings on adoption issues)

Do you remember going to the airport to come to America? Yes. I hadn’t ever been to an airport before. There were SO many people.

So you hadn’t ever been on a plane before. What did you think of the plane ride? We got seats all in a row. They had gotten us headphones and I listened to Russian music. It was a long ride. I kept having motion sickness and throwing up. Susan and Doug (the adoptive parents) kept trying to talk to us in English, but I couldn’t understand what they said. My sister and I kept fighting. Our parents would try to tell us to stop, I guess, but we really didn’t understand what they said to us. They tried using signs or signals instead, but that didn’t make sense either; it made them look funny, though.

Your adoptive family also had 2 brothers. How old were the brothers when you came to the family? Five and nine.

How did they introduce the boys to you girls? When we were in Russia, they sent a videotape. (note: Russia requires two trips for adoption. The family sent a videotape between the trips.) We saw the video in the orphanage. The boys were on the video. They had learned to say “hi” and a few other words, maybe something like “we are your family”.

When did you meet them in person? We went to the grandparents’ house to pick them up on the way home from the airport, I guess. The grandparents had been babysitting them while the parents were getting us in Russia.

You’d never had little brothers before. What did you think of that, at least in the beginning? It was hard for me to get used to. Our parents spoiled them. They would get whatever they wanted. Usually, we would get stuff also. But, it was different. You could tell that they were family and we were just taken in. We were out of place. I didn’t really resent them, but later when more things happened, I did.

What do you remember of your first days in America? It was big and weird and different. It wasn’t “home”. America has rich and expensive things. We came to a very nice house with nice things. I still fought with Galina a lot. The adults talked and we usually played outside. Otherwise, neither of us understood each other.

Did you know any English at all when you came to America? I didn’t know any. How many single words did you know? Just a couple? No, I didn’t know any.

How did you learn English? At home, we watched TV and listened to music. When we went to school, we used audiotapes with books and there was a tutor in school who tried to teach us the alphabet.

Was it scary being in a different country and not knowing the language? Yes and no. It was scary because I didn’t know things, but I wasn’t worried about something bad happening to me.

Do you think your adjustment to a new country was easier because you had sisters with you? Different, maybe, than someone who was adopted all by themselves? Yes, I think it made everything easier. If they hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have wanted to come either. If I didn’t have someone that could understand my language, it would make me feel like a loner. I’d wonder why I should even be here if no one can understand me and I can’t understand anyone either.