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    Journey To Josie
    Journey To Josie
    Journey To Josie
    Ebook100 pages49 minutes

    Journey To Josie

    By James Chew

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    About this ebook

    This is a book for those contemplating foreign adoption. Written from the unique perspective of a Chinese-Amercian struggling to be "American" while growing up in a small California town, this experience helped him address some deep rooted issues from being the sole Chinese family in this small town during his "Wonder" years. There is no “Dummies Guide To Chinese American Adoption,” and the author make no claims of this to be one. He does know that before and after one decide to go through this process, you will feel alone. By sharing his and his family's journey, where they kept our eyes on the prize and maintained a sense of humor, this book might be a good companion help those going through the foreign adoption process make it through.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJames Chew
    Release dateFeb 15, 2013
    ISBN9781301026807
    Journey To Josie
    Author

    James Chew

    James S.B. Chew Director, Strategic Development General Atomics James S.B. Chew has twenty-nine years of experience in the aerospace, automotive, and education fields. Prior to joining General Atomics, Mr. Chew served as a propulsion engineer for Boeing Aerospace Company, senior engineer for SPARTA, program manager for Air Force Rocket Propulsion Lab, Director of Rocket Propulsion Technology Plans and Programs for the Air Force Phillips Laboratory, Assistant Staff Specialist for Weapons Technology for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Deputy Director of Air and Surface Weapons Technology for the Office of Naval Research. Mr. Chew also served as Exide’s (Nasdaq:XIDE)Vice President for the Military and Specialty Global Business Unit, Product Marketing Consultant for the Dodge Division of Chrysler Corporation, QWIPTECH’s Chief Operating Officer, General Motor’s American Tuner Program Manager, T/J Technologies Chief Operating Officer, Vice President, Science and Technology, ATK (NYSE: ATK),SAIC’s (NYSE: SAI) Vice President, Space Systems Development Division,and L-3 Communications Director, Advanced Concepts While at Boeing Aerospace, Mr. Chew developed the solid divert propulsion system that is now used on the Navy’s Theater Missile Defense system and wrote the nation’s first technical overview paper on carbon-carbon rocket nozzle technology. At SPARTA, Mr. Chew wrote the winning proposal and co-managed the first SETA contract for the Air Force Rocket Propulsion laboratory. With the Air Force, Mr. Chew led the research team that received the 1991 Air Force Science and Technology Achievement Award for the applications of low-cost polymers for solid rocket propulsion systems. He also led the development and execution of the national rocket propulsion technology program, known as the Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology program (IHPRPT), for which he and his team received the Federal Executive Board Major Accomplishment Award. With the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Mr. Chew led the development and execution of joint precision weapons technology programs that accelerated technology transition to the warfighter. He led the development and execution of a focused technology program to sustain the nation’s strategic systems. Mr. Chew led the development and execution of the Navy’s $100M Air and Surface Weapons Technology portfolio. For these efforts, Mr. Chew was awarded two commendations from the Chief of Naval Research for program management excellence. He has authored over thirty technical publications in the areas of aerospace/defense technologies and program management. Mr. Chew’s auto industry accomplishments include developing the first global “enthusiast/youth tuner” battery, known as the Orbital in North America and Maxxima in Europe, developing and leading the execution of General Motor’s youth enthusiast program, known as “American Tuner”, and contributing to the development and execution of the Dodge Strategic Marketing and Product plans that created “The New Dodge”. Mr. Chew is an active automotive journalist, writing under the “J.C. Chaney, Jr”, “M.J. Yue”, and “James Chew”, and is a member of the Motor Press Guild. He currently contributes to the Antelope Valley Press (CA), AV News Today, Whispering Bomb, der Bayerschein, and “Roundel” the magazine for the BMW Car Club of America. As the T/J Technologies COO, Mr. Chew refocused the company to its competency of developing new materials for advanced electrochemistry applications. This successful execution, resulting in an annual sales increase of $2.5M to $25M, was recognized by Crain’s Business Daily as one of Michigan’s “20 Largest Technology-based Companies” and with T/J being named as one of “50 Michigan Companies to Watch” by the Michigan Small Business Association. Mr. Chew completed the successfully merging of operations between T/J Technologies and A123 Systems (Nasdaq:AONE), creating the world’s largest developer of advanced lithium-ion battery materials and systems. At ATK, Mr. Chew developed and executed the corporate Science and Technology strategy, transforming ATK from a commodity weapons supplier to a leader in the Space and Defense systems market. At SAIC, Mr. Chew pioneered the concept of using commercial satelittes to host DoD payloads to affordably meet the DoD Space mission and Needs. At L-3, Mr. Chew successfully developed and executed the business development campaign for the first RF waveform technology for both commercial and military applications. Mr. Chew earned a lifetime California State Community College teaching credential in engineering. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a Master of Science degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. Mr, Chew is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Engineering Program and the Defense Systems Management College Advanced Program Management Program. He is a DoD Level 3 certified acquisition professional and a DoD Level 3 System, Planning, Development, Research and Engineering professional. He was recognized as the 2009 College of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus by his undergraduate alma mater. Chew served on the board of ABAKAN, Inc., and the National Academy of Science (NAS) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) study panel and is the Chairman of the NDIA Science, Engineering and Technology Division. Mr. Chew is married to the former Michele Farren, of Philadelphia, PA. They have two daughters, Madeleine and Josephine.

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      Book preview

      Journey To Josie - James Chew

      Journey to Josie

      By James Chew

      Published by James Chew on Smashwords

      Copyright 2013 James Chew

      Formatted by eBooksMade4You

      * * *

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to wherever you bought it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

      * * *

      My wife and I both read James Chew's book and found it fascinating. His first-hand account gives the reader a rarely available insight into Chinese customs and practices. And what an opportunity for those little children.

      Norm Augustine, author of "Augustine’s Laws and

      Augustine’s Travels"

      This is a wonderfully crafted book. It is humane at its core and inspirational in its impact. The insights into the human relationships are heartwarming.

      Ronald A. Williams, author of A Death in Panama

      * * *

      CONTENTS

      Prologue

      My Motivation

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

      Chapter One

      Now We Are Four

      Chapter Two

      The Final Try

      Chapter Three

      Oprah

      Chapter Four

      Finding the Right Agency

      Chapter Five

      The Journey Begins

      Chapter Six

      Building the Package

      Chapter Seven

      The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

      Chapter Eight

      Our End of Year Surprise

      Chapter Nine

      Going To China

      Chapter Ten

      Travel Day

      Chapter Eleven

      The Times, They Have A’ Changed

      Chapter Twelve

      When a Wall Makes Sense

      Chapter Thirteen

      Eating Like a Native

      Chapter Fourteen

      Let’s Go Buy Some Kites,

      And a Night at The Opera

      Chapter Fifteen

      Isolated Leadership, The Chinese Market,

      And The Reason We Came

      Chapter Sixteen

      We Get Josie

      Chapter Seventeen

      The First Night

      Chapter Eighteen

      Adoption Day – And Remembering the Benjamins

      Chapter Nineteen:

      The Bonding Begins

      Chapter Twenty

      Wuhan Market and Feeding the Baby with Chopsticks

      Chapter Twenty-One

      Land of My Ancestors (Every Woman Looks Like Mom)

      Chapter Twenty-Two

      The Clinic and the Check-up

      Ten more minutes.

      Chapter Twenty-Three

      The Journey Home (Planes, Planes, and Where are Josie’s Socks?)

      Chapter Twenty-Four

      Back in the U.S. (Yep, based on the domestic air service, we’re home)

      Chapter Twenty-Five

      Home (What Marty and Ed did; Anxious grandparents and new friends)

      Chapter Twenty-Six

      Epilogue (Red Egg and Ginger Party end and the final Hurdle)

      Chapter Twenty-Seven

      My Adoption Tips (Not a primer, just friendly advice)

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      * * *

      Prologue

      My Motivation

      Why are you writing this?

      It’s a good question raised by my wife and a close friend when I discussed writing about our family’s experience in adopting our infant daughter Josie from China.

      First, many people wanted to hear about our experience after learning that my wife Michele and I adopted Josie from China. We came to call the experience our journey; Hence the name for this book.

      Second, we discovered that in the United States, there is no standard Chinese adoption process. For all practical purposes, if you decide to adopt from China, you are on your own. I hope that other families wanting to adopt can benefit from our lessons learned.

      YOU’RE responsible for researching and selecting a U.S. adoption agent.

      YOU’RE responsible for adjusting your schedule around the many social worker interviews, and for obtaining all the official paperwork and notarizations in a timely fashion.

      YOU’RE responsible for all the travel arrangements and providing all the equipment and supplies to care for your new family additions while you’re in China.

      YOU’RE responsible for constantly pushing on what will seem to be a wet noodle.

      Michele and I never felt quite so alone on this journey, even though her research discovered that we qualified for an expedited process – something about which our U.S. adoption agency was totally unaware. In fact, it was our U.S. adoption agent’s first expedited process request. It did cross our minds to bill the agent for the educational service we provided.

      Third, I did it for me. Growing up in the only Chinese family in a small town gave my brothers and I a different perspective when we were on our own and began to interact with other Chinese. My brothers seem more comfortable with who they are because they’ve been happily married to wonderful Chinese ladies and have beautiful Chinese-American families. They’ve had their self-actualizing moment with their cultural heritage.

      I was surprised to see how our adoption affected many of those we love. It was only after Josie’s arrival that my father spoke to me at length about his past, sharing previously unknown insight as to who he is.

      There is no Dummies Guide To Chinese American Adoption, and I make no claims of this to be one. I do know that before and after you decide to go through this process, you feel alone. But perhaps sharing our journey, where we kept our eyes on the prize and maintained a sense of humor, might help you make it through.

      One last thing: The U.S. based Chinese Adoption agencies have a strong dislike for publications and web sites such as these because they fear the information might generate misperceptions of the process and their service. Let me lay their fears to rest by again stating that this is not a Chinese American adoption primer. It simply is one person recalling his family’s experience and written because he’s been asked to repeat it many times to a number of people.

      I hope this book is educational and entertaining. Please enjoy.

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