Twin Sisters: A World Apart

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

Hi.

Hi.

Happy birthday.

Yeah, happy birthday.

Thank you.

Um, I like your gift.

What?

I like your gift.

Er, wait.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT IN CHINESE

It is beautiful.

Angela, wave.

That's where we're headed, up there.

'One of my dreams in life and one of my strong desires'

was to be a mother,

and since I hadn't had that happen yet,

it was still something that I really, really wanted.

It came up very, very early in our relationship

that I wanted children and that was non-negotiable.

So, he knew right away that that was part of the deal,

it was a package deal!

Angela had this way of looking at me and...

she would say something and she would turn her head and smile,

and it would just melt me, and it just cracked me up at the same time.

So, she would do this and...

You know, I just fell in love with this woman.

Unfortunately,

we didn't have a child and so she gave me her second option,

which was to adopt.

When they finally sent us the picture of this little girl,

all of a sudden, you know, there she is,

"OK, you've got to be in China in a month."

It's like, "Wow. OK, here we go."

SHE SINGS IN CHINESE

There she is, the new mommy,

she's going to go get her.

Up here.

On the one, two, third floor.

Somewhere in this building,

Mia waits.

OK, come in and take your seat.

I remember walking in, and there was so much going on

and I didn't know what to concentrate on.

Then there was a lot of officials, a lot of nannies,

a lot of crying babies -

a LOT of crying babies.

It just got really chaotic.

Everybody started looking for their child,

and I remember trying to focus on Mia,

"Where is she?"

And, finally, I looked over and I spotted her,

so I said to Angela, I go,

"Hey, Angela, there she is."

Aw...

It's OK.

MIA CRIES

When Angela grabbed her and...

It was like, "Wow! "Wow, this is my daughter."

BABIES CRYING

What's wrong, Mia?

-It's all right.

-We're here now.

-That's Daddy.

-We're going to take care of you.

-That's Daddy.

Yeah, we're going to take care of you for the rest of your life.

You're so beautiful.

Getting Mia ready that first night,

it was a very special moment.

You know, she's mine now, I have to take care of her

and, somehow or other, guide her through life.

Finally, I became a mother.

The next morning, we went back to do paperwork.

We got off the bus and we all went upstairs.

Angela was holding Mia.

There was a lot of other people,

a lot of activity going on.

I was holding Mia and walking around,

and something caught my attention,

and I looked over.

It was just incredible.

And she's wearing the same red gingham dress that's Mia's wearing.

I just couldn't believe it.

-What are the odds?

-Yeah, what are the odds of that?

What are the odds of me buying the dress here and Wenche,

the same thing - she had bought her dress for Alexandra in Norway.

And then the fact that we both had them

wearing those dresses the day we met, that was pretty incredible.

I said something like, "Oh, the girls look so much alike."

And we started talking and I asked when her little girl's birthday was

and it was the same day, and a few other details were the same.

Then we asked our guides to ask the orphanage director

if they were twins but they said no, they're not.

At that point, to be honest, I was in shock.

I really did not know what to do at that moment. I mean, what can you do?

You're in communist China. I mean, who do you tell?

At that point they told us the girls were not twins.

China said they're not twins.

So of course you think, "Maybe I'm imagining this.

"Maybe they don't really look that much alike."

That's Alexandra right there.

Mia right there.

-Yep, they're sisters.

-You tell me.

-What do you think about DNA testing?

'I had given Wenche all of my information.

'Every way of contacting me I could think of, I gave to her.

'But she was having trouble

'translating her contact information into English

'so when we left China, I really didn't have any way to contact her.

'You know, we took a bunch of pictures of the girls and then,

'you know, then they were gone.'

# Twinkle, twinkle little star... #

'She's just the most wonderful gift ever.'

And it's, you know, it's something that's made me

as happy as anything could make me.

'And then about a month later is when Wenche called.'

Ba, ba, ba, ba!

Ba, ba, ba! Ba, ba, ba!

MUSIC PLAYS

Are you dancing?

'It was great news for Mia cos most of those girls

'adopted from China will never have that biological connection

'with a sibling or parents.'

From the minute we got Mia's referral

and we got that picture of her, she was our daughter.

And I'm sure they felt the same way.

There was no conversation with Wenche and Sigmund

and us about the girls living together

because by the time we found out it was six months after we'd been home

and both girls were, you know, part of their own families at that point.

And we just felt very,

very lucky and fortunate to have found Alexandra.

-Mia has a brother that lives with his mom.

-I have a son, Stephen.

So she's kind of used to having a sibling that doesn't live with her.

Very pretty!

BELL RINGS

She wants some more lemonade cos the pot is empty.

Let's practice the wave again and walk this way.

Keep it in a straight line.

I live in Sacramento.

It's a big city with lots of people so you have to watch out.

'We live in a nice neighbourhood

'but my parents don't let me go out on my own.'

I'm cold, Mom.

We always take her to the places she needs to go.

It's just not worth taking a risk.

She is our angel. She's...she's our little girl.

You know, it's America.

You never know who's out there. You never know what's going to happen.

OK, open. You look cute!

# To the left

# Take it back now, y'all Go back!

# One hop this time... # THEY CHEER

You look fabulous. Stop right there. Let me take your picture.

Oh, so cute.

Blow me a kiss.

Give me some diva arms.

Gimme five!

Make sure you get between them and the ball. OK, you're out there.

-Let's go.

-It's time.

-It's time.

-You can have this later.

-Good hustle.

Lots of hustle!

SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

-Good shot, Mia. Good shot, Mia.

-Oh, good ball, Mia.

Pass it! Pass it!

'Life can be very competitive

'and we want to give her the ability to be able to do a lot of things.'

'In the States it's very competitive. The colleges take the top kids.'

Go, go, go, go!

'You have to give your child the best opportunity they can to succeed.'

ALL: Two, four, six, eight! Who do we appreciate? Cheetahs!

-There.

-What you're going to do is when people come out of the stores,

you're going to walk past and what are you going to say?

"Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?"

Make sure your thumb is right there.

Thank you very much. Looks great.

OK. Smile.

There's a big ocean between us.

Alexandra keeps sending me cards and letters.

I always get happy when I hear from her.

SHE READS CARD ALOUD

There are times when she'll say something.

For instance, she recently talked about getting her hair cut

and then she said, "No.

"I can't get my hair cut cos then I won't look like Alexandra's twin."

So I think she thinks about it maybe more than we realise.

She doesn't verbalise it that much, though.

-She has a lot of distractions, too.

-Yeah, that's true.

You know, normal things in her everyday life that keeps her

distracted, with school and violin and Girl Scouts and...

-Playdates.

-..playdates and so, um...

I think she just has more distractions to keep her mind.

I have a doll and it's called a Look Like Me doll.

She's got long black hair, just like me.

And we have the same dresses.

My mom fixes everything for Christmas.

She just gets the Christmas tree from the garage.

I guess it's plastic.

Plastic, I... I don't really know exactly what it's made of

but they do a pretty good job of making them look real.

Comes in three different pieces and it's really easy to manage because

it's got all the lights already attached so it's really nice.

-Turn this one over.

-Got it, Mom.

-OK.

Let me get you some tape.

What does it say?

It's mine! Oh, wait. It says Mia.

-Shall we take it home?

-Mm-hmm.

-OK.

Wonder what it is. Can you smell it?

-Smell like anything?

-Smells like Norway.

Like Norway?

I want to run.

"To Mia from Alexandra."

SHE SQUEALS

Oh, look at Mia!

Good morning, Mia. Time to wake up.

Good morning!

Good morning, Mia.

Time to rise and shine.

OK, can you hand me the rubber band, please?

Thank you.

OK, what time is it, Mia?

7...7:05, right?

-Tick the time off.

-Yep, 7:05.

Bye.

My name is.

And one, two, three!

# Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday, dear Mia

# Happy birthday to you. #

MANY: Cha-cha-cha! Hi-ya!

THEY CHEER

-Blow 'em! Blow 'em!

-THEY LAUGH

PHONE RINGS

-Hello?

-Hi.

-Hi.

Happy birthday.

-Happy birthday.

-Thank you.

-I like your gift.

-What?

-I like your gift.

-Wait.

-Hello, Mia. Happy birthday.

-Thank you.

What are you saying to Alexandra?

I said I like the gift that you sent.

Me too.

-She wants to tell you something in Norwegian.

-OK.

What?

Oh, thank you!

I can't wait to see you in July.

-Me too!

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

No.

So you want chicken nuggets, Mia?

I think maybe Mia's a little apprehensive.

It's hard for the girls to communicate

because of the two languages so I think maybe she's a little anxious

about how it's going to be when she sees her sister.

And it's hard. I don't think they have a real bond quite yet.

So, this is for Alexandra.

We got her a licence plate for her bike, if she has a bike.

It says "California girls rule".

A lip gloss, a headband, a lollipop - a jellybean lollipop -

and another headband. I have the same one.

Mechanical pencils for her notepad and then a shirt.

And then to carry all this stuff in is a purse.

So, yeah.

It's just really exciting to think that we're finally getting

to go to Norway to see them and see how they live.

That's going to be just incredible.

-I'm done.

-You're done? OK. Go ahead and close it up and zip up your bag.

Oh, gosh.

All right. I hope you guys have got everything.

-Look! Look at that waterfall, see?

-Oh, yeah.

Fresvik.

-I see Alexandra, up on the hill!

-Look at her jumping!

SHE SQUEALS

SHE SQUEALS

-Hi!

-Hi!

OK.

OK.

OK.

Erm...

yeah.

Erm...

THEY SQUEAL

-I have to tell you this is very beautiful, Sigmund.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

Back home, this would be a national park.

You'd have to pay to come in here.

I find it very breathtaking.

It reminds me of the movies with the clouds on top. It's very nice.

-I think it's the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

Cos the mountains are so tall then you've got the beautiful fjord.

'Oh, yeah. It's beautiful here. It just looks like a storybook town.

'Like a town you wouldn't think even exists any more.'

OK, smile.

Look up here, Alexandra.

Best friends. Swap places.

Oh.

Barely connected.

It's very small.

-Brush.

-Where's your brush?

-I'm brushing your hair.

There is yours.

Alexandra! I don't want to use my brush.

Don't bite. I'll kill you.

Ow!

You can do it harder than that.

-I didn't mean that hard. Ow!

-Sorry.

THEY GIGGLE

Good night, sis.

Ew!

SHE SPLUTTERS

Eugh!

Stinky!

-Are you used to that smell?

-Yeah.

How many pieces of equipment do you own?

Oh, I'm not sure about that.

-Cos this is cool.

-Maybe I have more than I need.

-More than you need?

-You can never have more than you need.

-No, no. I can't.

So, you're going to sell one then use the money to come to America?

Maybe. Maybe.

-Wenche have to decide that.

-Oh.

-Yeah. I've got a boss, too.

-Yeah.

-But here in my garage I am my own boss.

-You're the boss. OK, cool.

-Pull the reins up, Mia.

-I'm trying to.

Pull it. Pull it. There you go.

There you go. Good, Mia.

Just, like, seems like every house is set up for people just to relax and,

you know, just sit around together and enjoy each other's company.

Us, we're always on the go. Always going someplace, doing something.

Here they just seem to, like, sit around and enjoy each other.

-I like that.

-They don't really worry about us too much.

-They're just busy doing their own thing.

-They have each other now.

They're off in their own little world and...

-Mom and Dad don't matter any more.

-Yeah.

Mia!

'I really like biking around Fresvik with Alexandra all by ourselves.

'No parents.'

Sometimes it's hard to understand her.

Sometimes, like, when I say to her, like, something, she'll say, "What?"

And then I'll say it again and she's like, "What?"

And I'll have to act it out like...

Why are you doing that?

Oh, it's a little big.

It is very interesting cos even though they're being raised

in different parts of the world, totally different environments,

their personalities are very, very similar.

They're very outgoing and they both have a very strong will.

I would see Alexandra doing things, little mannerisms,

the way she would say things, expressions,

and I thought those were things Mia had picked up

from kids at school but when I saw Alexandra doing that,

that's when I really knew that that genetic part of it

is really a strong part of who they are.

Environment can't change a lot of things.

'I guess it was just meant to be for us to find each other

'and for these girls to, you know, eventually bond

'and be together, somehow.

'There was something that brought us together.'

'This is fate. This had to happen. This had to happen.'

THEY LAUGH

-Say the alphabet, OK? Ready?

-What?

Say the alphabet, OK? Slow. A, B...

-OK.

-One, two, three.

-A, B...

-PHONE BEEPS

So stupid.

SHE RECITES THE ALPHABET

All right, Wenche.

-We'll see you again soon.

-Bye!

Bye, Andy. I love you.

I hope to see you soon.

Bye!

-I love you.

-I love you.

-I love you too.

I love you too!

'After we left I think of Alexandra more often.

'Almost every day.

'I don't know when I'll see her again.'

# My bonnie lives over the ocean

# My bonnie is over the sea

# My bonnie lives over the ocean

# Oh, bring back my bonnie to me

# To me... #