Days 1 and 2 - Beijing

I think I have finally worked out the bugs with the VPN and the photo dumping and am ready to roll.  First off, I will note that Jenna is sacked out on the bed-think the jet lag is hitting her harder than I expected.  Of course, we did walk about 6 miles today, which might have something to do with her exhaustion.

The plane ride was great (and this from someone who is just NOT happy in the air).  I took this picture to show our route-the straight line centers above the North Pole.  If you can't see see the caption at the bottom, it is almost -70 degrees (F).  That would be OUTSIDE the plane, not inside.  :)

We met 2 other families from our travel group at the airport, and the other family (with whom we will be sharing every moment of this journey as our DDs are in the same province) flew in late last night.  We did go with Tracey and her daughter to a congee restaurant Thursday night for dinner.  We ordered from the picture menu - ate some shrimp congee and some noodles with egg for dinner-very tasty and not scary at all.

When we could not stay up even one minute longer (technically when we couldn’t stand up any longer-I really found myself starting to sway and then would wobble a bit-and no, no wine to blame for this imbalance), we called it a night. 

Woke up to a surprisingly sunny and beautiful day in Beijing.  I was warned that the smog is so heavy that the air smells and tastes terrible.  We had a bit of a breeze all day, and I am thinkin' that made the difference with the weather.  Blue skies all day, no smells, no bad taste.  Crazy hair, but without a flat iron (see below) that was okay.

Not sure what we did, but blew the circuit in our room first thing in the morning-only one outlet worked.  Able to use that to dry our hair, but we apparently had either a tragic incident with the flat iron or it just doesn’t work out here even with an adaptor/conductor.  That is on the list of things to get asap-as you will soon see from the pictures…haha.

 

At 9 a.m., our guide Cindy picked us up and off we went.  First stop: Hutong rickshaw ride.  This was a cool way to see the daily life of ordinary Beijing citizens-as ordinary that of a person who owns $4 million worth of real estate in the center of Beijing.  

From there, we walked around Tian’anmen Square, and right into the Forbidden City.  It was amazing to see the beautiful architecture and learn about the history surrounding the area.   

[I have been trying for over 2 hours to get the vpn and iphoto to cooperate-the pics are on here, but out of order, so check out the captions for further explanation.]

Jenna and I are having a contest: who can spot the funniest sign.  This is my submission of the day.  Jenna's is on her camera, but I am too tired to load it tonight-I will put it up tomorrow.

Forbidden City: Caught between modern and ancient China.  The new smooth cobblestones are brand new, and the old cracked ones are really, really old...

More of the Forbidden City

My second runner up sign-I headed there, but couldn't find it.

This one is for Bryan.  We didn't stop. 

This is from the Hutong tour-this is the "honeymooners suite" where newlyweds come to spend a little "alone time" for a MONTH.  Yes, I said MONTH.  And the camera is not cutting off much of the room-that is pretty much all that is in there.  Did I mention there are no bathrooms on the premises?

Chinese checkers.  Literally.

Our group.  The man next to Jenna and above me is the owner of the property.  Most Chinese people can only own property for 70 years.  He is "grandfathered" in on this-his family have owned this property for over 70 years-worth approximately $4 M today. Did I mention that there are NO bathrooms on the premises?  (I think I did.  Just checking to see if you were paying attention.)

Our guide Cindy.

Silk from a double silkworm cocoon-they stretch to make silk blankets that are amazing-like down comforters, only better.

They're delicious!  (Yes, I am totally pirating one of Bryan's top 10 most-famous jokes.  But seriously-she said the silk worms are yummy.  Didn't try one, so I cannot confirm.)

Took this one for Jenn – in the silk factory store, this is the ONLY team silk boxers available.  Obviously the Chinese are misguided in their choice of American football teams, or it could be that they sell out of the Steelers boxers immediately and the Packers are all they have left.

Lunch at a great "real" Chinese restaurant.  Kudos to Jenna who tried everything and didn’t say “Ew!” even once.  Of course, it was fun to eat with her new Angry Birds chopsticks.  (Yes Sam and Meghan-you will be getting some as well.) 

About to enter the Forbidden City.  Looks just like Springboro.

PEK airport

This is on the other side of that 4-star bathroom sign...  HILARIOUS.  And, to make it even more of an adventure, there is NO toilet paper. 

Although we had a great day seeing the sights and getting to know everyone, we didn’t forget our little ones out there – the ones who brought us half a world away.  All of us are excited.  We are ready.  We’d often start talking about whether they know what is in store for them, what they may be doing at that moment, and wondering how prepared they are for the big transition.  Despite our excitement, we all have a little random twinge of sadness knowing what they are going to go through.  I have been trying to keep the trip light –focusing on the fun and the adventure, and not thinking about what Zoey might be going through if she is fully aware that we are coming to get her in just 2 1/2 short days.  The reports we’ve been given indicate she is very anxious about leaving her foster family and going to live with complete strangers who are taking her from the only world she has ever known.  I keep saying this – I know that is how it must be, but it is still sad to know how broken her heart will be before it can heal and love us. 

Remind me of this in about 4 days, when we are in the throws of her grief.  My goal is to get her to smile before we leave Guangzhou.  Hopefully between the two of us here, we’ll get her to give us even a little smirk…