Well WE MADE IT. We are finally in the birth
country of our son. I can't tell you how emotional it was for me to look
out that window as we landing and know that WE MADE IT. Everything we had
been working hard for this past year was finally becoming real. It's no
longer just a dream to have a child, it's really going to happen. I know
that may sound odd to say since yeah we knew before we left the States that it
was "real". There's just something about being here that
solidify it all. Even on the plan ride over I knew we were heading to
China but I have no other words to describe how i felt landing and what that
moment meant!
We left our at around 3:50 am on Jan 14th.
Checking in was a breeze as was security. the flight to Detroit
short and uneventful. The 5 hour layover wasn't too bad. We burned an
hour of it over breakfast at Max and Erma's, great breakfast by the way if you
find yourself in the Detroit airport. I never thought to ask the Jessica what
time they'd be here but as we sat in the waiting area it was pretty obvious.
While waiting we met a South Africa man who had
adopted 2 children from Ghana. They now live in China where he teaches
English of all things. This prompted the lady behind him to come over and
talk. It's pretty easy to spot other parents who've adopted from China.
Come to find out they use to live in Hudsonville and now live in IL.
They have an 11 year old son and are adopting a 9 year old. What a small
world we live in. They too will be in China as long as us but leave a day
later.
The Flight - well it started off really good, until I
tried to use my video screen, but the attendant was able to reset it Thank God
so it worked out good. Josh and Jessica were behind us. We had to fill
out our Chinese Immigration clearance form to come into China. Glad J-mama was
behind us so we could figure out what to put where lol. They fed us 2
full meals, and a snack. The snack was really good. My first meal
was good except the chicken tasted like lighter fluid so I didn't' eat that and
I wasn't feeling good for the last meal, which was served about 1 1/2 before we
landed. I watched 4 movies and about 4-5 tv show episodes. I think there
was 1 more movie in there but I fell asleep, at least it was a movie I had seen
before. That my friends is the only time I slept on that flight! I
think maybe 2 hours total. Which is so unusual for me since I usually crash out
before we even leave the gate! I am glad we paid extra to upgrade to
economy seating. The Extra leg room for Joe was a Blessing! wish we
could have gotten it on the way home.
The first thing i noticed when we arrived was the
smog. However at first it didn't click with me as there are times in MI
that we land and it's cloudy due to fog and winter weather. Then the heat hits
ya in the airport, and slowly the smell. I have to say I was contemplating how
to or if I should mention the smell. but it is a different country so i
couldn't be honest without mentioning it. To me it was almost
overwhelming. It reminded me of arriving in Alaska and smelling those
forest fires, but I like the smell of campfire so it wasn't as bad. It
probably didn't help that I just got off a 14 hours plane ride, my nose was dry
and stuffed, and I wanted water and some hand lotion. Thank you Doreen
for noting to bring cough drops. I'm glad I packed all of mine and thought to
put one in our carry on. I used it while on the plane and once we got
here.
We first had to pass through a medical screening area.
I'm guessing it takes your temperature as you pass. I wasn't sure how I'd
do on that part. I think my Dramamine was wearing off on the last part of
our trip and I was warm from being in the airport. Then we headed to
customs, I would have taken a picture but that wasn't allowed. I don't
even think our lady smiled. Although we are not with the same agency or hotels
we'll be in the same cities so I'm sure we'll run into each other. I thought
well now that's pretty easy. Off to get our luggage and find our guide
George. Got a little nervous at the luggage carousel as we had 1 bag and
awaited the other (the one with our stuff in it) but it soon came around. Whew!
We exited to luggage area and quickly found George our guide who took us
to the awaiting bus to head to the hotel.
George went over a lot of info with us on the ride to
the hotel. Info on the Beijing, the country, CCAI, and the area around
our hotel. While it's cold outside they tend to keep the rooms and places
inside Very warm compared to what we're use to. We were also given a welcome
package of well wishes for our adoption, a direction card in Chinese and
English if we wanted to explore, along with a schedule for our time here in
Beijing. The ride was short and we arrived around 430/445 pm China time.
We headed right to our rooms. One of the bell boys showed us how to
use the elevator, you have to put your key in, . Then in our room we
couldn't figure out how to turn the lights on, again you have to put your key
in this slot and then press the buttons. LOL I imagine they deal with that a
lot. It's a very nice room with a view of the city out the window, which will
open but has NO screen. Scared my body as my sister would say. We
did crack it up for a while as George was right they keep the rooms Warm to say
the least.... We tried to watch a bit of TV, not many English channels,
and promptly feel asleep. I got up around 8 pm checked the door and got
on my pj's and back to bed we went. I did set the alarm for 630 am as we
meet George for our tour at 9 am we want to have enough time to shower, eat and
relax a little.
At 4 am and this girl is wide awake! lol of
course I am I'm sure sleep will hit me later today. I remembered Joe
found the hot pot last night so I pulled that out and grab condiment cup and
God bless them there was COFFEE!!! AND Creamer and sugar. ahhhh I'm
in heaven. I'm glad I didn't find it last night as I probably would have
drank them both and been bumming this am. We were going to order room
service last night but the bed was calling.
I opened the window a little this am to let some cool
air in and it was pretty quiet out there. As it's now about 645 am things
are starting to pick up out there and the city is starting to wake up.
We are going to clean up, head to breakfast and get
ready for the day ahead of us. Today we visit Tiananmen Square and the
Forbidden city (which isn't far from the hotel). Then we will take a Hu
tong tour by rickshaw with lunch at a local family's house. We'll head
back to the hotel between 2/230pm China time. That should give us plenty
of time to rest and relax. Then maybe we'll go out to dinner and do some
exploring. There is some little shops I can see outside our window and
George showed us where a shopping mall and the 7-11 is. Oh thank heaven
for 7-11!!!!
Will post again when we can with pictures of our hotel
and the day. Thanks for checking in on our journey and your continued
prayers.
Seems like yesterday that we were there. I can still see the view outside our window, and remember the excitement and awe we felt this first day in China. How far we've come since them....
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