I couldn't get my computer to work on the Beijing hotel’s network. So I wasn't able to update the blog. The language barrier is preventing me from working through it with the business center staff. Guess how annoying this is for Scott!!!
We are now in ShiJiazhuang. Internet in the hotel here is working - pretty much. So now I am posting a long message I emailed friends and family...
Wednesday, Sept. 14 – Bellingham:
This is it then. We are headed to the airport. This has been an amazing process so far, and yet we really haven't begun yet.
Cam and Ben are very excited. They have some concerns about their schoolwork (Tina and I do too) but this is too big a change for our family to not have them there with us. In addition to getting Kai, and seeing China, we are also really looking forward to having this special time with Cam and Ben. A lot of why we are making this big change in our lives is because we love these two boys so much. I think they are going to be fantastic big brothers for Kai!
.....
Writing now from SeaTac. We had a nice drive down. The boys were really helpful and cooperative. Made good time. The TV's here in the airport are playing CNN's report on Bush's talks with China and the trade issues around intellectual property rights.
Tina's making us take Airborne supplements - they're these vitamin herbal things you dissolve in water. She's certain we have to take them on a very specific schedule. They don't taste bad so, "what the heck, I'll try it." She promises this will keep us healthy.
I made all of us sit in seats where I could steal electricity for the laptop. I'm conserving battery for the flight time. Tina says I can't buy internet access because I don't need to check my email. She's probably right.
We are traveling with a crazy amount of luggage! At one point we were talking about doing just carry on. Then somehow we got concerned about carry on weight limits in China, so we nixed the idea. But then once we decided we were going to check bags it suddenly became "Anything Goes". We now look like Sherpas trying to set up a base camp. We are very prepared though. To give you an idea of just how prepared we are, we are taking tea to China with us. It's true! I'm a little worried about how we'll move this much gear when we add a toddler to the mix. Tina got a little backpack for Kai the other day though so maybe he'll lighten the load on the rest of us a bit. Ya think?
.....
Made it to LA. I'm typing this on battery power. The electrical outlets in LA are much harder to get to. I think I can find one now that we're in the international terminal. In the terminal where Alaska Air lands it's pretty desperate. The few available electrical outlets are in hard to get to places, the ones we saw were already claimed by desperate looking technophiles camped on the floor with their laptops and cellphone chargers. I told Tina that I have more dignity than that. Actually I was just afraid of being bitten if I tried getting closer to the outlets.
.....
Found a power outlet! It's nice and quiet and out of the way; even has real airport seating next to it. Cam's off somewhere now on his cell phone talking with Brittni. She told him that if you Google "ocheltree adoption blog" we're the first hit! Always like seeing our Google ratings going up! We saw a Caucasian couple at the ticket counter with a little Chinese daughter. We are wondering if they're going back to get her a sister.
We ate Mexican food with the boys. They are starting to get more interactive with us already. I think they are pretty excited about what's about to happen. Tina and I listened to the iPod together on the way down. I have a mix of sentimental songs I put together that was fun to hear with her. She accused me of purposefully trying to make her cry. I am feeling very emotional even without listening to overly sentimental songs. I hope I'm not a total wreck next Monday!
So far the trip is feeling really good. Of course we still haven't left the North American continent. The real trip begins in a few hours from now. I think when we touch down in Guangzhou the reality of what we are doing is going to start to really sink in.
...The boys were hackey-sacking for a bit and met a young woman named Amina who teaches English in Guangzhou. She was telling them about a similar game played in China with a kind of shuttlecock. She wrote the name of the game on a piece of paper for them so they can try to find the it while we're there. It's called jian zi or jian qiu.
I made Tina go with me to talk with the couple with the little Chinese daughter. They were really nice. They are on their way to get little sister! They are traveling to a different province, but will be at the White Swan the same time we are.
.....
We are now on the plane. The REAL plane. Next stop China!
The plane is nice. We're in the cheap seats, but they're nice. We each have little TV screens and headphones. Each seat comes with a fancy little zippered pouch with toiletries in it: toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, lip balm, comb, blindfold, and earplugs. The boys were very impressed with this.
...
Well, I thought I would use the computer on the plane but there just wasn't enough room. We're in the Guangzhou airport now. It's very nice. We made the mistake of thinking that our large suitcases were checked all the way through from Seattle to Beijing, but when we got to the desk for international flights connecting to domestic they told us we had to claim our bags and take them through customs before rechecking them. This meant we had to go backwards through a documentation checkpoint we had already cleared, but it was no problem. Some people on an electric scooter car convinced us that our connecting gate was too far to walk so we paid to be driven. This was a treat because the airport was virtually empty and the driver was just flooring it! It was just like Mister Toad's Wild Ride! We bought some water, and the boys got a Red Bull (different can - short, fat and gold) and a can of Pringles. Two of the shops had beautiful displays of Moon Cakes.
So far we are holding up quite well. It was a long flight be we made it okay. Next time we do that leg we'll have a toddler with us. There were several little kids on the plane and they all seemed to survive it without too much fussing.
The service on the flight was very nice. We rode a 777. Between the meals, the stewardesses made tea and snacks at the back of the plane. If you wanted something you could just walk back and get it. They had tea, and cup-o-noodles, and rolls. People would just hang out back there and visit. I kept thinking there was a line for the lavatory, but I'd get back there and it was vacant, the people were just standing around. I can't imagine flight attendants in the US letting people help themselves to stuff and hang out at the back of the plane like that, it was kind of cool.
....
The airport in Guangzhou was very nice and modern. We were there at about 6:00 AM so it was not crowded at all.
Our last flight, from Guangzhou to Beijing went very smooth. The plane we rode was newer and the seats seamed more comfortable. They fed us again. China Southern Airlines is not stingy with the food, and it's not too bad for airline food. They also gave each of us a little box with two Moon Cakes in it before we got off the plane. The flight attendant said, "Happy Mid-Autumnal Festival!" to each of us as she gave the shiny boxes.
When we got off the plane we noticed that many of the Chinese passengers had large beautiful boxes of Moon Cakes they were taking with them.
Because of our mix up with our bags in Guangzhou they ended up being the last ones loaded on the plane. This made them the first ones off in Beijing. We were amazed at how quick we got our luggage. Actually the airports in both Guangzhou and Beijing were very easy for us to get through, and things moved very quickly.
When we cleared the last security checkpoint we saw our guide, Chen Chen, standing there holding a sign with our name on it. She had a driver with a large van for us. We went to the hotel where we dropped off our luggage and met another family who is here with our agency too. Their names are Jean and Matt Oppliger. It's amazing how much we have in common with them. They are traveling with their 10 year old son, Adam.
Chen Chen then took all seven of us to Tian an Men Square and The Forbidden City. At this point Tina, Cam, Ben, and I had know idea how long we had been running or on how little sleep, but we were determined to push on. To help keep us energized, Chen took us to a Starbucks on the way. It seemed more than a little ironic that the first place went to in Beijing was the last place we stopped on the way out of Bellingham. Globalization.
Tian an Men Square and The Forbidden City were amazing! Chen was a fantastic guide and gave us a great walking history lesson. I expected it to be much more crowded than it was. There were a couple pushy vendors, but they weren't obnoxious. Some of the beggars were very sad to see, as a few had severe deformities. We expected to see this so it wasn't too overwhelming.
I have to write something about the driving in Beijing. All the blogs I've read by other people mention this. I was really expecting something more overwhelming than what we have experienced so far. It is dense, and there are many, many bicycles, but it wasn't all that crazy. If anything it was kind of beautiful. There was this surreal quality to the way the drivers could move around one another. It’s very different from how traffic moves in the U.S. It’s much more fluid.
Saturday we got up and had breakfast in the hotel. Chen Chen met us and the Oppligers again in the lobby at 8:30 A.M. She had a driver take us out to The Great Wall. She had vast amounts of history to share with us on the way. She also told us about how she grew up in one of the old courtyard communities in Beijing. These areas are rapidly disappearing. The few remaining streets like this near the center of the city are now being preserved as historical districts.
We stopped at a “Jade Factory” on the way. This is a government run store where they give you a touristy lesson in how jade is carved, and how to determine it’s quality. We also had an opportunity to buy some very expensive trinkets. We made it out without succumbing to the temptation, though we did buy a couple inexpensive items.
When we got to The Wall Chen Chen waited at the bottom, and gave us two hours to hike up and back. At this point we split from the Oppligers who went up the “West Wall”. We took the “East Wall” which was less crowded and a bit easier of a climb. We had a beautiful day. The day before at Tian an Men Square and The Forbidden City was very hazy and overcast. Today had a beautiful breeze and the sky was brilliantly clear. The visibility was amazing. We could not have asked for a more wonderful day for visiting “The Great Wall”. On the way back, Chen Chen took us to lunch at a restaurant inside a “Friendship Store”. These are stores the government originally created just for foreigners. Another opportunity to buy expensive trinkets!
So far we have been on a pretty sheltered tourist track. I think this is about to change as we head out tomorrow for Kai’s province.
NOW THE BIG NEWS…
Just as we got in the van this morning, Chen Chen turned to us and said that our plans for tomorrow had been changed. Originally, we were to drive to Shijaizhuang. We would stop in Bao Ding on the way to see the city where Kai lives, but we wouldn’t be able to visit the orphanage. They would bring him to us on Monday in Shijaizhuang.
Instead, she told us, we will now be going to the orphanage tomorrow, and we will receive Kai then!!!!!!
This means that we will get to have Kai with us on the Moon Festival!
Please hold our family in your prayers,
Love,
Scott, Tina, Cam & Ben (and soon Kai)
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