To China, With Love

We have made it to China! After a whirlwind of receiving the news of our impending departure, the fast track of booking tickets and packing, and then gathering everything and everyone together, we flew out on September 9th. We had our first flight to Chicago but then met a 6-hour delay just after we arrived...so...that slowed things down at first. But by late afternoon, we were on our way. Thirty or so hours later, we arrived in Beijing.

I love this country. It's so strange and odd but also wonderful, all wrapped up into one. This is the 5th time that I have been to China and I still love it every time. It's very different from the world I'm used to, that's for sure, but I'm still happy and grateful to be here. And, the kids are here with us this time, which makes me so happy.

Although we got in very late, we weren't exactly tired or ready for bed when we got to the hotel. It was a short night of sleeping before getting up to tour today. It will take a couple of days to get used to the jet lag and it's hard not to sleep during the day. Even now, I feel so tired...it reminds me of those years working nights at the hospital.

Today, we did some touring to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We have met several families who are adopting through our agency but we traveled with only one other family for the tours today. They are adopting a little boy who is four and who is from a different province than Jia, but we will see them again later, I'm sure. Today was lovely..we had such beautiful weather and very little smog and pollution, it seemed. The skies were blue! We walked a lot and looked at all of the historical monuments of the area. Russ and I have seen this before, but it is still so neat. Caleb was three years old the last time he was here and he doesn't remember it. Asher and Ellie have never been here. There is so much to see.

This evening, we rested in the hotel and then went out to a local place for supper. We had been warned not to order too much food because there is so much that is brought to the table. We tried to cut back but there was still so much. As good as it was...we had to leave a lot because we couldn't eat any more noodles. It was so delicious! Homemade noodles, kale, meatballs, shrimp, and some other vegetables. Unfortunately, we had three very tired children, two of whom were falling asleep at the table. We finished quickly and moved on.

We have a couple more days and then we will be flying to JQ's province. The guide from our agency sent us a message a couple of days ago and said that he visited the orphanage again and took a couple more pictures of Jia for us, so he sent them. Just look at this cutie:

I can't believe we will meet him Monday! I'm so excited...this guy just makes me smile. This is all very surreal. It is one of those situations where you sort of stop every once in a while and say, "what a minute. What are we doing, again?"

For now, we are hanging out and seeing the sights in Beijing. The kids are watching a Chinese cartoon, although they can't understand a word. I don't think it matters. There is some sort of fashion show with a runway going on in the plaza of our hotel, right outside our balcony. We are here together on the other side of the world, the homeland of our children. With all of its quirks and weirdness, we are so thrilled to be back in China once again.