October 6, 2010 - We left for Indianapolis at 145 am. Mom and dad took us to the airport. At 415 am, we got checked in and ready for our first flight. The first leg was from Indy to Newark. We arrived at Newark a little early, and had a little over 4 hours layover. Next, we boarded for Beijing with two other couples traveling from our agency (Wayne and Jamie and Melissa and Ron). There was a huge crowd gathered, and I thought.... WOW! I wonder where all of these people are going. Yes, they all boarded the plane with us. It was huge. 9 seats across each row. We had a smooth, but LONG flight. I took lots of pics of our progress on the flight map. We were ready to move when we hit Beijing - October 7, 2010 at 220 ish PM.
October 7, 2010 - We landed in Beijing and got checked in at our hotel. Our guide, Shirley is awesome. One funny things is that she thinks it is cold here, but knows that we Big Americans think it is warm. The Kuntai Royal Hotel. The hotel was very nice and comfortable, but a little warm. We met two more couples from our agency (Krista and Todd and Amy and Jeff - with their little one Emma and Nanny Ashley and Aunt Stacy) We watched a little Sponge Bob in Mandarin, and then we went to a local market. (it ended up being IGA, but it is not like ours from home). We went back to the hotel and went to sleep very early (530 PM here).
October 8, 2010 - Well, we woke up at 1 am. That will teach us to go to sleep at 530 PM. There isn't much to do at 1 am in our hotel room, but we did watch some very interesting infomercials. We watched one that must have been about a breast enhancement substance. Very funny. All kinds of flat chested women rubbing themselves down and growing boobs.
At 1130 we were decided we better eat lunch. We ate a LOT on the breakfast buffet. It is crazy - they have dim sum, traditional chinese dishes, salads, sushi, breads, cereals, and more. It is a neat way to try many new things. For lunch, BUFFIE won't believe it, but we ate McDonalds. It really wasn't very good. Sorry, Buffie. Many of the families were looking for a familiar meal after our interesting food so far.
We went to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City (where 24 emperor's reigned), and the Olympic Park. The architecture here is amazing. It is hard to believe many of the buildings we looked at today were built over 600 years ago. We did a lot of walking, but it was worth it. It was a lot to take in. Lastly, we went to see a Chinese Acrobatic show. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures. It was amazing. 5 motorcycles in a Metal Ball, lots of amazing strength in these performers.
Every public place we went to we were attacked by street vendors selling: "Mao book","Rolex watches (Sure),Mao watches,forbidden city book, squishy ball-things, kind of neat kites (but very cheaply made), wooden carvings,whistles and postcard. Most of them saying Hello! and then the thing they are selling like: Hello! Mao book! and they can be very annoying/persistent. Sort of funny.
I used my first squatty potty today. It wasn't that fun, but it worked. We also saw split pants for the first time. I guess it is traditional to have young kids who have just been potty trained in split pants so they can just squat and pee/poop.
Again, we went to bed too early - 730 PM this time. Ugh. We were exhausted. No supper for us.
October 9, 2010 - We woke up this time at 3 am. Getting better:-) We opened up the breakfast joint at 630 am very hungry.
We met at 830 to leave for the Great Wall of China. We made a couple of stops at shops today, but will hit more in Guangzhou. We saw a jade factory, a cloisonne factory, and ate at a very good restaurant. It was served family style so you could try a lot of different things.
The Great Wall was amazing. I am still feeling some burn from the steep stairs. They were crazy, no one was the same height and they were VERY tall. It was an awesome view though! We really enjoyed this.
Next, we went to the Emperor's Summer Palace. Here we explored the grounds and took a dragon boat ride. It was awesome!
Today, Our Guide Shirley gave us lots of inspiration and humor - Audrie will be a banana - Yellow on the outside and white on the inside is one of our favorite lines.
We went to supper at Pizza Hut. It was amazing to see the choices on the menu, and were excited to try new things, even at a familiar restaurant.
October 10, 2010 - This is mainly a traveling day. It was very sad to say goodbye to Shirley. We feel so close to her after just a few short days. She is one who works in the Beijing office, translating, making matches (like ours) and also meets groups in Beijing for tours. We are headed to Guangzhou. We left for the airport at 830 am, and flew out at 1115 am. The flight was a little rough, but we made it. Guangzhou is very tropical, temperature is warmer and much more humid.
We arrived at Shaiman Island and got checked into our hotel. I met a family from Texas in line at check in who is adopting a little girl about Audrie's age. They have two teenage daughters... and it was nice to talk with them (Tommy and Lana - girls Jaycie and Paige - Spellings?)
Next, we took a tour of the island. It is really nice. There is a park next door, many shops/market areas, and restaurants on the island.
We ate at Lucy's. Jerry tried the Malasian Rice (with an egg on top - is anyone who knows him shocked?) I got Lucy's pan fried noodle. It was fantastic, and we tried some calamari which was great! We got a few things at the 7-11 and headed back to the hotel to finish unpacking.
Okay, so upgrading to a suite may have been one of the best decisions I have made. The room is nice, spacious, and has room to move. We are very happy with this decision. (Even though I was extremely hesitant due to the cost increase. Our 11 days will be much easier to take here:-)
Well, it is almost 9, and time to sleep. Goodnight all!
October 11, 2010 - We woke up around 415 am. We are so excited, nervous, emotional - Today is our Gotcha day. We get Audrie at 150 PM today. Please pray for her and us as we dive into our relationship together. More to follow later.
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