Siightseeing in Beijing.

Today was our full day of sightseeing in Beijing.  We started the day at Tiananmen Square.  I know that I was warned that there would be a lot of people and that they don’t have the same personal bubble that we Americans do, but I wasn’t quite mentally prepared for the fact that they have absolutely NO personal bubbles.  And they’d be considered very rude as well.  I became quite adept at literally shoving my way through a crowd.  I have to say, I think I did pretty well for someone as demophobic as I am.  (I have a larger than normal personal bubble due to a Kid Rock concert I was nearly crushed to death at!)  And the umbrellas!  Nearly had my eyes poked out a few times with those things!  The women just don’t look where they’re going and those pointy ends really hurt when they hit your face!  

 

After Tiananmen Square, we walked across the street (well, under it) over to the Forbidden City.  I’ve been dying to see this place for many many years.  I wish we would have had a lot more time there to explore and take photos.  The marble carvings are absolutely incredible as well as the architecture.   This was even more crowded.  It was especially bad in the garden area.  Our traffic jams have nothing on the human bottle necks I experienced today.

After the Forbidden City, we moved onto lunch (yummy) and then shopping at the Friendship Store Pearl Market.  We bought a little something for Teagin to give to her when she’s older.  

After that was the Summer Palace.  I was quite disappointed here.  We had 20 minutes to go through one of the most beautiful parks I’ve seen.  We didn’t get to experience ANY of the gardens….just the bridge and a view of the lake.  One of Jason’s friends said that you need more than one day just to explore the gardens there.  Maybe someday…….

After that was a trip to a silk museum.  They showed us the stages of how the silk caterpillars produce the silk and the two different cocoons they end up with.  We didn’t buy anything there because I was hesitant to.  I wanted to be sure that I had Teagin’s size before I spent $30 US on a silk dress. 

After the silk museum, we drove past the Olympic Village and the Olympic Stadium.  Didn’t get to see much of the Water Cube.  It would have been neat to explore both the Bird’s Nest Stadium and the Water Cube, but we had to get to Dr. Tea for a tea ceremony.  Of course, the tea I liked the best was also the most expensive so we didn’t buy any.  $100 US for a box!  Ugh!

After the tea excursion, we moved onto the restaurant for a Peking Duck Dinner.  They had our table right below the air conditioner vent and so all of the food on the table was quite cold…and unrecognizable.  None of us were quite sure what each dish was.  There were 3 I was able to figure out on sight…French fries, ham, and Kung Pao Shrimp.  The Peking Duck would have been good…if it wasn’t so darn greasy.  I’d like to try it again somewhere else so that I can see if it’s the dish I didn’t like or the preparation…

Afterwards, we came back to our hotel.  We also found out the air conditioning was broken in our room when we determined that it was cooler outside than in our room.  Took 3 people to fix it!

Tomorrow is the international church service, the Jade Market, and the Great Wall.  We’ll also, hopefully, get our travel info in regards to traveling to our province to meet Teagin.  So tomorrow night will be packing again to get ready to fly to Nanchang.  I can’t wait!!!

Oh!  You’re not allowed to drive your car on some roads in Beijing if it’s on fire…according to this sign…..

Beijing!!!

We made it to Beijing!

What a dayyyyyysssss.  Not sure how else to say it.  Was only about a 24 hour time period, but we encompassed almost 2 full days when you consider that Beijing is 13 hours ahead of Iowa time. 

The trip started out pretty decently!  Our flight from Des Moines was on time and we landed on time, if not a tad early.  The Beijing leg?  Well, that was the issue.  We were supposed to depart at 1:07 pm, but they pushed the departure time to 2:00 pm which then because 2:45 pm which then became 4:00 which then became 5:00, then 5:15, then 5:45!  We finally left the ground at 6:15 pm!!!  According to the flight attendants, the elevator to the upper deck which they use to shuttle food to the first class travelers broke.  They were considering cancelling the flight.  I’m so thankful that they didn’t.  Who knows when we would get here in that case?!

While we were waiting at the gate, a group of Chinese students (heading back home for a vacation during a break in studies) were seated next to us.  They asked why we were travelling to China.  As soon as they heard we were adopting, they thanked us!  I couldn’t get over it!  Here I feel that their country is the one doing US a great service and they feel the same on their side….anyway, they told us how lucky and unlucky Teagin is.  She’s unlucky because she has no parents, but that she’s becoming VERY lucky because she’ll now have us.  I’ll say it again, it’s Jason and I who are the lucky ones because she’s bringing great joy to our lives!

Thank you to Wendy for pulling out her iPad to play Yatzee!  

Landing in Beijing and passing through customs was pretty much a non-issue.  Standard waiting in line, then moving onto baggage claim.  Same thing there.  We met up with another family from San Diego who had also just landed and was shuttled to the hotel.  

It’s HOT and HUMID here!  I thought Iowa was humid…they’ve got NOTHING on Beijing….and it’s only going to get worse!

Today’s schedule will be incredibly crazy!  Sherry, our guide, was telling us about our day.  Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, Pearl market, Summer Palace, Tea Ceremony, Silk Museum, Peking Duck Dinner….I was exhausted listening to her describe it all!  And then we come back and relax she says….

Relax???  More like crash and burn!  

Hopefully, I’ll have enough energy to post about our day and also some pics tonight…..hopefully….

T minus 9 hours, 40 minutes

Well, one last push today.  We spent all day packing and doing last minute running.  Our flight leaves in less than 10 hours!  So crazy and surreal!  For so long, this trip was more of a concept to us than reality.  Now, it’s reality!  I know that the flight will be semi-torturous, but it will be so worth it! 

All I know is I’m exhausted right now, but I’m not so sure I’m going to be able to sleep!  I’m too darn excited!  We got ourselves up and running on Google Talk, so we’ll be able to chat with both sets of parents and at least my brother and his family.  We also subscribed to Express VPN so I’ll be able to post pics and updates on Facebook and this blog. 

It’s a short one tonight, and I don’t know how soon I’ll be able to update again.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to post once we check into our hotel in Beijing!

Leave Management

I called yesterday to initiate my leave of absence.  What a hassle!  The gal I talked to couldn’t quite grasp my leave dates.  I called in and told her that I would be starting my Bonding Leave on July 25 and would be returning to work on August 29.  She kept telling me that I needed to sign the intermittent boding form because I was taking less than 7 calendar days for my leave.  Huh!  Never knew that July 25 – August 28 was less than 7 calendar days.  Once we got that straightened out, I asked her about my Flex Care Spending account.  She said I needed to talk to Benefits.  So she transferred me.  Benefits said, no, you need to talk to Leave Management.  I did NOT want to be transferred back to the gal I had just talked to since she was Oh so intelligent.  They then told me I needed to call Wage Works.  So I called them.  Wage works told me I needed to talk to Benefits who then referred me back to Leave Management who referred me back to Benefits AGAIN.  Benefits then told me I needed to talk to Wage Works.  At that point, I hung up and refused to call them again!  Jason finally agreed to call on my behalf.  What I never was able to accomplish, he had figured out in about ten minutes.  All I wanted to know is how I would be charged while I’m out on leave because my leave is unpaid. 

Tomorrow is going to be running our last minute errands and getting all the house stuff in order.  We still need to pack our last suitcase, but that won’t take very long.  We should be done relatively early with that.  I’m also not sure if we’re going to get much sleep in the next couple of days.  Jason is nervous about the international flight.  I’m just concerned that I’m going to be incredibly bored!  We’re going to be stuck in a confined space for a very long time.  All I want is to get to Nanchang and get Teagin!  

Just a few more days!

7 months

Teagin turned seven months old today.  We spent the day packing.  Our dry run for our big suitcase netted a very light 35 pounds.  We will need another checked bag, but we’re hoping that will also be under 40 pounds.  In the US, the weight limit is 50 pounds, but in China, we’ll be limited to 44 pounds.  Not sure what the overweight fees are there so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

We also spent some time with extended family.  All of my dad’s siblings came out to visit.  We enjoyed standard picnic fare and also had a sing along.  It was fun!  I was glad to see them all.

We have Teagin’s room done….for the most part.  We ordered a rocker/recliner that won’t arrive until the end of September and we also need to put the decals on the walls.  We’ll have to wait to do that until we get back.  The paint hasn’t cured enough yet.

So 4 days until we leave and 8 days until we finally get to hold Teagin!!!

In One Week...

In exactly one week, we will board a small plane to Chicago.  This plane will carry us to a much larger plane which will carry us across the ocean.  We will have a few days to acclimate ourselves to the culture and time zone and then we will finally get to hold, hug, kiss, and SEE our daughter with our own eyes.  All we have right now are five pictures of her.  That’s not nearly enough in my opinion.  We received our in-country itinerary and bookings.  They have us staying at some pretty nice places.  My personal favorite, based on name, is the Galactic Peace International Hotel, which is located in Nanchang.  Not only is that the hotel we’ll be staying in when Teagin joins our family, but it plays to my love of science fiction!  I mean really!  Doesn’t it sound like something the Federation or the Jedi Council would have to house the intergalactic dignitaries???

We have a little more work to do on Teagin’s room.  We need to get shades for her windows, hang the curtains; buy the chair and book shelf and then her room will be complete!  I’ll post some pictures of it when all that’s done. 

We’re frantically working to get our trip items together to pack.  I’m hoping to get that done this weekend.  Not sure if I’ll make it that far, but I sincerely hope so!  If not, we have Monday and Tuesday night to finish.  I want the suitcases completely packed by Wednesday afternoon so that Wednesday evening, we can relax.  Now, keep in mind, I said relax.  I seriously doubt that either one of us will be able to sleep at all!  I know that my sleep patterns have been taking a massive hit the last couple of weeks.  I’ve always been a light sleeper, but this new pattern of insomnia is really getting old.  Now, I know that sleep will be harder to come by once we get Teagin, but right now, we really don’t have much of a reason other than stress.  I could do without the chronic headaches I’ve been having as well. 

I want to give a shout out to my managers at work who are making valiant efforts to keep me distracted this week.  I feel bad for them since it’s not really working too well.  I have a constant mantra of packing items running through my head along with the mile-long to do list.

I’m beginning to ramble which means I’m starting to lose my mind!  Speaking of losing one’s mind…what the HECK is Brett Favre (traitor...narcissistic fool) thinking???????

Go Packers!