Saturday, June 6, 2009
OUR HOTEL ROOM - BEIJING
These are the hotel photos. You will notice that I have a little extra padding on my side of the bed.....It's not nearly enough.
Friday, June 5, 2009
WIDE AWAKE
Ugh! I think I may have slept a couple of hours and my dear hubby hasn't slept at all! When I was laying in bed I was thinking that I thought that I always remembered reading that the beds in Beijing were comfortable, but when you left Beijing....They were like sleeping on a board??? The beds in this hotel are "quite firm".....Oh my gawd, I can't imagine that they could be made any firmer than this. We have a small cot in our room and I pulled the mattress off of that and put it on top of the bed....I think that helped a bit. Poor, J.....He's probably sorry he didn't think of it first! ;)
I wanted to tell you about our experience when we landed in regards to how they're dealing with the flu. When we first landed in Tokyo they boarded the plane, but just came and took papers from those travelers that were staying the night in Tokyo. I'm not sure if we walked through a temperature scan in the airport or not....If we did, I didn't see it. Of course, there were quite a few people on the flights with masks on and also around the airport.
When we landed in Beijing....I could tell that they're taking it MUCH more serious here. We had to fill out papers stating that we aren't experiencing any symptoms of the flu and also state where they can reach us for the next 7 days. All during the flight if we heard anyone cough and blow their nose....J and I were mumbling under our breath. They boarded the plane when we landed and came up and down each aisle and pointed this little temperature gun at everyone's forehead. It doesn't help that you're sitting there for a little bit of time and the plane is starting to heat up.....We were just a little nervous to say the least! It also didn't help that this man that was 3 rows up from us had to have his temperature taken over and over again. I'm not kidding when I say, it was taken about TWENTY times with that little gun and then with also with a glass thermometer. Then this other important masked man boarded the plane and then they were all talking to the traveler for what seemed like FOREVER! They finally let him and the rest of us go and let me tell you, it was a sigh of relief! A HUGE sigh of relief.
After we left the plane, we walked past at least two temperature body scan machines before we reached freedom. In case I disappear for awhile, I thought I should mention that one of the temperature scan machines went off when a girl that was supposed to be sitting next to me (we played switcheroo, so that J and I could sit together) went though the first temperature body scan machine. I never did see what happened to her! She had ended up sitting in the seat directly behind me during the flight....I'm sure if she is sick with the virus, they will be knocking at my door during my stay here.
We were met at the airport by our guide, Veronica. She told us that she will be our guide during the entire trip.....She is VERY nice and I already can tell that we're lucky to have her! We had three other families from our travel group on the Tokyo to Beijing flight...... Everyone is so nice! Five families flew in earlier to Beijing and we will be meeting them in the lobby this morning. We also have two other families that will be meeting up with in the province tomorrow.....Pug Mama being one of them!
I wish I would have taken a couple photos of our room before we started making a mess of it.....It's a very nice room. I'll try to take a couple photos later after I've straightened up a bit. For as organized as I thought I was when I left, our room looks like total chaos now.
I hear J snoring now.....I think I'm going to hop in the shower and then make a cup of coffee and try to wake up a little. More later......
I wanted to tell you about our experience when we landed in regards to how they're dealing with the flu. When we first landed in Tokyo they boarded the plane, but just came and took papers from those travelers that were staying the night in Tokyo. I'm not sure if we walked through a temperature scan in the airport or not....If we did, I didn't see it. Of course, there were quite a few people on the flights with masks on and also around the airport.
When we landed in Beijing....I could tell that they're taking it MUCH more serious here. We had to fill out papers stating that we aren't experiencing any symptoms of the flu and also state where they can reach us for the next 7 days. All during the flight if we heard anyone cough and blow their nose....J and I were mumbling under our breath. They boarded the plane when we landed and came up and down each aisle and pointed this little temperature gun at everyone's forehead. It doesn't help that you're sitting there for a little bit of time and the plane is starting to heat up.....We were just a little nervous to say the least! It also didn't help that this man that was 3 rows up from us had to have his temperature taken over and over again. I'm not kidding when I say, it was taken about TWENTY times with that little gun and then with also with a glass thermometer. Then this other important masked man boarded the plane and then they were all talking to the traveler for what seemed like FOREVER! They finally let him and the rest of us go and let me tell you, it was a sigh of relief! A HUGE sigh of relief.
After we left the plane, we walked past at least two temperature body scan machines before we reached freedom. In case I disappear for awhile, I thought I should mention that one of the temperature scan machines went off when a girl that was supposed to be sitting next to me (we played switcheroo, so that J and I could sit together) went though the first temperature body scan machine. I never did see what happened to her! She had ended up sitting in the seat directly behind me during the flight....I'm sure if she is sick with the virus, they will be knocking at my door during my stay here.
We were met at the airport by our guide, Veronica. She told us that she will be our guide during the entire trip.....She is VERY nice and I already can tell that we're lucky to have her! We had three other families from our travel group on the Tokyo to Beijing flight...... Everyone is so nice! Five families flew in earlier to Beijing and we will be meeting them in the lobby this morning. We also have two other families that will be meeting up with in the province tomorrow.....Pug Mama being one of them!
I wish I would have taken a couple photos of our room before we started making a mess of it.....It's a very nice room. I'll try to take a couple photos later after I've straightened up a bit. For as organized as I thought I was when I left, our room looks like total chaos now.
I hear J snoring now.....I think I'm going to hop in the shower and then make a cup of coffee and try to wake up a little. More later......
NIHAO from Beijing!
Nihao from Beijing!!! I can't believe that after all this time, I'm FINALLY able to say that! It was a long flight, but we made it!!! We just checked into our hotel and we're going to head to bed now. We have to meet in the lobby at 8:30 am for a full day of touring. We really didn't sleep on the plane....I'm REALLY hoping to get a few hours of sleep now. Tomorrow is going to be another tiring day, but who cares.....WE'RE IN CHINA!!!!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
OUR ITINERARY
Our agency sent us our itinerary today....It's actually starting to feel real now!!
We leave tomorrow at 3:00 pm and arrive in Beijing on Friday at 10:30 pm. We will be staying at the Poly Plaza in Beijing.
6/11/2009: Sightseeing.
6/12/2009: We pick up Ava's passport.
6/13/2009: We fly to Guangzhou.....We will be staying at the White Swan Hotel:
6/14/2009: Sightseeing.
6/15/2009: Medical Exam for Ava. Take Ava's visa photo.
6/16/2009: Guide goes to American Consulate to hand in families documents.
6/17/2009: Ceremony at American Consulate.
Leave Guangzhou in the evening to fly to Shanghai.
6/18/2009: Leave Shanghai and head back home.
We leave tomorrow at 3:00 pm and arrive in Beijing on Friday at 10:30 pm. We will be staying at the Poly Plaza in Beijing.
6/6/2009: We will tour the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
6/7/2009: We will fly to Nanchang, where we will meet our beautiful daughter, Ava!! We will be meeting Ava at 3:30 pm at the Jinfeng Hotel (where we will be staying).
6/8/2009: Families go to civil affairs to do paperwork.
6/9/2009: Shopping!
6/11/2009: Sightseeing.
6/12/2009: We pick up Ava's passport.
6/13/2009: We fly to Guangzhou.....We will be staying at the White Swan Hotel:
6/14/2009: Sightseeing.6/15/2009: Medical Exam for Ava. Take Ava's visa photo.
6/16/2009: Guide goes to American Consulate to hand in families documents.
6/17/2009: Ceremony at American Consulate.
Leave Guangzhou in the evening to fly to Shanghai.
6/18/2009: Leave Shanghai and head back home.
GUESS WHO I'M TRAVELING WITH!!!
Yesterday, I received the BEST phone call......Pug Mama had a call from our agency that her TA was in! They weren't 100% sure, but they thought she would be able to travel with our group!!! She got the confirmation this morning....Pug Mama is going to China!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have no idea how happy I am! About 1/2 hour before she called me, I had printed off her daughter's referral photo. I was taking it with me, so I could ask the orphanage staff about her. I had tears in my eyes when I was making a copy of her adorable little face. Our prayers have been answered! I truly believe this delay happened for a reason. I was able to see my oldest daughter graduate from High School, I saw my son on this 9th B-day (today) AND it was just the time Pug Mama needed to have her TA come in! YEEEEEHAAAWWW!!! I'm going to China tomorrow with Pug Mama & of course, Big Daddy too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(this photo was taken when we met in Chicago in November, 2006....I remember we talked on that trip that our guesstimate was that we would be traveling to China in summer of 2007....We were a little off.) ;)
(this photo was taken when we met in Chicago in November, 2006....I remember we talked on that trip that our guesstimate was that we would be traveling to China in summer of 2007....We were a little off.) ;)
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
THE NEW BLOG ADMINISTRATOR
For the next 2 weeks or so - this blog is being patrolled by me! Rude comments will not be tolerated! Wish me luck!
THE BIG PHOTO SHOOT!
Alright, this post is a little lame, but I wanted to give a friend of mine a little practice at blogging. And - she is doing fantastic, I might add! From what I understand, you can't access blogger from China right now and in order for me to post......I'm going to need a little assistance from my friend, Kris. Who will, in no way, mess with the blog, when it has to do with Ava! Part of that is just an excuse as to why I'm blogging about my fireplace....Those that know me, know that I would be blogging about it anyway, because I LOVE my fireplace. Seriously, how often does ones' fireplace get to be in an ad??!! This is HUGE news in our house!! (another piece of HUGE news) LOL Here are a few pictures from the big photo shoot today (in whatever order KC decides is best!):
The other big news.......Have you heard?.......We're going to China in TWO DAYS!!!! I can't believe it, but I think I'm almost done packing. WHOO-HOO!!!!
Lesson #3 complete -- Ready for Take Off! I think!
Monday, June 1, 2009
PHOTO SHOOT
If things weren't crazy enough.....Our fireplace is going to be in a photo shoot tomorrow morning. A photographer is going to come over and shoot the fireplace with different merchandise from Meijer. I just found out that the photographer has adopted from China...I believe 3 times. I'll be home for a little while with them in the morning before I have to run to work. I guess the whole shoot is going to take about 4 hours. It would have been more exciting if it was for House*Beautiful magazine, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. LOL!
THE BIRTHDAY PAR-TAY!!
On Saturday, Ian celebrated his 9th B-day....And yes, I do realize I spelled out his name. I just figured how many "I" names are there anyway??! ;) Anyhoo, we took 7 of his closest friends out for a day of go karts, laser tag, bumper cars and all the pizza they could eat. The place we took them was about a 45 minute drive from our house. I had the pleasure of driving 6 of the boys there in my car (the twins met us there).....My husband had the pleasure of driving them home in his. I'm blessed to have a pretty mellow easy going 9 year old boy.....I realized what a typical 8-9 year old boy is like. Yikes.....They sure kept us on our toes. ;)
We brought "H" and her boyfriend to help keep watch of the kids. Those 8 boys even tired a couple of teenagers out. "H" & "M" were both fell asleep in the backseat of my car on the way home. ;)
"M" was excited that he was tall enough to ride the inside go karts!! ;)
Ian had a great party. We were just so thankful that we had decided not to do a sleep over THIS year. With the B-day party and the graduation.....We were all pretty tired by Sunday night. We need to get rested.....WE'RE LEAVING FOR CHINA IN 3 DAYS!!!!!!! =)
We brought "H" and her boyfriend to help keep watch of the kids. Those 8 boys even tired a couple of teenagers out. "H" & "M" were both fell asleep in the backseat of my car on the way home. ;)
"M" was excited that he was tall enough to ride the inside go karts!! ;)
Ian had a great party. We were just so thankful that we had decided not to do a sleep over THIS year. With the B-day party and the graduation.....We were all pretty tired by Sunday night. We need to get rested.....WE'RE LEAVING FOR CHINA IN 3 DAYS!!!!!!! =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
