We arrived at the Rochester airport at about 9:15 for a 10:20 flight. Checked in and immediately repacked the suitcase that was too heavy into a second checked bag. Then didn't have to wait long before boarding the flight to Detroit. After boarding, we waited in the plane for about 20 minutes while they de-iced the wings (only slightly unnerving) which put our 3.5 hour flight to Detroit slightly late.
When we got to the airport in Detroit, it was then a sprint from concourse C across the airport to concourse A to our connecting flight. We made very good use of the moving walkways but still got a good workout running to catch our flight to Tokyo which had already boarded. Apparently we weren't the only connecting flight that was running a little late as they held the plan even a little longer after we boarded.
The flight to Tokyo was about 400 people on a huge plane. We then started the task of occupying our minds for 13.5 hours of flying time. We traveled a route that took us far north over much of Canada, Alaska before coming back south to Tokyo. We seemed to be flying with the sun as out our left window was the sunset for the first several hours of flight. We were entertained with four inflight movies, and food everytime you turned around -- it was something to do. I did 30 sudoku puzzles and listened to 5 of 7 cd's of an audio book. Mom read half of a book for her book club. We tried not to sleep so that we could rearrange our schedules to China's time (MN +2 and switch am to pm or vice versa).
We had to make a beeline to our connecting flight to Beijing in Tokyo as they were boarding that plan also. Made it in time to board with little time to spare. Tokyo airport moving walkways have you walking to the left instead of the right -- we eventually figured that out! We met a nice woman from Ann Arbor, MI on the Tokyo-Beijing flight who was traveling home to China to visit her parents. She was an early childhood education researcher who had words of encouragement for how quickly our boy will acclimate.
Off the plane in Beijng and in the customs line, we finally met up with a woman from Florida who is a friend of a friend who is also adopting a boy from China. She will meet her boy in Guangzhou on 1-21 and we may find her again when we get to Guangzhou next week.
Our guide, Sy, was waiting for us right outside of baggage claim with a sign that read, "Sherry H." He led us to his car and we loaded up for the drive to our hotel -- Oriental Culture Hotel, downtown Beijing. He helped us check into the hotel at about 11 p.m., China-time and advised us about breakfast in the hotel and the "supermarket" for buying liquids and other necessities within about a block of the hotel.
When we got to room 631, the key card had a little trick to it (no place to swipe it, just hold it up to the door to unlock), which being the resourceful pair that we are, we figured it out. Then entered a pitch dark room. There were what appeared to be light switches on the wall, but they didn't seem to light up the room after switching several times. Mom had the bright idea to try our key card in the slot on the wall, which then magically activated the lights. By the time we got all the way into the room with our heavy bags and closed the door, the lights then flipped off and we were in darkness again -- didn't take us too long to feel our way back to the door to put the key card back in the slot and reactivate the lights! We are so proud of ourselves!
First things first then, get the computer locked and loaded to skype and check in on email. After a little fumbling around to figure out the cabling system, we were out of battery on the laptop and the electrical converter wouldn't take a 3-prong plug. We had enough battery to make a call to the house and talk for 5 minutes before we lost electricity. I was nearly devastated -- but again, resourcefulness kicks in -- I went to the front desk of the hotel and showed the clerk my electrical issue and she said, "I'll send housekeeping." Within 5 minutes they showed up with a universal converter which put us back in power and back on skype -- Hallelujah!
We finally settled down to sleep at about 2:00 a.m. local time with an alarm set for 7:30. We will meet Sy at 10 a.m. for a personal guided tour of the Great Wall today. But first a shower and breakfast. Will check in again later with more scintillating details!
When we got to the airport in Detroit, it was then a sprint from concourse C across the airport to concourse A to our connecting flight. We made very good use of the moving walkways but still got a good workout running to catch our flight to Tokyo which had already boarded. Apparently we weren't the only connecting flight that was running a little late as they held the plan even a little longer after we boarded.
The flight to Tokyo was about 400 people on a huge plane. We then started the task of occupying our minds for 13.5 hours of flying time. We traveled a route that took us far north over much of Canada, Alaska before coming back south to Tokyo. We seemed to be flying with the sun as out our left window was the sunset for the first several hours of flight. We were entertained with four inflight movies, and food everytime you turned around -- it was something to do. I did 30 sudoku puzzles and listened to 5 of 7 cd's of an audio book. Mom read half of a book for her book club. We tried not to sleep so that we could rearrange our schedules to China's time (MN +2 and switch am to pm or vice versa).
We had to make a beeline to our connecting flight to Beijing in Tokyo as they were boarding that plan also. Made it in time to board with little time to spare. Tokyo airport moving walkways have you walking to the left instead of the right -- we eventually figured that out! We met a nice woman from Ann Arbor, MI on the Tokyo-Beijing flight who was traveling home to China to visit her parents. She was an early childhood education researcher who had words of encouragement for how quickly our boy will acclimate.
Off the plane in Beijng and in the customs line, we finally met up with a woman from Florida who is a friend of a friend who is also adopting a boy from China. She will meet her boy in Guangzhou on 1-21 and we may find her again when we get to Guangzhou next week.
Our guide, Sy, was waiting for us right outside of baggage claim with a sign that read, "Sherry H." He led us to his car and we loaded up for the drive to our hotel -- Oriental Culture Hotel, downtown Beijing. He helped us check into the hotel at about 11 p.m., China-time and advised us about breakfast in the hotel and the "supermarket" for buying liquids and other necessities within about a block of the hotel.
When we got to room 631, the key card had a little trick to it (no place to swipe it, just hold it up to the door to unlock), which being the resourceful pair that we are, we figured it out. Then entered a pitch dark room. There were what appeared to be light switches on the wall, but they didn't seem to light up the room after switching several times. Mom had the bright idea to try our key card in the slot on the wall, which then magically activated the lights. By the time we got all the way into the room with our heavy bags and closed the door, the lights then flipped off and we were in darkness again -- didn't take us too long to feel our way back to the door to put the key card back in the slot and reactivate the lights! We are so proud of ourselves!
First things first then, get the computer locked and loaded to skype and check in on email. After a little fumbling around to figure out the cabling system, we were out of battery on the laptop and the electrical converter wouldn't take a 3-prong plug. We had enough battery to make a call to the house and talk for 5 minutes before we lost electricity. I was nearly devastated -- but again, resourcefulness kicks in -- I went to the front desk of the hotel and showed the clerk my electrical issue and she said, "I'll send housekeeping." Within 5 minutes they showed up with a universal converter which put us back in power and back on skype -- Hallelujah!
We finally settled down to sleep at about 2:00 a.m. local time with an alarm set for 7:30. We will meet Sy at 10 a.m. for a personal guided tour of the Great Wall today. But first a shower and breakfast. Will check in again later with more scintillating details!
3 comments:
I love that even turning on the lights was an adventure. Thanks for updating the blog. We have been thinking of you all day. You are in the SAME country as your little guy!
Enjoy your sight seeing. We can't wait to see pictures and hear more stories. And especially to see Ahn-Bao in your arms!
In the same country! WOW! Love your narratives! THANK YOU!! I get teary-eyed just thinking about you and your Mom and Ahn-Bao being together. I am so excited for you!
So happy that we are getting in on so much of this with you. Thank you for sharing it all. You are a great writer, Sherry.
I hate it for you that you have to wait longer for that boy. Can't wait to here how that all goes. How can that little boy resist you and your gentle ways?
Love you,
C
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