4/30 River View Hotel in Beijing

We made it! Jean (very happy and smiley) picked us up at the airport and took us to the hotel around 3pm. She was so cute everything she said included “please, please, this way”. In the taxi I pulled out Violets Mandarin name and asked how to say it…. And we found out we’ve been saying it wrong! It is Mao (as expected) Shing (as in the first part of shingle) and You (rolling your tongue, like you do with an umlaut). Big Oops!! She also explained that her English isn’t good enough to be a guide. On the way to the hotel she received a phone call from Jason for us. Jason explained that Michael would be our guide and we would catch up the group tomorrow morning at 9am. He said for us to rest up for the afternoon so we were ready to go. We don’t just rest in our hotel well, so just before Jean left we asked where we were on the map and how long she thought it would take to walk down to the Forbidden City. She explained that it would be long way, around 45 minutes, so we asked about the Metro but she said there were many transfers and a taxi would be better. Great! Two seconds after she left, we keep hearing this ringing. There is a council next to the phone with 16 buttons on it and we keep thinking it was a phone call. Numerous rings later we realized it was our doorbell. Yes, our hotel room has a door bell!!!! Who would’ve thought! Jean was back with a nervous Jason on the phone… no, no, no, we go to Forbidden City with the guide, just stay at hotel. Too funny!! So we enjoyed an evening walking around and following Jason’s request to “stay close to the hotel”. What great sights! A pizza hut that looked like it belonged in Las Vegas on the main strip with all the lights and lanterns and the “door men” in their suits and hats.Bikes have their own lane to keep them separate from cars, not that they still don’t feel like they have the right of way no matter that the light is red… whew… they look so unconcerned as they just casually bike out (on a red light) in front of a car… but we haven’t seen one accident! Talk about a well oiled machine. Sounds like we are up to 147 cases of the Swine Flu but no airport closings yet!

Sakura Lounge – First Class

4/30 10:15am Japan time, 4/29 11:15pm Michigan time. The WHO raised the pandemic flu alert level to phase 5. Say a prayer that this alert is lowered quickly so we have no problems getting home, not that it wouldn’t be fun checking out Narita (and possibly Tokyo) but I think we will want to be home quickly. We’re sitting in the Sakura Lounge (if this isn’t first class, I don’t know what first class is). FABULOUS service, buffet, drinks, treats, alcohol, beer, sushi, etc… WOW! What a great way to get to Beijing. We need to leave quickly before I get so spoiled I want to travel only first class forever more!

Getting to Beijing: Third Days the Charm

4/30 5:30am Narita,Japan time 4/29 4:30pm Michigan time. We’re up and rolling, five hours of sleep did wonders. We were put up at the Radisson in Narita, very nice, I wished I had my bathing suit then realized if I tried to swim I would have drown I was so tired! Brushed our teeth using the smallest tubes of toothpaste ever (imagine dollhouse size) how hilarious. Going to breakfast and then off to the airport to make sure our luggage actually gets to Beijing. The “Landing Permission” sticker we got in our passport is great and maybe we can do a detour thru the city before hitting the airport. We packed the cables so we can’t download the photos of the sunset in the plane or our stylish masks with the “ominous red sticker” but we’ll try to add them tonight in Beijing. Love you all :)

Stuck in Tokyo

It is 4am Michigan time, 5pm Tokyo time and we are waiting, in our seat, at the gate. Flying into Tokyo was beautiful. The shoreline filled with repetitious whitecaps and T shaped sand bars jutting into the water at regular intervals. Passing over the land, the majority looks like wet farmland, we’re curious to know what they farm. 16 hours into our 23 hour journey to Beijing we arrived in Tokyo 30 minutes early, only to sit at the gate waiting. Due to the Swine Flu Scare we had to fill out a two sided quarantine sheet (refusing or giving false information would be punished by imprisonment). We then waited 30 minutes for the quarantine health station officers to come aboard and individually collect the questionnaire. It stated we would be given a “medical exam”: infra-red scanners to determine if we had a temperature, also checking for nasal discharge, coughing and other indicators.45 minutes later, they had collected forms, “questioned” (by way of the “medical exam”) anyone with symptoms or any noted items on the form, and passed out masks for everyone to wear. The poor gal in the row behind us got the full treatment, all because she has allergies… The sunset from the plane was a nice and it was fun watching the guys in scrubs, hats, goggles (that keep fogging so they have to take them off to read the forms), gloves and masks try to keep the forms in order. It is now 6pm, we’ve been sitting at the gate for 2 hours and maybe they will let us exit soon so we can quick board our connecting flight to Beijing. Good thing we had a 2 hour layover…15 minutes later…Ok, just kidding, the quarantine officers are now back with an entourage of 6 officers and these guys not only have the previous outfit but they now include blue hair covers and big white space boots. They have sectioned off 4 rows to the front and back of the gal behind us and we have all been “red stickered”, now to wait for testing and whatever else is required… hoping we still make our flight and won’t be quarantined in Tokyo. I can’t imagine what the flights will be like in a week if this Scare turns into a real issue…2-1/2 hours at the gate…they have taken the gal behind us away (never to return?) and are now deplaning all those without the ominous “red sticker”. The stewardess said they were holding all Northwest flights because each plane had to go thru this but if we have to stay… who knows… 3 hours later… two police officers and 4 guards later to make sure we don't make a run for it… we’re stuck in Tokyo for the night… so much for paying for an extra day of sightseeing in Beijing. Our adventure just got more adventurous… It’s now midnight in Tokyo and we’ve gone thru customs, gotten an “Involuntary Reroute” for tomorrow, checked in to a hotel with hopes of getting to Beijing tomorrow… and the adventure continues.

Ready to Go

Well we’ve packed everything, checked it twice and are now ready to walk out the door. Mom, Papa and Karl were the departure crew and our flight to St. Paul Minneapolis was uneventful. It was a nice airport to spend a couple hours and as we flew in and out again I wondered if we were near Chanhassen, so we could wave to friends.

Packing List

We meet with Jack and Gina, another couple from AAI who happens to go to the same church. They came back 8 weeks ago with a little girl that has a cleft lip/palate who is a month younger than Violet!!! A perfect little friend waiting for us to bring Violet home so they can be buddies! We were able to see some of their pictures, talk about their trip and go thru our packing list to eliminate a few of the unnecessary items. So now I need to actually start gathering so we can determine where we stand on our weight limit. We are each allowed one piece of luggage max of 44lb for in-country flights. Hmmm… we’ll see… that doesn’t sound like much since we are packing for three!

Airline Tickets

Well, we just purchased our tickets! WOO WEE!!! We leave on April 28th, so 22:40 hours later plus a 12 hour time difference we arrive in China on April 29th. We will stay in Beijing until May 3rd when we fly to Guangzhou. We stay in Guangzhou until May 14th. That morning we will take a train to Hong Kong to spend our last two days. We fly back to the US the morning of May 16th and even though it will be 20:50 hours later we gain 12 hours so we arrive on the same day!

US Embassy and Civil Affairs dates

Mary called to let us know that our Civil Affairs dates will be from May 4-11, the US Embassy appointment will be on May 12th at 9 am and the Swearing-In Ceremony will be on May 13th around 3 pm. The tentative schedule is to fly into Beijing around April 29th and stay until May 3rd when we fly into Gaungzhou. We would stay until May 14th when we take a train to Hong Kong and then fly out on May 16th.

Travel Assignment

YEAH!!! Laura and Mary called from AAI and our TA arrived today! They will be requesting an embassy appointment of May 12 or 13. It should be confirmed by tomorrow or Monday. We should know what dates we are traveling and be able to purchase our tickets next week. It looks like our trip will be around 4/30-5/16 plus or minus. IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!

More photos from Jenny at True Children’s Home

What a surprise! Jenny and a group from TCH went to the Maoming Orphanage recently. They took the past TCH children out to lunch and then later had a birthday celebration for another child that had also previously received care at TCH. The pictures were taken at lunch in a local restaurant and then the birthday celebration outside the Maoming Orphanage. Jenny said that Violet is a very good eater, which is obvious by the way she is eating that birthday cake!