Excerpts From My China Journal - Nov. 1

In the past, I've published excerpts from other adoption journals and many people have come to me and told me how MUCH they enjoyed it and how it helped them prepare for their own adoption journeys or make the decision if they wanted to adopt, etc.  Many just simply enjoyed reading it.  Therefore, I have decided to do the same with this journal, as this is my first China adoption trip (and LAST).  I hope you enjoy it and I hope it's not too boring!

Nov. 1, 2014

I arrived in Beijing yesterday!  Three hours from Orlando to Newark (saw the Freedom Tower for the first time) then 13 hours Newark to Beijing, but I had the ENTIRE row of seats to myself!  I could stretch out, lie down (as much as a 5'10" person can lie down across 3 narrow airplane seats) and really was quite comfortable!!  I watched quite a few movies.  It really wasn't that bad, thanks to having the row of seats!

  

Ready to leave Orlando!!  Am I REALLY doing this?!?

The dawn of a new day.

The Sha Tan Hotel.  There is  a VERY busy one-lane street in front that I'm standing on the far side of to take this picture.

The front lobby.  It's kind of hard to tell, but those are fancy paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling and poinsettia plants in a row on the floor under them.  The hotel was very inexpensive and perfectly acceptable.

Anyway, immigration and customs was a breeze  and I found my guide, Angela, without difficulty.  She and her husband drove me to my hotel, which took about an hour (at least ) due to the ridiculous Beijing traffic.  My hotel is a modest one in downtown, very near the Forbidden City, but clean enough.  The bed is VERY hard.  :o(  Lots of people on the single lane street out there, selling foods.  I found a dingy convenience store (nicest one around) and bought some water.  Also found a bank and exchanged $4,000 into 24,400 RMB.  The stack was so thick I could barely fit it in my hide-a-pouch!  I was nervous walking the 3 blocks back to my hotel with all of that money, but all was well, and I believe I was quite safe.

Beijing has the reputation of having terrible air quality, and I'll admit, the smells here are strange.  Even within the hotel, the air smells funny.  It's not necessarily a BAD smell, and it's lots of DIFFERENT smells.  Just something I notice a lot, and I thought I'd mention.

Also, the food being sold on the street is not something this spoiled American would be tempted to buy: not only is produce sold on the side of the street, with cars literally driving down the one lane road with 1-3 feet of space on either side (I don't know how the vendors keep their stuff from being driven on!) but meats and eggs and stuff are kept out in the open!  Slabs of bacon and chicken are sold in the open air where cars drive past, only a few feet away!  Ukraine was much like this, but not quite as bad, and not right by the road, as I remember.  Bacon, infused with exhaust flavor!  Yuck!

Today is a free day.  I was supposed to go sight-seeing today but because the weather is hazy and cloudy, we decided to go tomorrow.  Then the next day, I go pick up my little HuiYang!!