17 million people...did we see half of them today?

Day three of our trip included another whole day of touring Beijing. We took in Tianeman ? Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace - my new favorite place on earth, the Olympic village - well as close as we could get that is and to the Beijing Chaoyang Theater Acrobatics World! We learned so much history today and got to see many antiques from the last dynasty that existed in 1911. Fascinating. Now we are looking forward to seeing The Last Emporer since it was all explained to us. Our driver had car problems so we had to wait for him while he got the Audi fixed. So we walked even more while we waited. It was some kind of HOT today too. You'd think I'd be 10 lbs. smaller by now but no luck. Ha! We had another great breakfast and lunch was a western buffet today. We had gelato for the first time - cherry vanilla. There were many different tour groups at the restaurant - people from all different countries. Our guide told us many intersting stories about some of his "regular" customers - filthy rich people who just travel all over the world. I've really enjoyed studying the children here. Many stared at us and would say "hello" and "welcome to China"! It was so cute. I really love this place. The acrobat performance was from a troupe from Sischuan - near the earthquake center. Sim told us that for weeks after it happened they kept goofing their performance because they were so upset over what happened. How sad. The show was very very good and I wished Emma & Olivia could have seen it with us. Big beautiful costumes and exotic birds, etc. It was the perfect ending to our two day tour!

We have a flight tomorrow morning at 10:55am so we'll be leaving the hotel around 8:30am. It has been such an awesome experience. This city is so big it is hard to comprehend how many people are here. Sim told us today that it costs $7,000 to get a license plate for a car. Many own plates before they get a car & Only well off people own them. You see almost as many bikes as cars. Moms tool down the street on bikes with kids on the back. And men carry their wares to market. We took many pictures again today but I don't feel like we've really captured the culture here. I'll post more a bit later tonight. Hope all is well back home. We are closer to getting Brielle. Will Wednesday ever get here???

Love to all back home,
L & R

Yes, Brielle's Dad does exist

We woke this morning to some guy wailing outside of our window. This must be the Chinease verision of "This is the Day" or something. Maybe it's to save money on alarm clocks? All I know is if this continues, I'm leaving. (whatever)

We walked the soles off my sneaks...

As much as I'd love to be kidding, the soles of my sneakers literally started to flop off the sides of both shoes by the time we got back to the room! We did a lot of walking, climbing and gasping for breath today! ok at least I was gasping. I made it up to four towers of the wall this afternoon and sat & sat & sat while Rob ventured up the mountain! The view was breath taking ~ the pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the land. It was fascinating to sit and watch people come by of many different nationalities. I enjoyed studying the Chinese people and listening to the chatter! And the clothing styles are very different from ours. I have yet to see one pair of shoes that I like though. The shoes people wear here are... ugly. Beijing is very clean. Every where you look someone in a uniform is cleaning and tending to something - from the sides of the highways to the public restrooms. The Chinese people way exceed Americans when it comes to customer service. They wait on you hand and foot. Restaurants and stores have so many people working in them. They all wait until someone walks in the door and then they stay with them until they leave.

Today was day one of the restricted driving law throughout the Olympics. Only cars with even numbered license tags could drive today. Tomorrow it is odd. The only exception is buses and taxis. Otherwise there is a fine. Free drive is from midnight until 3 am.... they have specially designated lanes on the expressways for Olympic traffic. The roads are lined with beautiful flowers. But you see Mercedes driving beside huge vegetable trucks and men riding bikes with hundreds of things stacked on them. I do not understand how they keep their balance! Eclectic mix of social status.

We went to the jade factory this morning and learned all about the different kinds of jade. Gorgeous carved pieces and lots of jewelry was on display. Daddy bought one piece, jadite bangle - for Brielle's 16th birthday ~ tradition.

The next stop was the Ming Tombs. Our tour guide is very knowledgable and answered all of our questions about many different subjects throughout the day. It is such a treat to have a private tourguide plus a driver! He then took us to the friendship store which first included a tour of the manufacture of cloisonne. Talk about labor intensive! I learned that Beijing is the only place where it is made. I took a few pics of those ladies. The craftsmanship is handed down to members in the family. I will have a much greater appreciation of the art now when I see pieces of it at home. We then were taken to lunch at the restaurant there and our guide would not eat with us. He explained that when they work they do not/cannot eat or "hang out" with their customers. Strictly professional. He had to eat in a different part of the restaurant with the driver. The lunch had many courses. I did try many different dishes but not the best thing to do right before going out in the heat and climbing the wall! ugh....

We'll post some pictures in a bit so stay tuned.
Oh here's a mythbuster...there ARE many TALL Chinese people in this country!

What the heck day is it?

Well tried our best to stay up late and made it 730pm! We ate only peanuts for dinner...too confused after all we had on the plane i guess. We took a journey to the grocery store last night a few blocks away. I could have smacked myself for not having my camera. I will go back because you've just GOT to see this place. Everything is so cramped and they jam hundreds of people in. Sherie would have fallen out with the smells and things we saw on the shelves. Ladies in uniforms were standing by counters shouting out things that I'm assuming were the "blue light specials?" I just wanted to stand still and take it all in. No big carts just little baskets similar to what we have only they put them on wheels and push around. It's a scream. AND the place is 2 stories...didn't venture upstairs - will do that next time. OH and alot is not refrigerated. The eggs are wrapped in saran wrap and sit on shelves! I picked up a pack of big blue ones!! NO telling what hatched those puppies but I can bet some of it will be in our lunch today. Sim has quite the plan for us. Will take video today too and we'll post some pics when we ge back. Too wiped out last night. The beds are smaller than the double in Brielle's room, but we did not have any problems falling asleep. Was awakened by loud china chatter in the hallway at 2am - party animals? That's it for now. It is Sunday and we started the day with listening to David Jerimiah. Off to get ready and head to the breakfast buffet. Hope there are no feathers on anything. Have a great day! xx

Heeeeeeellllo from Beijing!

Even after a very long day flying 13+ hours from Newark, we are SO excited to be here. I keep pinching myself. It has actually happened. We are in China. Did I ever tell you that as a little girl my BFF and I used to pretend we were China girls? You should see the hoopla over the Olympics. People costumed in Olympic gear were all over the airport. Some standing guard so to speak in pairs waiting to help whomever may arrive for the events. It's pretty awesome to be amidst it all. I so wanted to take pictures while going through the airport, but I was instructed not to until we talked to our guide. I ended up buying a new digital camera at the NJ airport. I know stupid move but I panicked because I could NOT find my camera in either of my bags. It was heavy anyways so I bought a nifty little Panasonic Lumix 10MP. Can't wait to take pics and video. Our guide, Sim, is here now telling us what he has in store for us tomorrow and Monday. Yikes! Glad I brought my sneakers.

Nexters, here are the next three tips: #1) Fly continental - it was super. Fed us three times and had about 50 movies & programs to choose from #2) request bulkhead seating! Tons of leg room. 3) If you can swing it - get a pair of Bose noise reduction headphones. Sweet.

We are pretty tired since we've only slept about 2 hours on the ride over even with
nighty nite meds. Too excited I suppose.

It is strange being in a country where we can't communicate without assistance. But we're off to find a grocery store to get bottled water.

Lois & Steve... thanks for taking us to the airport yesterday too!
Miss everyone.. we'll keep in touch! Love yas.

We're Off!

It is 4:31 a.m and we are dressed and getting ready to throw our stuff in the car! I did sleep a few hours but ... man-oh-man I am excited!! Point #1 to you guys doing this after us... do NOT wait until the night before you leave to clean out your refrigerator. Holy Moly...just when you thought you're done another mess pops up. We got in bed sometime after 11pm.

Thanks so much to our wonderful family, friends and co-workers who already have made this a fantastic trip and we haven't even left yet! TYG!! Mike and Lydia...thanks for praying us out of here. You guys are awesome friends. Do have fun cleaning the pool while we're gone. But don't sweat it - it's just a pool, Lyd. Murphy and Nic won't want us to come home after hanging with the 4 of you for 2 weeks.

Sher, Dale, Olivia, Emma, Kris & Whitney... love you guys and take care of each other til we get home! We'll post when we get there sometime tomorrow and give a shout!

Until then....
chingchong chopsticks away!!

Happy 4th of july everyone~~~~~

I really can't believe it is July 4, 2008, and we still do not have our little girl home. I never would have believed it would take so long. However, we DO have our referral which means we know who our little girl is, and we have a beautiful picture to look at and talk to!! That is what is getting us through another long wait. Where or where is our TA?? Let's hope we see it next week. RQ reports referrals were received in Europe today. How exciting. I could not work the day before..the day of..or the day after receiving the news of Brielle. It had me paralyzed pretty much. I really can not wait to meet her.

Even though we didn't get to spend this holiday with any of our three children (gosh that sounds funny to say but sounds so good - three children) we did enjoy a really fun day. I got a bit of work done at home as did Rob and then we relaxed in the pool for a couple of hours. We then went to Brielle's god parents house ~ dear friends Mike & Lydia~ to enjoy delicious ribs and all the "fixins". Happy 4th one and all!!