China Day 5: Zhengzhou
May I preface this by saying I'm too tired from here on out to proofread these entries. It's good enough that I get my thoughts down, so I apologize in advance if it's jumpy or awkward. I'm just going to write with my train of thought then post. :)
Ken and I got up around 5:30am and began packing up for our flight to Zhengzhou. At 6:00, the kids and I went down to eat breakfast at the buffet while Ken ran to McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin.
By 7am, our bags were out in the hall to be collected by the bell hops and by 8am, our travel group was on the bus, headed to the Beijing Airport.
While waiting in line at the airport, one of the moms from our group blew up a balloon for her 3 year-old son to play with. This is what happened: (Pictures tell it better)
Our flight was quick and uneventful. We Browns sat at the very very back of the plane. The Zhengzhou airport is beautiful and well designed. Ken liked how departing passengers were on a higher floor than arriving passengers.
Our bags were on the carousel and our three CCAI guides were waiting for us by the time we arrived at baggage claim. We boarded our charter bus (very nice one, by the way) and headed to Crowne Plaza. While en route, each of the 13 families were given our name badges, complete with Tian’s name in both chinese and Pinyin, our names, and our hotel name and address in case we get lost. We were then given a question sheet that the nannies at Tian’s orphanage filled out. The sheet tell us what Tian is eating, lays out his basic schedule, and let us know a bit about his personality. We read what we’ve seen for the past year: He doesn’t like strangers at first, but will be okay if you give him a toy, especially a car.
We have bubbles, Hot Wheels, a beach ball, stickers, and some snacks ready to go. We meet our group in the lobby pretty early tomorrow and head over to the registration office get our kids at 10:30am! Surreal, but it’s TIME!
The hotel rooms are NICE! We are thrilled to spread out in two rooms after 6 nights in one small room. AND these rooms are bigger. Ahh...
I’ll have to blog later about Ken’s experience with USAA’s after-hour customer (non)service. They refused to help him unless he called via TTY. WHAT?! Idiots. More on that story later.
Ken and TJ walked down the street to Wal-Mart. I can’t wait to go Tuesday! Tonight, he got a Coke Zero for me (angels singing), some Lays Stax, and some Oreo Cookies: Green Tea Ice Cream-flavored Oreos! Yummy!
As usual, enjoy the photos!
How I’m feeling right now:
Ready. Anxious. Curious. Giddy. Amazed. Nervous. I have our bag packed with a couple of diapers, some toys, books and snacks, and a sippy cup and bottle. I try to imagine what tomorrow will be like, but just can’t. We will know soon enough!
It’s been a great week of touring, but now, as our guide said, sightseeing time is over and it’s time to focus on being a family. We will still be able to see a few things here and there, but that is our secondary priority from here on out.
Ken and I got up around 5:30am and began packing up for our flight to Zhengzhou. At 6:00, the kids and I went down to eat breakfast at the buffet while Ken ran to McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin.
By 7am, our bags were out in the hall to be collected by the bell hops and by 8am, our travel group was on the bus, headed to the Beijing Airport.
While waiting in line at the airport, one of the moms from our group blew up a balloon for her 3 year-old son to play with. This is what happened: (Pictures tell it better)
Our flight was quick and uneventful. We Browns sat at the very very back of the plane. The Zhengzhou airport is beautiful and well designed. Ken liked how departing passengers were on a higher floor than arriving passengers.
Our bags were on the carousel and our three CCAI guides were waiting for us by the time we arrived at baggage claim. We boarded our charter bus (very nice one, by the way) and headed to Crowne Plaza. While en route, each of the 13 families were given our name badges, complete with Tian’s name in both chinese and Pinyin, our names, and our hotel name and address in case we get lost. We were then given a question sheet that the nannies at Tian’s orphanage filled out. The sheet tell us what Tian is eating, lays out his basic schedule, and let us know a bit about his personality. We read what we’ve seen for the past year: He doesn’t like strangers at first, but will be okay if you give him a toy, especially a car.
We have bubbles, Hot Wheels, a beach ball, stickers, and some snacks ready to go. We meet our group in the lobby pretty early tomorrow and head over to the registration office get our kids at 10:30am! Surreal, but it’s TIME!
The hotel rooms are NICE! We are thrilled to spread out in two rooms after 6 nights in one small room. AND these rooms are bigger. Ahh...
I’ll have to blog later about Ken’s experience with USAA’s after-hour customer (non)service. They refused to help him unless he called via TTY. WHAT?! Idiots. More on that story later.
Ken and TJ walked down the street to Wal-Mart. I can’t wait to go Tuesday! Tonight, he got a Coke Zero for me (angels singing), some Lays Stax, and some Oreo Cookies: Green Tea Ice Cream-flavored Oreos! Yummy!
As usual, enjoy the photos!
How I’m feeling right now:
Ready. Anxious. Curious. Giddy. Amazed. Nervous. I have our bag packed with a couple of diapers, some toys, books and snacks, and a sippy cup and bottle. I try to imagine what tomorrow will be like, but just can’t. We will know soon enough!
It’s been a great week of touring, but now, as our guide said, sightseeing time is over and it’s time to focus on being a family. We will still be able to see a few things here and there, but that is our secondary priority from here on out.
:) Probably best not to have really specific expectations! Can't wait to see pictures when I wake up in the morning. :D Will be thinking about you all day!
ReplyDeleteAhhh! So excited for you all! As a TOTALLY, completely random side note...if there's any chance you can get another pack of those special Oreos, I know Ted would LOVE them, and it would be such a fun surprise! Don't know if you have any way of sending them directly to him or could get them to me to send in a care package...I know you have enough to be thinking about now, but just thought I'd throw that out there!
ReplyDeleteOK, just finished looking at the photos from today! I thought it was interesting that the name badge has (son) in parentheses, with "daughter" being the assumed fill-in-the-blank. I am guessing that is because most adoptions are of Chinese GIRLS, given the situation in the country. You are actually the first family we've known to adopt Chinese boys! We've known several who have brought home little girls!
ReplyDelete