Day 1 recap

We returned to the welfare house this afternoon and the kids we met this morning put on a show for us.  It is a traditional Chinese show and the kids did a great job.  They were so excited when we arrived.  They were all in traditional Chinese costumes and makeup.  When we arrived, we were seated up front.  One of my new little friends came up, grabbed my hand and led back to the seat next to his. What a sweet special little boy!  I taught them to shake my hand and say "Nice to meet you" and they taught me the Chinese word for baby.  

I am so in love with these older boys.  These boys are about to age out and desperately need families. They are so sweet and kind natured.  

The nannies even performed for us doing a beautiful dance.

Miranda and Lara performed 2 songs for the kids.

Miranda and Jason performed the Frozen song (am I a bad parent if I don't know the name of that song?!?).  Thankfully for the kids and staff, I did not sing or perform!

This is a group of smaller kiddos.  The boy at the front of the line (yellow shirt/red shorts) is a bus driver and kept picking up animals as he went.  Adorable!

Since we've been here, we've eaten lunch and dinner at the welfare house.  The hotel breakfast was very traditional Chinese and I think we've all agreed to dine on the granola bars we brought from home for breakfast tomorrow.  But, the meals prepared at the welfare house have been amazing!  They have a chef that creates wonderful flavors.  The chef and his staff prepare food for all the children, the elderly  and the staff.  The above was our feast for dinner tonight.  Lots of seafood!  My favorite food was the dish at the top of the picture in the yellow/green bowl.  Unfortunately, we're not able to obtain the ingredients in the US so I MUST feast up on while I'm here!

After dinner, the director of the entire complex drove us to the seaport to see the sunset.  It was a beautiful setting and nice to see a bit of the town.  

Tomorrow we get to take several of the children out on a field trip to a garden.  I'm so anxious to spend more time with these kids who have captured my heart in one day.  Thanks for the all the well wishes, prayers and uplifting comments.  I am humbled by these kids.

Meeting the kids

I'm not even sure how to begin this post.  We are back at the hotel for some rest time.  We go back this afternoon to watch the children perform for us.  I'm a mess of emotions right now. 

The kids are amazing!  And so full of love.  And so desperately want a family to love on them.

We were scheduled to have a tour of the facility today and we weren't sure exactly what to expect.  I was not prepared for the size of the facility.  It's very large!  As I understand it, there are also elderly living there as well but they do not interact with the younger kids.

Walking into the first room, we got a chance a play with the kids.  

This little girl came up to us immediately and wanted to show us her toy.  She is 3 years old and I later had an opportunity feed her.  She's a happy and outgoing little girl!  She was the first of many children to melt our hearts this morning.

We visited a few more therapy rooms where the staff was working with smaller groups of children.  The majority of the children at this welfare house (as they call it) are special needs.  It is clear the staff is concerned about helping them work their muscles and brains.

I believe this child is 5 and the caregiver was helping him work his legs.  She later put him on the blue ball to her side.  It is so clear these children are receiving very good care and are with care givers who want them to have the best.

We also visited what was called The Angel Room.  It's a specially equpped room that hires special caregivers to work with the children.  I believe it is funded through an organization in the US but I'm not positive.

This little girl wanted nothing to do with me at first and went crying to a caregiver.  It reminded me of Elise's initial reaction to me.  I eventually got a smile.  :)  

We spent the most time in an outdoor courtyard with some older children.  When we walked out, one boy came over, grabbed my hand and directed me on what I needed to do.  The children were doing some exercises with hula-hoop type rings.  

The boy above has Down Syndrome and is 12 years old.  He kept telling me he was a good boy who wants a family.  He has 2 more years to be adopted before he becomes unadoptable.  I soooo want him to find his family. 

Jason was a HIT with these boys.  This young man is 20 (I believe!) and has aged out but still lives at the welfare home.  We saw him several times and it's clear he helps out in many ways.  He was fascinated by Jason's camera.  This young man is apparently an artist and I can't wait to see some of his work.

This young man has also aged out and still lives in the welfare house.  The little guy to his side was pushing him around in his wheelchair.  He has such a sweet personality and I saw several kids pushing him around in his chair.

These are just a few of the MANY pictures I took today.  This sweaty stinky girl needs to clean up a bit so I don't scare off the kids this afternoon!

A few pictures from the day

We are in our destination city!!!  We were greeted at the airport by the assistant director and quickly met up with the director who took us out to eat.  This area eats a lot of fish so we had some amazing new dishes to try.  When you eat the Chinese way, all the food is put in the middle of the table and you just take small portions to put on your plate.  The plates that are used for individuals are much smaller than in the US.  Dishes are also brought out as they are prepared.  So, you might take a little of everything that is already put out, but the food just keeps coming.  And it's all delicious.  We were all STUFFED after that meal and so ready to get settled in our hotel.

Have I mentioned the Chinese like their beds hard?  Like sleeping on a piece of wood hard?  Yeah, those are the beds in this hotel.  I'm so tired that I'm sure it will feel like a down filled bed tonight.

Here are a few pictures of our day.  We meet the kiddos tomorrow!!!!

Stuffed buns shaped like pigs and peaches at breakfast.  

Flight #1 today.  Jason, Miranda and I are all pretty tall and we all prefer aisle seats on these long flights.  Thankfully this was not a full flight and we got the seats next to us to spill our long legs into.

The team played the food adventure game that my family plays when we go the Asian market.  We get an item and everyone has to try it.  Might be a dud, might end up being a new favorite.  These were like mini Oreos with a lemon filling.  Not bad!

Goodnight all!

More planes...and a long layover....

Today was another day of traveling.  I'm glad we had a full day and 2 nights in Beijing to acclimate to the new time zone.  We were all up around 3:30 this morning so our bodies are still adjusting.

We had an early morning flight which meant a very early departure (thankful God thought to wake us up all really early!)  

We are currently on a layover in the airport we first arrived in China when we adopted Elise.  Wow....it brought back many memories!  It's been 11 years and it has really changed  and been updated.  Arriving  here so long ago was an overwhelming experience.  We traveled during SARS and were greeted in this new strange (to us back then) country by guards dressed in protective medical gear and everyone wearing masks.  We also  met up with strangers who would share the journey of a lifetime with us.

We have one more flight before arriving in our destination city.  I think we are all ready to settle in and get to work.  We've had several interactions with kiddos in the airports and sightseeing locations.  Reactions range from being slightly scared of us to being curious to being amused by us.  We are all anxious to start the work that brought us here.

The group continues to laugh.  A lot!  We are discovering lots of nuances about everyone in our group, including our guide.  It truly is a great group of individuals and I'm thankful for how this team was created.

Hopefully my next post will include  pictures of babies and an update on our work in the orphanage.

Beijing

Today was our first full day in China.  The 3 ladies are sharing one hotel room and we all found ourselves wide awake shortly after 5am.  We had all slept fairly well and decided to just get up and putz around our room until time to go.  

We had breakfast in our hotel and it was wonderful.  All kinds of comfort food from home (yummy waffles!) and traditional Chinese food (dumplings and steamed buns).  We loaded up on delicious food!!!  I also had an opportunity to talk with a couple from Texas who is adopting a 20 month boy through America World Adoption.  It was so fun talking with a family at this exciting stage in their journey!

After breakfast we headed to the Forbidden City.  It is a temple built for the emperor back in the 1400's. The history is amazing.  I wish I could step back in time to see how it would look back in the 1400's and 1500's. 

This is our team in front of the Forbidden City.  Jason, me, Lara and Miranda!

And this is our amazing guide Della explaining the details of the temple to Jason and Lara.

The details on these temples are just amazing.  I'm sure there is a great signifance to these animals that were on each corner of the roof.  I don't know what that significance is but I love the way they look.

Jason started his filming responsibilities and it was fascinating to watch him work.  Miranda has an interest in photography and she picked up several tips from him.  

Jason did talk our driver into allowing him to put his GoPro camera on top of the van.  I'm not sure the driver had ever been asked to do that before and we got some funny looks from people who noticed the camera on top of the car.

After the Forbidden City, we headed to the Great Wall and stopped for lunch on the way.  We went to the Juyong Pass of the Great Wall, which is about an hour outside of Beijing.  

The Great Wall is an amazing sight, no matter how many times you've seen it before.  It is such an iconic and well known image.  To see the enormity of it is just awesome.  Jason and Miranda raced to top while Lara and I stayed on more flat ground and people watched.

Dinner tonight was the traditional Peking Duck dinner.  The food was amazing!  Jason has kept us all laughing and our guide, Della, wondering just how to take him.  Jason invented a new game that almost got us kicked out of the restaurant.  The idea is to spin the lazy susan in the middle of the table while grabbing (with chopsticks) food off of as many dishes as possible. 

We decided stuffing food in our mouth wasn't the best idea so the game was modified to moving food to our plate.  Della took a turn and was remarkably well!  She assured us it was a new game she'd play with her friends.  

And then the waitress came over and told us we needed to quiet down.  Oops!

We've done a lot of laughing, which has really helped the team dynamics.  We truly have a great team and I can't wait to see how God is going to use this odd group of individuals in the coming week.

Tomorrow is another day of travel for us.  We leave Beijing and fly to our province.  It will involve 2 flights and a long layover.  We are all anxious to get to our destination city.  No one, not even our guide, has been to this area so the next few days will be new for all of us

Travel update

Yesterday was my freak out day.  It happened several times while getting ready for the trip.  I had driven to Chicago and stayed with my brother and his family.  Elise was going to be staying with them while I was gone.  I had re-packed my suitcase several times just in the time I was there and was becoming a bit overwhelmed with the logistics.

Spreading out the goodbyes was probably a good thing for me.  I said goodbye to Perry and Carson on Wed and then Elise on Thursday.  What seemed like a great idea in March when I signed up for this trip wasn't seeming like such a great idea when I said those goodbyes.

Perry called when I was waiting in the international security line and I literally fought back tears.  That is so unlike me.  Perry's calm nature usually counteracts my overwhelming anxiety and knowing that I was going to have to put my big girl pants on and do it alone was terrifying.  (I traveled with a group from work last year but our group was so knowledgeable about international travel that I never felt anxious.)

It was reassuring that Lara, our team leader, was having much the same emotions.  She's a mom to 6 and left 5 of them behind for this trip (her daughter Miranda is one of our team members).  I thought I'd juggled a lot to get my husband and 2 kids ready for the trip.  I can't imagine adding 4 more people to that mix!  

Once we met in person, all worries just melted.  It was good to have that moment of anxiety because it solidified what the trip means.  It's not just a vacation, we're going to work with kiddos who have no moms and dads.  

I didn't think the flight was terrible.  I did none of the work or reading I brought with me, I just watched movies.  I think there is a Reese Witherspoon movie playing every time I fly to China (this time it was the June Carter movie).  I was hoping to sleep a lot on the plane but had a hard time getting comfortable and falling asleep.  Interestingly, I was the only non-Asian in my section of the plane.  No English was spoke around me (there were several large family groups in my section) and I found that comforting.  Smiles go a long way in the universal language of kindness.  One time as I walked back to my seat, the little older Asian woman sitting behind me was standing on her seat struggling to get something into the overhead storage.  Most people were asleep.  I steadied her and shut the compartment back up when she done.  She gave a huge smile and that was the highlight of the flight.

We arrived in Beijing EXHAUSTED!  The flight arrived at 6:30ish pm.  We met up with our guide and checked into our hotel.  We headed out for dinner at 8pm.  Traffic is horrible here.  It took forever to get to the restaurant but it was well worth it,  DELICIOUS Chinese food!  We all fell asleep in the van on the way back to the hotel, however.  We were TIRED!  Once back in the hotel, we enjoyed a brief time of connecting to the internet and our families back home.

Overall, it was a really good travel day.  Miranda had some problems with ear pressure but that seems to be better today.  We're still foggy but looking forward to getting out sightseeing a bit today.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  I Peter 5:7

We are in China!!!!

We are in China!!!!  It has been a long day of travelling and we are exhausted.  Had a delicious Chinese meal with our guide Della tonight.  Hoping to crash tonight so we can enjoy a day of sightseeing in Beijing tomorrow.