We made it!

** Blogger is down here in China as we had heard it would be. So hopefully these posts come through. Please forgive spelling and formatting errors since I can't edit. Not sure about pictures either. If I can't get them to post correctly, I'll rely on my blogger backup to make sure we get pictures up on Monday of Lia at least. :)

Day 1:

We're here! We just flew over 6,000 miles and we're in Beijing!
The flights were were pretty tolerable aside from the end of the first flight from Raleigh to Washington. We experienced terrible turbulence - to the point that most people were white knuckled, and I personally was motion sick when we landed. Things settled down and the second (much longer) flight was smooth. We slept, watched movies, read and I looked out the window a lot. We had a neat "real time" GPS map in the seat back in front of us so we were able to see our speed, altitude and location at all times. We flew from Raleigh to Washington, DC and then on our way to Beijing we passed over the Arctic Ocean and Siberia. It was neat to see the landscape outside the window and know exactly where we were. So I stayed entertained with that much of the 13-14 hour trip. Our handy little seat device also kept us updated on how long we had been flying, how many miles travelled and how far left to go. Call me a geek but I got a kick out of all of that. For lunch we had chicken teriakyi and for the 2^nd meal we had stir fry. No need to wait to get started on Asian food. I guess. Truth is they ran out of turkey sandwiches.

I do have to mention that landing in Beijing was kind of an interesting experience. We had to fill out a Health Declaration Form which included lots of questions about where we would be for the next 7 days,whether we had been sick or exposed to sickness, etc. Chinese officials were supposed to get on board and check everyone's temperature, but they never showed up. (One answered prayer early on)! The mood on the planed lightened up like you would not believe as soon as the announcement came that they were not going to make it. So I didn't get to see the men in masks and white coats and I can live with that!

It's raining here but it's warm. Beijing is interesting so far. It's a hustling bustling city with crazy traffic and people everywhere. To try to stay awake after we got here today we did venture away from the hotel to the Pearl Market. Funny thing is that it took forever to find the pearls b/c the market is really full of every other imaginable item. Or maybe it's b/c we were bleary-eyed from exhaustion? Maybe both. We kind of walked around in a daze, got a few small things and then headed back. We reached our main goal of staying awake through daylight hours in hopes of feeling somewhat acclimated when we wake up tomorrow. And btw, the cab rides are really something. No rules, no manners. I can't tell you how many pedestrians we almost hit as well as bikers, not to mention the cars that we miss by mere inches. It was a wild ride that's for sure.

Tomorrow we are going on a guided tour with the other adopting families from our agency to see the Great Wall and Summer Palace. That should be nice to experience one of the 7 wonders of the world. We'll of course take lots of pictures.

We are dog tired after traveling for over 18 hours so this is it for today. We're both kind of delirious but not in a funny way. Just plain tired.
Tomorrow is the Great Wall and Summer Palace. I miss Jackson so much already it hurts. And I need sleep.

Goodnight!