Good Evening From China,
We are adjusting to our new hotel life in Beijing. We had a wonderful breakfast this morning and met some nice families who are in our travel group. Breakfast DID have decent coffee, juice and we went to the Omelette Station for our breakfast. It was quite good. I also had to try Dim Sum, and that was yummy as well. Kory stuck to his Omelette, granola with yogurt, toast and hash browns. Which sounds like a lot, but that was the only real meal of the day. Our guide told us to stick with eating in the hotel or fast food right now. So, a big breakfast really has been it for the day. We brought almonds and peanuts and granola bars from home, but I can see that we will tire of that quickly!
We had our meeting this morning to go over details. That was heart wrenching as one couple had a child with them for two days and decided that the child had some serious health issues. The were able to (withsadness) ask to be matched with another child(that is the short version of a complicated process) and now have a child they feel they are prepared to parent. I had such empathy for the roller coaster they must have been on and the grieving they were going through but also great respect that they knew what they were capable of handling and despite their sadness and loss they spoke up and all is well. Please understand, China wanted to set them up with a child that they were comfortable with and did so, it was not an intentional thing.
We were told to act more Chinese while here, meaning don't worry about personal space, just dive in and claim your space. Traffic laws are only suggestions, so be aware when crossing the street. We also were told to be aware that our children will be angry, crying, sad, biting, running to the door, all things that are sad for them and us, but if we show great love and kindness to them and expect nothing back they will begin to bond with us in a few days. To many this process seems exciting (and it is) but it truly is also full of great emotion. Sadness for the babies and the loss of the only culture and life they have known and sadness for us to not be with our kids at home. It is just lots of emotions.
Now, on to more fluff stuff! We went to the bank as a group to exchange money. That was really quite funny. Imagine(we will just say 10) families all in line at the bank, all frantically counting hundred dollar bills and comparing notes on where we "found" our hundreds. We all wanted to take pictures and as one guy in our group said, "this picture would be of 50 thousand dollars;)" but none of us felt like picture taking would be appropriate. There were guards all around and we each had to take a number to sit down and exchange the money. It was amazing to see how they checked out each bill in many ways and many times to make sure they were getting the real deal. We had a neighbor who helped us connect with a bank who ordered all brand new uncirculated bills from the Federal Reserve. we had to go pick them up at the bank at home on the day they arrived. Who knew you could order money just like you would order shirts from L.L. Bean? Anyway, after the man checked all the bills and was stooped right over them- he held up a paper that had the exchange rate and asked if that was correct. I agreed and then he began gathering Chinese Money for me and made a copy of my passport. Kory had been sitting by me at the next desk exchanging money as well. (We had a limit per person that they would allow families to exchange at a time and for some reason I had the bigger stack) When we were done, I seriously felt like a bank robber loading my Baggallini bag with packs of bills. So weird!!! I mean we just don't deal with physical amounts of dollars like that at home.
We went out for a walk and then tried to take cat naps before the Acrobatic Show. That was interesting. All we could think of was Hayden would love each costume for his dress up bin and they were AMAZING! Culley, meanwhile would have learned some new moves to try on his bike. Like, oh, how about riding really fast before deciding it would be more fun to balance on the handle bars. Or how about 12 people on a bike at a time? We need Culley to learn how to ride his bike in the garage at a slower pace and use his brakes to stop to park. His current method, is peddle as fast as possible on full speed and drive into a bin of toys that stops him.
Ok, last. The Grocery Store. I don't know what to say, except colorful, exotic and well. see for yourself, in the pictures. I loved the formula for babies called "Pro Kiddo"
Have a nice day in TC and elsewhere. We are winding down for bed. The we have the Great Wall tomorrow. We will also be seeing some of the Olympic sights, like the Birds Nest.
Good Night. Hayden and Culley......We miss you! It sounds like you are having fun and being good!!!
We are adjusting to our new hotel life in Beijing. We had a wonderful breakfast this morning and met some nice families who are in our travel group. Breakfast DID have decent coffee, juice and we went to the Omelette Station for our breakfast. It was quite good. I also had to try Dim Sum, and that was yummy as well. Kory stuck to his Omelette, granola with yogurt, toast and hash browns. Which sounds like a lot, but that was the only real meal of the day. Our guide told us to stick with eating in the hotel or fast food right now. So, a big breakfast really has been it for the day. We brought almonds and peanuts and granola bars from home, but I can see that we will tire of that quickly!
We had our meeting this morning to go over details. That was heart wrenching as one couple had a child with them for two days and decided that the child had some serious health issues. The were able to (withsadness) ask to be matched with another child(that is the short version of a complicated process) and now have a child they feel they are prepared to parent. I had such empathy for the roller coaster they must have been on and the grieving they were going through but also great respect that they knew what they were capable of handling and despite their sadness and loss they spoke up and all is well. Please understand, China wanted to set them up with a child that they were comfortable with and did so, it was not an intentional thing.
We were told to act more Chinese while here, meaning don't worry about personal space, just dive in and claim your space. Traffic laws are only suggestions, so be aware when crossing the street. We also were told to be aware that our children will be angry, crying, sad, biting, running to the door, all things that are sad for them and us, but if we show great love and kindness to them and expect nothing back they will begin to bond with us in a few days. To many this process seems exciting (and it is) but it truly is also full of great emotion. Sadness for the babies and the loss of the only culture and life they have known and sadness for us to not be with our kids at home. It is just lots of emotions.
Now, on to more fluff stuff! We went to the bank as a group to exchange money. That was really quite funny. Imagine(we will just say 10) families all in line at the bank, all frantically counting hundred dollar bills and comparing notes on where we "found" our hundreds. We all wanted to take pictures and as one guy in our group said, "this picture would be of 50 thousand dollars;)" but none of us felt like picture taking would be appropriate. There were guards all around and we each had to take a number to sit down and exchange the money. It was amazing to see how they checked out each bill in many ways and many times to make sure they were getting the real deal. We had a neighbor who helped us connect with a bank who ordered all brand new uncirculated bills from the Federal Reserve. we had to go pick them up at the bank at home on the day they arrived. Who knew you could order money just like you would order shirts from L.L. Bean? Anyway, after the man checked all the bills and was stooped right over them- he held up a paper that had the exchange rate and asked if that was correct. I agreed and then he began gathering Chinese Money for me and made a copy of my passport. Kory had been sitting by me at the next desk exchanging money as well. (We had a limit per person that they would allow families to exchange at a time and for some reason I had the bigger stack) When we were done, I seriously felt like a bank robber loading my Baggallini bag with packs of bills. So weird!!! I mean we just don't deal with physical amounts of dollars like that at home.
We went out for a walk and then tried to take cat naps before the Acrobatic Show. That was interesting. All we could think of was Hayden would love each costume for his dress up bin and they were AMAZING! Culley, meanwhile would have learned some new moves to try on his bike. Like, oh, how about riding really fast before deciding it would be more fun to balance on the handle bars. Or how about 12 people on a bike at a time? We need Culley to learn how to ride his bike in the garage at a slower pace and use his brakes to stop to park. His current method, is peddle as fast as possible on full speed and drive into a bin of toys that stops him.
Ok, last. The Grocery Store. I don't know what to say, except colorful, exotic and well. see for yourself, in the pictures. I loved the formula for babies called "Pro Kiddo"
Have a nice day in TC and elsewhere. We are winding down for bed. The we have the Great Wall tomorrow. We will also be seeing some of the Olympic sights, like the Birds Nest.
Good Night. Hayden and Culley......We miss you! It sounds like you are having fun and being good!!!
Hello Kory and Meghan,
ReplyDeleteSo how are you liking the food in China? This is Lindsey and Jimmys favorite part when they go!
What on earth is that picture above the one where Kory is so excited to get his cookies? haha, they look like pigs feet, tell me if im wrong hehe!!
Total love and miss you both very much, can't wait to welcome another Hansen, oh no guys now its three aggenst two, good luck:)
FREE TIBET!!
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