Someone Asked if We Have Had Any Adventures

Adventures?  hmmm. Well, the whole thing is an adventure, but generally the fewer *adventures* the better! The trip to Chicago was a total breeze. That was wonderful. It was also very basic, so many people we would have liked to see on the way and we did not. We stayed with my aunt in TN as we usually do and saw another aunt who lives there.  Then we spent two days with Ryan and Laura. That was very nice although between work, law school, and our trip to Chicago to pick up our visas, there wasn't as much time to see them as we would have liked. Ryan did plan ahead and had How To Train Your Dragon for us all to watch together. That was great. While in Chicago to pick up our visas, we shopped at American Girl (gift cards from birthdays) and had lunch at UNO's which I love and left the girls unimpressed.

The visas were a little stressful and I didn't get my first choice, but having any visas on the day we left was really the only requirement. Ryan was able to get a 120 day visa last time so I was hoping for that. But 90 days is great and better than what the Australians get. The lady who is housemom here now from Singapore only has 60 days.  The real surprise (though it shouldn't have been) is that L and K only got 6 month visas! oops. Their passports expire next summer, which I knew, I just didn't think about the fact that they wouldn't give a visa longer than the passport. I planned to either renew at the embassy or perhaps we would be home for a visit. Now home is definitely on the radar. Which is ok, I wanted to go back to see my dad, who is 80, anyway.

Flights were good, Asiana was nice. Food, not so much, but that's never going to be my thing. Kristen watched Toy Story 3 four times. I read my kindle, love that thing. We had two layovers which really stretched  out the trip. I thought we had a 3 hour wait in Seoul but it turned out to be 5 hours. There was a playground, which kept the younger two occupied and a Dunkin Donuts, which didn't open for 3 hours but gave me hope. :)  We also had a long layover in Beijing, but immigration, collecting luggage, and finding where to check in for our domestic flight took almost 2 hours. Then it was time to meet our friend, Kirsty, for lunch at Burger King. That was great, and then it was time to go.

Luggage...we took 9 checked bags, 4 rolling bags on the plane and 4 backpacks. I have never traveled with this much ever. (Though it certainly doesn't qualify as my most over-packed trip.) But, I'd say this is where international airlines are much better than US. I had one overweight bag and one extra bag checking in in Chicago. I had already checked the fees so knew what to expect. I was not expecting the agent to weigh our carry ons. All of which were over the 10kg limit. The other bags were already right at the limit, but she just told me to take a pound or two out of the carryons and distribute them to the checked bags. She just ignored the overage in the checked bags (about 1kg each). She also told me that the extra bag is allowed to be 70 pounds, not 50. So I actually ended up with just one extra bag fee -- $130 for 70 pounds. That was a great deal! It cost me $130 to ship a 28 pound box! The only part that gave me pause was when she asked a guy if they were "accepting" extra bags on this flight! Yikes! What do you do if they don't???  So that was all good. In Beijing I decided to press my luck and when the wide-eyed agent asked how MANY bags I had to check, I said 10. She just tagged them all and off we went. Yeah! One less carry on to wrestle into the overhead. :)

So, as I said, the travel was really very good with no problems. A great way to start. As you saw in the photo in the earlier post, we were met by our Logistics Manager and by Pam and Clay Williams. We met Pam and Clay on our adoption trip to Lindsay. They are a neat couple and a great resource/mentor for me. They brought me cheese, butter and bacon, NOT staples in these parts. Yum. I'll try to make bacon and eggs tomorrow though wow, the real adventure is going to be outfitting this apartment. The kitchen is practically empty and the rest of the place IS empty. I am glad to not be saddled with a lot of castoffs; I'll admit I am not good at making goodwill finds look like priceless antiques. But..I couldn't find a plate to make a pb&j sandwich today, and the ayi went to another house this morning for a cup so I could have tea! Now, that's basic! As much as I am ready to gut the kitchen right now, since I will be in Beijing all next week and the ayis will need to be here to cook, I know it has to wait until I get back. I am hoping to plan some time in Beijing to shop though.

So I think the real adventures are still to come. :) I asked again today about an ayi to show me how to cook some of the basic things that the kids eat, but not sure that that was well understood. The girls and I went to the department store where the semi-western grocery is. We got a few things to keep us going...milk in bags, something that passes for wheat bread, chicken, carrots, broccoli, sugar (which you scoop into a bag and have weighed), noodles, and a few snacks that are not really like home but passable - Snickers and Chips Ahoy.

The best part of the day was seeing "our kids" again. Oh wow, some have changed a lot, some not so much. It was really great to see them though. My little Wei Tao baby is so sweet, and I want to think somewhere inside he remembered me. Certainly when I touched his neck the way I used to, he got such a surprised smile on his face. He is a much happier baby than when I first started holding him and playing with him two years ago. I am glad to see that he has not retreated into his shell while I have been gone. He is still very, very delayed but also a very happy boy. I can't begin to describe how wonderful it felt to hold him close and have him softly pat my back. Incredible.

And that's just the first day. :D