| Our journey to get Michelle Wu Lian Glynn |
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| Day 1 - Wednesday, January 23 We spent Tuesday night at Christine's parents house in Oak Creek. Her dad took us to the airport in Milwaukee fairly early Wednesday morning. Our flights from Milwaukee to Chicago and from Chicago to Beijing were fairly uneventful. No significant delays or problems with customs, luggage, etc. I wasn't really looking forward to the 13 1/2 hour plane ride, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was more concerned about Melissa. As it turns out she was absolutely a wonderful travel companion. She was great. We got into Beijing about 4:30 pm (local time). We were met at the airport by our guide, Helen, and taken by our private van/driver to the Novotel Peace Hotel right in the middle of downtown Beijing. RANDOM OBSERVATION - The lane markers painted on the roads in China are merely a suggestion and not really observed by anyone at anytime. The hotel was nice but showing it's age. It didn't really matter though. We we all pretty tired so we ordered some quick room service and got to bed early. Day 2 - Thursday, January 24 RANDOM OBSERVATION - Jet lag is real and it sucks. We were all wide awake by 3:00 am. We just kind of hung out until going down to the restaurant for the breakfast buffet. After breakfast we met Helen for our first outing. We started out at Tiannamen Square. I guess I shouldn't be too suprised, but there was a huge military and police presence every where we went. After walking around the square for a little while, we entered the Forbidden City. Very cool. The place is huge and one could easily get lost walking the the various courtyards. RANDOM OBSERVATION - Six year old girls want nothing to do with a "squatty potty" and their mother's learned to get toilet paper from a common dispenser before going into the private stall. After walking around in fairly chilly temperatures (20's) all morning, it was time for lunch. Helen had made the arrangements for us at the Ba Guo Bu Yi Cuisine Restaurant. Needless to say, Melissa wasn't getting hooked up with chicken nuggets and fries at this place. These guides that take adoptive families around know all of the local establishments that cater to these families and most of them give pretty decent discounts. The spread we got for lunch was awesome. Way more than we could even think about eating. Melissa did have some fried rice and a lot of fruit. After lunch we went on a tour of a hutong. A hutong is a residential area (a whole bunch of small dwellings built around courtyards) in the middle of a very urban center. We took a rickshaw ride through the hutong. About halfway through we stopped and met with a local family. We were invited in for tea and a small snack. |