That's the Emperor's favorite concubine behind us.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Xi'an
We had a great day touring yesterday. Our guide seemed to keep directing us to places to spend money. Hmmm, do ya think it was on purpose? Well, if he gets a cut, he is a rich man. Mikel purchased a couple of Chinese paintings, a jade necklace, and some warriors figurines.
Off to Beijing today.
Off to Beijing today.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
A Mighty Wind
Well, where do I start? Yes, we did start our journey, FINALLY!
You may be aware that a huge wind and dust storm closed DFW and Love Field Airports on Saturday, February 24, our sheduled day of departure. We stood in line from 4 PM until 7 PM but only move about 50 feet! We were hoping that our pal Espo would somehow find a way for us to leave that day for Los Angles. Well, she is a miracle worker but acts of God still illude her!
She did schedule us on the next flight to leave DFW at 7:30 the next morning. We thought we arrived early enough to catch that flight but the line was as long and slower than the day before! At 8:30 we finally checked in. No open flights to LA where we could connect to Hong Kong. So we were redirected through Paris, France! Yes, Craig and I will circumnavigate the globe on this journey! You can never talk to us about jet lag again!
The trip on American Airlines to Paris was okay. We arrived just in time to check in at the Cathay Pacific counter (also huge lines!) only for them to tell us that they were not going to honor our reservations! You see, the man at the AA counter who checked us through, just scratched out the old times and flights numbers and wrote in new ones. He never re-issued the tickets! Well, that's when I finally lost it! I didn't yell or rant, I only sobbed and tried to tell them we were on our way to our daughter. Maybe that helped. Maybe it also helped that our bags were already checked through. Back and forth between the AA counter and the Cathay Pacific counter (thank God they were close!) we were all fixed.
The flight from Charles De Gaulle to Hong Kong started out okay. Craig had his window seat and I had an aisle, but not on the same row. Craig was squished in next to a large French man and his wife, at least I had an empty middle between me and another guy. There were lots of first run movies on the flight. Unfortunately it was also very bumpy! I came down with a bad case of motion sickness and my dinner came back up! I could not keep any liquids down. I could barely sick next to Craig when he ate his breakfast (he finally got out from the Bastiille around 4 AM.
Don't ask us exactly what time it was. The flight from Dallas to France was 9 hours, the flight from France to Hong Kong was 13. At least Craig was able to see Minsk from his window!
We arrived in Hong Kong 24 hours late. We missed our paid half day tour. We checked in to the hotel anyway - at least we could finally shower after 48 hours of travel! We did our own quick mini tour of the famous town. We took the ferry to the island of Hong Kong, took it back to the side our hotel was on and figured out the subway system and found the bird and flower markets. It was a beautiful day in the 70's.
We arrived back at the Hong Kong airport and we are scheduled to board the flight to Xi'an in a few minutes.
Hopefully our run of bad luck is over. Check in at the China Eastern Airlines counter was a breeze; no 3 oz limit in security check in. Craig was interviewed for a local TV news station about the liquid limitations and about how Hong Kong is trying to adopt the stricter travel regulations found in most other big cities.
I was interviewed, too, mostly about my tourism plans while in China. The sweet woman did not understand what adoption meant, so we had to pull out a picture of Sarah and explain why we were taking her home. Finally she got it and was very happy and excited for us!
More soon!
Mikel
5:24 PM
February 27
You may be aware that a huge wind and dust storm closed DFW and Love Field Airports on Saturday, February 24, our sheduled day of departure. We stood in line from 4 PM until 7 PM but only move about 50 feet! We were hoping that our pal Espo would somehow find a way for us to leave that day for Los Angles. Well, she is a miracle worker but acts of God still illude her!
She did schedule us on the next flight to leave DFW at 7:30 the next morning. We thought we arrived early enough to catch that flight but the line was as long and slower than the day before! At 8:30 we finally checked in. No open flights to LA where we could connect to Hong Kong. So we were redirected through Paris, France! Yes, Craig and I will circumnavigate the globe on this journey! You can never talk to us about jet lag again!
The trip on American Airlines to Paris was okay. We arrived just in time to check in at the Cathay Pacific counter (also huge lines!) only for them to tell us that they were not going to honor our reservations! You see, the man at the AA counter who checked us through, just scratched out the old times and flights numbers and wrote in new ones. He never re-issued the tickets! Well, that's when I finally lost it! I didn't yell or rant, I only sobbed and tried to tell them we were on our way to our daughter. Maybe that helped. Maybe it also helped that our bags were already checked through. Back and forth between the AA counter and the Cathay Pacific counter (thank God they were close!) we were all fixed.
The flight from Charles De Gaulle to Hong Kong started out okay. Craig had his window seat and I had an aisle, but not on the same row. Craig was squished in next to a large French man and his wife, at least I had an empty middle between me and another guy. There were lots of first run movies on the flight. Unfortunately it was also very bumpy! I came down with a bad case of motion sickness and my dinner came back up! I could not keep any liquids down. I could barely sick next to Craig when he ate his breakfast (he finally got out from the Bastiille around 4 AM.
Don't ask us exactly what time it was. The flight from Dallas to France was 9 hours, the flight from France to Hong Kong was 13. At least Craig was able to see Minsk from his window!
We arrived in Hong Kong 24 hours late. We missed our paid half day tour. We checked in to the hotel anyway - at least we could finally shower after 48 hours of travel! We did our own quick mini tour of the famous town. We took the ferry to the island of Hong Kong, took it back to the side our hotel was on and figured out the subway system and found the bird and flower markets. It was a beautiful day in the 70's.
We arrived back at the Hong Kong airport and we are scheduled to board the flight to Xi'an in a few minutes.
Hopefully our run of bad luck is over. Check in at the China Eastern Airlines counter was a breeze; no 3 oz limit in security check in. Craig was interviewed for a local TV news station about the liquid limitations and about how Hong Kong is trying to adopt the stricter travel regulations found in most other big cities.
I was interviewed, too, mostly about my tourism plans while in China. The sweet woman did not understand what adoption meant, so we had to pull out a picture of Sarah and explain why we were taking her home. Finally she got it and was very happy and excited for us!
More soon!
Mikel
5:24 PM
February 27
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Our first delay and we haven't left the house yet!
Craig and I are still at home tidying up the house and finishing up last minute details. But now it looks like our departure has been delayed due to of all things - the wind!
Are we freaking out? Yeah, a little. Oh thank heaven for our goddess in shining armour "Espo" who works for AA. She is our angel watching over our seat assignments, possible alternate flights, baggage transfer - and now our FAA update anchor woman.
As of this post, the FAA has closed DFW airport until about 6:00 PM, when our delayed flight is scheduled to depart. The windows and doors of our house are rattling, the wind is howling and the trees are shaking. Act of God. What can you do? Worse case scenario is we miss all or most of a day in Hong Kong.
Hopefully we will have good news soon!
Mikel
Are we freaking out? Yeah, a little. Oh thank heaven for our goddess in shining armour "Espo" who works for AA. She is our angel watching over our seat assignments, possible alternate flights, baggage transfer - and now our FAA update anchor woman.
As of this post, the FAA has closed DFW airport until about 6:00 PM, when our delayed flight is scheduled to depart. The windows and doors of our house are rattling, the wind is howling and the trees are shaking. Act of God. What can you do? Worse case scenario is we miss all or most of a day in Hong Kong.
Hopefully we will have good news soon!
Mikel
Countdown Has Begun
We leave for the airport in 4 hours.
Mikel had a couple request for a picture of the baby's room. Even though we used our wide-angle lense, the picture is not so great. But it gives you an idea.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Three more days
We are mostly packed and ready to go. Here is a picture of Mikel at one of her many baby showers. The indoctrination into Dodger Nation has begun; however the fight between the Evil Empire (Univ. of Texas) and Aggieland (Texas A&M) is still being fought.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Travel Itinerary
We recently received that last of our itinerary for our trip to China. Here it is:
Feb 24: We leave DFW for LAX at 6:00 p.m. We have a 3 hour layover and at 10:20 p.m. we embark to Hong Kong.
Feb 26: We arrive in Hong Kong at 5:40 in the morning. Essentially Sunday, the 25th, is lost. Assuming jet lag doesn't knock us on our butts, we will spend the day hitting the sights.
Feb 27: We have a morning tour of Hong Kong and have a 6:00 p.m. flight to Xi'an.
Feb 28: We have a full day of touring. First the Terracotta Warriors, then the village at Banpo, the Wild Goose Pagoda and Huaqing Hot Springs.
Mar 1: We leave Xi'an at 2:30 for Beijing.
Mar 2: Tour the Summer Palace, visit the Panda House at the Beijing Zoo (Mikel's anticipated favorite), and explore the Temple of Heaven.
Mar 3: Tour the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Tian'an Men Square.
Mar 4: Fly to Changsha, Hunan Province in the early morning.
Mar 5: Gotcha Day! Some time around 10:00 a.m. we will see Sarah for the first time. Well that's what our agency says, but I predict it will be on the 4th.
Mar 5-9: Bond with baby, shopping, visit Juzi Park and Yue Lu Academy, and get Sarah's passport. During this time, Sarah will be indoctrinated into all things important: Aggie football, Dodgers baseball and conservative politics.
Mar 9: Late flight to Guangzhou.
Mar 10: Sarah's visa picture and medical exam.
Mar 11: Sightseeing tour of Chen families' temple.
Mar 12: Take documents to American Consulate.
Mar 13: American Consulate interview.
Mar 14: Twiddle our thumbs.
Mar 15: Fly to Hong Kong, then to LAX, then to DFW. Introduce Sarah to her grandparents.
Feb 24: We leave DFW for LAX at 6:00 p.m. We have a 3 hour layover and at 10:20 p.m. we embark to Hong Kong.
Feb 26: We arrive in Hong Kong at 5:40 in the morning. Essentially Sunday, the 25th, is lost. Assuming jet lag doesn't knock us on our butts, we will spend the day hitting the sights.
Feb 27: We have a morning tour of Hong Kong and have a 6:00 p.m. flight to Xi'an.
Feb 28: We have a full day of touring. First the Terracotta Warriors, then the village at Banpo, the Wild Goose Pagoda and Huaqing Hot Springs.
Mar 1: We leave Xi'an at 2:30 for Beijing.
Mar 2: Tour the Summer Palace, visit the Panda House at the Beijing Zoo (Mikel's anticipated favorite), and explore the Temple of Heaven.
Mar 3: Tour the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Tian'an Men Square.
Mar 4: Fly to Changsha, Hunan Province in the early morning.
Mar 5: Gotcha Day! Some time around 10:00 a.m. we will see Sarah for the first time. Well that's what our agency says, but I predict it will be on the 4th.
Mar 5-9: Bond with baby, shopping, visit Juzi Park and Yue Lu Academy, and get Sarah's passport. During this time, Sarah will be indoctrinated into all things important: Aggie football, Dodgers baseball and conservative politics.
Mar 9: Late flight to Guangzhou.
Mar 10: Sarah's visa picture and medical exam.
Mar 11: Sightseeing tour of Chen families' temple.
Mar 12: Take documents to American Consulate.
Mar 13: American Consulate interview.
Mar 14: Twiddle our thumbs.
Mar 15: Fly to Hong Kong, then to LAX, then to DFW. Introduce Sarah to her grandparents.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Finally I Post
With apologizes to all for taking so long between posts (especially Anna).
Most all our travel issues were settled in the past week. After a three day delay in receiving a consulate appointment, we got one in the nick of time. We also received our I171-H in the mail on Saturday. Much thanks to Susan in Congressman Sam Johnson's office for tracking down the document. For those not familiar with the adoption process, the I171-H is the golden ticket from our government allowing us to adopt. We had this document, but it expired in January and we had to pay for a new one.
Due to the delay in getting a consulate appointment, we had to book our trip in a matter of hours. Mikel calls me at work at 12:45 p.m. in a huff because an email said we had to finalize our travel by 1:00 p.m. Luckily, that was 1:00 p.m. Pacific time. I'll post our travel schedule in the next post. I pledge to be a better blogger. -Z
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