Hi Everyone!

Hi Everyone!

Sorry it's taken so long to update our blog. I'm not able to connect with blogspot here at the hotel, so I'm emailing it to Kaylee and she's updating our blog. We've only been here two full days, and we've accompished a week's worth of sightseeing and eating! My pants are already getting tight on me!!

The flight here was very long (a total of about 20 hours travel time from when we left Fairbanks), but it was smooth. We were picked up at Beijing Airport by our guide, Rosa. She is an amazing woman who has taught us alot about Chinese culture. We are staying at a beautiful hotel. Beijing is home to about 17 million people. It is a huge ciy. People here are very friendly and like to take pictures and stare at us foreigers. The traffic here is something I can't really describe because I've never seen anything like it. It is worse than DC traffic, but there is no road rage or anger. The Chinese people are very laid back, but they make five lanes out of three-lane roads. Add into the mix the myriad of people riding their bikes along the side of the highway (with no helmets) along with regular pedestrians crossing the street in front of the moving vehicles, and it that about wraps up Beijing traffic. It is crazy. We just all sit in the bus and stare at our driver in awe. We have literally come within an inch of hitting cars and people. It's just 'business as usual' for them.

One thing that is very different (there are many - I'll tell you about the Chinese toilets later), is the beds. Chinese people like firm matresses, but I"m telling you. It feels like I"m sleeping on a hard-wood floor! The first morning I woke up, I could hardly move!! Last night was better, though. OK, now to the toilets. The one's in this hotel are the same as the US - you get to sit down. When you go out and about, though, it's a different situation. We were at the forbidden city, and I went into the public restroom. The smell was the first thing that caught me off guard. I walked into the bathroom where there were rows of stalls on each side of the walls. The stall doors go from the ceiling to the floor. They were all in use at that time, and I was watching two women using squeejee brooms and pushing about a half-inch of urine from the middle of the floor to the outside. It wasn't like the toilet ovrflowed & the urine was mixed with water - it was pure pee. Once a stall opened, I went in. To my surprise there was no toilet. There was a hole in the floor that was covered with white porceline. On each side of the hole was a grooved place to place your feet. There were no bars to hand onto on the sides of the stall, you are expected to simply squat and do your business. There is no toilet paper. As I have never been one to have good balance, you can believe I was praying hard that I would not fall over on my side while attempting to squat and get up again. All I can say is it was an experience I will not soon forget!

Yesterday was very fun. We toured the Forbidden City (it's named that because the Emporers of the last dynasty lived there and the common people were not allowed in). We also toured the Emporers' Summer Palace which was just beautiful. We went to the pearl factory and learned all about the different kinds and qualities of pearls. The food we've been eating is fantastic! It's delicious! It's more than I had expected. This trip is amazing, and I can hardly believe how blessed we are to be here.

Today was my favorite. We were able to go to church and worship God with all kinds of Sisters and Brothers from all over the world. IT was a bilingual service. The pastor was Chinese, and there was an interpreter. There were hundreds of foreigners at church. The praise band was outstanding. The children put on a little Christmas program, and it is how I imagine Heaven - people of all tribes & tongues worshipping our Father. We had to show copies of our passports to get into the service because it is only for foreigners. Chinese nationals are not allowed into the Christian service.

After church we went to lunch and then to the Great Wall of China! I asked if we would be able to touch it, and our guide said we were going to climb it!!! WOW! It was about 20 degrees with the wind chill, but Scott and I climbed as far as you could go. It was so steep! My legs were shaking by the time we made it to the top, but it was an experience I will never forget. I kept having to tell myself that I was in China climbing the Great Wall because I still feel like I'm dreaming.

The funniest thing here are the 'vendors'. They wait until you get off the bus and bombard you with their items. If you make eye contact,that's it. They will follow you for a really long time pushing what they are selling in your face. I did buy a couple things over the past few days. They like to barter. When we were coming down from the Great Wall, a lady came up and said she would engrave my name in this mini plaque that said I climed the Great Wall. She said it would by 180 yen (about 25 dollars US money), and I got her down to 20 yen (about 2.50). That was fun.

After we climed the Wall, we went out to a famous Peking Duck Dinner. It was incredible! The food was mouth-watering. Do you know that the Chinese don't eat fortune cookies? That is an American tradition. When I asked our guide where our fortune cookie was after dinner last night, she thought I was asking where I could get my fortune read! She didn't know anything about the American tradition of serving fortune cookies after a meal.

We are with five other families. Tomorrow morning at 5:30 am we will leave Beijing and fly to our provinces where we are getting our kiddos. One other family and Scott & I are flying to Nanjing. We will be getting Jonathan in about 16 hours! This doesn't even seem real.

This trip is amazing, and we are having so much fun. I love China. I don't know what I was expecting - it certainly wasn't this. Beijing as far exceeded my expectations. God is simply awesome in His creativity in making us different yet the same. That's about it for now. I'll write more tomorrow from Nanjing.