Short Posts From Our First Few Days in China 2005

Sunday

We left SLC bright and early and flew to San Fransico. At our gate we
met Jen and Elwood and Kim and Brent Purdue. We had a long flight
over and it seemed like they fed us every two hours.

Monday

We landed at 430 on Monday afternoon the first thing that went through
my mind was that this feels alot like RIO. The wet humidity you could
just feel. It appeared that it had rained but it did not smell like
rain. I had been soooo worried about making it through the airport.
It was a breeze and we learned quickly that when a new line opens up
at port of entry to RUN to get into the new line. We were so tired
when we arrived to the hotel and went to see the store and take some
pictures. I will have Jason upload some pictures later. We then went
to bed and thought we would sleep all night but NO I woke up at 2 am
and have been up since. I guess night shift and staying awake for
over twenty four hours is coming in handy.

The driving is crazy like everyone says and I thought once we would
crash and home we would have so you learn NOT to look out the window.

Beijing is a mixture of old and new. We took many pictures.

Tuesday


Today was a day full of sightseeing. I will be right back to tell you
about today.

McKenna mommy loves and misses you. Sorry we could not get the
internet to work last night.


We started out at Tien An Men Square, it was beautiful and brought
tears to my eyes. There was TONS of people there.

We then went to the Forbidden City, the architecture is beautiful and
there are many areas which they are restoring in preparation for the
Olympics.

After lunch we went to the Great WALL and I hiked a little bit. I
think this was the most beautiful part. But I am always partial to
landscapes and the beauty of nature. We took some beautiful pictures
there.

We then took a light flight to Changsha and are now in the hotel room.
It is a beautiful hotel. We have a crib and a baby bathtub in the
room. I have packed the backpack for tomorrow. We are getting
Marielle at 10 am in the morning and then going to Walmart and then
the rest of the day will be getting to know her.