WE ARE FINALLY IN CHINA

We are here at last! It is 4:50 AM and I am typing this in my hotel room. For friends and family, I will be sending these emails also to my Blog, which is why these emails may seem rather detailed in nature. This is due to the fact that there are adopting families that are following my Blog in hopes of gaining any useful information for their adoption experience.  The trip was actually not too bad and, for the most part, went smooth sailing. The only glitch that caused my blood pressure to spike was when we first arrived to the Seattle Airport. We booked our flights via Continental/Cathay Pacific. During this booking process, I specifically choose Continental due to their three free bag allowance for active duty military and their family. The day of booking and the day before we flew, I called Continental to make sure everything was in order since we were flying international. They told us that they have a partnership with Cathay Pacific and that our baggage allowance will still stand. But, to ensure there would still be no problems, we only had two pieces of luggage to check-on, not three, and one piece was a stroller (thus, we really had only three check-on items between the two of us). Of course, we get to the Continental counter at the airport and they told us that they don't fly to Vancouver so we need to check-in with United (even though our tickets say Continental and was booked through them). Understanding airlines do this sometimes, we did as they suggested and had to walk what seemed like a mile all the way to the other side of the airport to check in with United. What a surprise; we get to United and then they tell us the plane is being operated by Air Canada and that they only allow one check-on item so we have to pay for our extra baggage. You can only imagine how irate I became and explained to them that I don't care WHAT airline we fly on, the fact remains that I booked the flight with Continental, called twice and spoke with agents that both confirmed our baggage allowance would be honored, and that we should not be "penalized" with what I consider a "bait and switch" maneuver by charging us $70 per extra bag because we are flying with a different airline, which they never told us both times I called. Of course, they couldn't' do anything and our hands were tied so it was either fly or stay home…they had all the cards. For those of you booking flights to China soon, make sure you find out directly from the travel agent or Airline Company you book with what airline you will actually be flying on as it is not an uncommon practice for them to book you on a completely different airline. On top of this fiasco, as they were tagging our luggage and placing them on the conveyer belt, Phil noticed that the tags read Hong Kong. We immediately stopped them and told them that our final destination was Guangzhou. We were able to save two pieces of luggage, but unfortunately our other two had already left on the belt. We waited 45 minutes while they had to work their magic to locate and retag our luggage to ensure they would get all the way to our final destination. Good thing we got their extra early. As we go through the security checkpoint, which do you think gets picked to have the 'naked' pictures taken for security? NO, not my husband; they pick the women of the two. So, after giving them a free show, we finally get to our gate and grabbed a light lunch. As we were sitting there, Phil started to point out how blessed we have been regarding all our adoptions. My angst immediately dropped as I started to reflect on all the Lord has done for us and how fortunate we have been. We have four beautiful children that he brought in to our lives and now, he is adding two more. What amazes me is that each of our children are from all over this world. As I sat in the plane looking down on the blue earth, I was overcome with awe at how our Lord directed these childrens' lives to become eternally connected with our own; four of which lived thousands of miles away on a completely separate continent. It is hard to think that these moments in life our just happenstance. After reflecting on how each of our children came to us in such a miraculous way, my testimony on the eternal nature of families continued to grow and how our Master can so artfully and majestically move our lives in such a way to ensure we can fulfill our purpose in life. But, more importantly, as I looked down upon the earth in amazement at the billion of people on just this earth alone, to realize how he can care for each and every one of us so individually that he can truly direct and aide our lives with abundant care. Yes, even these two little children that one society may look as outcasts and hopeless human beings. To our Lord, they are more precious than gold.   When we got to Vancouver, we grabbed a quick meal and soon boarded our plane for our 13 hour trip to China. I have to admit, compared to our trip to Thailand, the flight was rather harmless. When booking your flights, make sure you get an airline that has entertainment in each seat. I found cheaper flights on other airlines that did not have this feature. IT IS WORTH THE EXTRA CHARGE. I cannot imagine taking a trip of such length without being provided hours and hours of entertainment choices at your fingertips. I probably watched six movies; a few TV shows; a documentary; listened to music and played video games. This made the trip go by SO MUCH faster. This will keep you and your children happy for hours on end. We flew on Cathay Pacific, which is not a bad airline. However, compared to China Airlines, which we flew to Thailand, the seats felt much tighter with less leg room. However, services on both airlines were comparable, though Phil felt the food on Cathay was better.   We had a rather quick layover in Hong Kong. The contrast of wealth is VERY evident by comparing the Guangzhou and Hong Kong airports. I actually wish we had booked a few days in Hong Kong now that I saw how beautiful it is, but alas, this trip is about the children. Hong Kong is expensive. We tried to exchange our money in Hong Kong but the exchange rate was much less so do not do this until you reach China main land. The nice thing about Hong Kong is that even though you have to go through a security checkpoint again, they just check your boarding pass so you don't have to go through immigration or customs. If you do fly in to Hong Kong, I suggest looking in to taking a train over to Guangzhou. We were told by a fellow passenger that it is actually faster and cheaper. The flight from Hong Kong to Guangzhou was one of the fastest flights I have been on. I put my head down to rest as soon as we started to taxi from the terminal and the next thing I hear is the announcement that we were ready to land. But, the best thing is that going through customs/immigration was a piece of cake. We were only in line for about 5 minutes, he looked at our passport, stamped it and off we go to baggage claim. Bangkok was a nightmare compared to this.  But, make sure you fill out your immigration card on the plane. They will pass this out to you before you land. Overall, the flight experience was a pleasant surprise. While waiting for our luggage, we held our breath as we were not sure if all our baggage would arrive due to the mishap back in Seattle. The two pieces that were checked on correctly arrived first so we were getting a little panicky that our other two were stuck in Hong Kong. But, alas, the Lord provided and there they were, safe and sound. Now, we were told to make sure that we got a taxi that had a meter. However, once we left the baggage area, we were immediately approached by a man saying, "Taxi?" and then grabbed our cart with our luggage and motioned to follow him. I started to get nervous and Phil was hoping to question if his taxi had a meter but he was walking a few steps ahead at rather a brisk pace. Halfway across the airport we finally went outside to see a bunch of nice looking taxis waiting in line. I started to relax until he pulled the cart up to a very run-down old jalopy. I could tell there was a man inside by movement as the windows were darkened. As he started to put our luggage in the back, I started to worry the driver was going to take off with our luggage so I stopped him immediately by getting in the back of the car. They don't miss a trick as they work very fast to get your luggage in the car and then tell you what they will charge. Upon opening the door I immediately noticed there was no meter. I pointed this out and they kept telling us to get in. Phil finally looked in the vehicle and said, "Where is the meter?" "No meter, get in, we go." He then started to dicker with them on the price. They finally came down a bit, but it was still WAY higher than if we got a metered taxi. Again, for those of you coming to China soon, MAKE SURE you get a taxi with a meter. It is A LOT cheaper. And, be wary of those that come right up to you as soon as you leave the baggage area asking if you need a taxi. However, with that being said, he did get us to our hotel safe and in NO TIME. It normally takes an hour from the airport to our hotel, but he did it in 30 minutes flat. Had it not have been for our experience in Bangkok when we adopted Amornthep, his driving would have scared me to death. For those of you not having the experience of driving in an Asian country, I highly advise you keep your eyes closed or you will have a heart attack. It can be quite a scary ordeal. But, you soon find out that EVERYONE drives like this and they are all use to it. I chuckled to myself as I watched Phil and I take in the scenery without any apparent fear toward his horrific driving, as his driving still did not come close to the harrowing experiences we dealt with in Bangkok. Once we got to our hotel we were very impressed with the immediate reception and assistance. The room is a little dated and smaller than I had hoped, but it will do for our needs. We booked a Business Suite in the East building. The other rooms are too small so I highly suggest you stay with a Business suit or higher. We were warned that the beds are hard and that description does not do it justice. It is as if you are sleeping directly on a hardwood floor. Nonetheless, we were so tired, it did not matter. So, around 11:30 PM we finally put our heads upon our pillow with thankful thoughts and we were out within seconds. We booked a Business Suite in the East building. The other rooms are too small so I highly suggest you stay with a Business Suite or higher. Due to the time difference, I did wake up around 4:00 AM. Phil is still sleeping as he should and I think I will get in the shower and get ready for one of the most exciting days of our life. We meet with our agent at 2:30 in the lobby and then off to finally meet and bring home Joshua and MaeLynn. With the flight behind us, I am finally in excitement mode. Thank you all for sharing our experience and willing to, once again, engage in our novel as I try to record our adventure for not only our memories but for our family, friends and children.