Day 2 In China, 3 Years Ago

February 3, 2006

Because we flew over the international time line, we jumped ahead by 14 hours. So we landed in Beijing on Feb 2, I think it was around 2:30. We had left New Jersey on Wednesday and arrived here on Thursday. We were surprised at how easy it was to get around in the airport. There were signs in English, so we made it through customs rather easy. Collected our bags and met our FTIA coordinator, Shirley. She stood, with her flag amongst the thousands of people waiting for passengers. After we all were accounted for, she led us to a bus that took us to our hotel. The traffic is horrifying to say the least. We had a leisure evening at the hotel. We choose to eat our dinner at the hotel dining room with another couple, the Wiscavers. Our meal was, mmmmm, different!

The next morning (it was Friday) we ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant. It was very good. It had lots of favorites, like pastries and omelets. But also a lot of weird breakfast foods as well. We then layered our clothes as it was very cold! Only in the teens if I remember correctly. We boarded the bus to tour the city. First stop was Tienanmen Square. The photos above are from there. The top photo is us in front of Chairman Mao's tomb. The other is a random shot if the square. They say a million people can fit in this place. It is huge. Chinese New Year was ending while we were in Beijing. So there were a lot of festive decorations.

We then walked from there to the Forbidden City. It is an amazing place. To think of it's history alone is overwhelming. It is also huge and we walked the entire length! We were glad to see the bus at the other end. The building have amazing detail and there were so many of them. Although we were frozen, we were glad to be there. Shirley is very good at telling the stories and history of China.

We were enjoying ourselves, seeing the sights, the city and getting to know the other families. We also learned today that we would be receiving our girls on Sunday afternoon, instead of Monday. Everyone was praising the Lord. We couldn't wait to hold Molly. Would she like us? Would she adjust well? So many emotions to write. Soon we would find out. Another day in China came to an end.