Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Made It To China!

Woohoo! After 27 hours of travel we're here in Beijing. Wow! Halfway around the world from home we saw the sunrise on the airplane as we made our way toward Guangzhou and then on to the Chinese capital... the very same sunrise that our friends and family experienced 10 time zones ahead of us. We slept through the landmarks that wizzed by beneath us in the wee hours of Sunday night and Monday, passing the Bering Straight and flying down through Russia, a slight detour around North Korea and then over the Chinese mainland.

We're resting this afternoon and then will do some touring the next few days before heading to Wuhan on Saturday to begin the adoption proceedings. Keri and I are very excited and covet your prayers for the four of us (Keri, me, Keri's mom and Eden) in the coming days.

All we can say of our first few hours in Asia is, Toto, we are definitely not in Kansas anymore! Really helps to put life into perspective when you see the other side of the planet. Amazingly, Paris Hilton is just not news over here. Go figure. Also, we've noticed not only Chinese being spoken but Russian and French as well. A real challenge to us to step up and begin communicating in other tongues as we become more "world aware."

FYI... The leg from Los Angeles to Guangzhou was 14 hours (!). We began to wonder if there was going to be enough fuel in the plane. The upgrade to "premium economy" seating on China Southern Airlines was definitely worth it--we felt like we were flying first-class.

3 comments:

Donna Houston said...

So thankful you are there!! Rest and sightsee--how fun! Thinking of you each day!!!

Love and Blessings
Donna H.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you arrived safely! I am praying for y'all!

Anonymous said...

We look forward to your comments and are keeping up to date on how your experience is progressing. I know you both have prayed about this and planned for this for quite some time...it is surreal to see this life journey coming to fruition for you both. We think about you often and wish you the very best experience possible. I know this is truly a blessing for you and we will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
Chelsea, Kevin, Halle & Jack Henry