Day 2/3 - We have arrived

Day 2/3 – Flight to Hong Kong was fantastic.  First meal was dinner soon after we took off.  Food was very good and all drinks (including beer and wine) were included with the meal!  The seats all had entertainment in the headrests.  Everyone was able to get a fair amount of sleep during the long flight and when we weren’t sleeping, we were able to enjoy some current movies that we never have time to watch at home!  Breakfast was served about an hour before we landed.  It wasn’t quite as big a hit with Madeline and Zachary, but overall, was better than most airline food!  We arrive in Hong Kong on time at 4:55 AM – Hong Kong time – on Tuesday, March 14^th.  Two more flights to go and then we will meet Katie! 

Day 3  – Hong Kong airport is enormous and very nice.  We had a short layover and then it was time to head to Guangzhou.  The flight was very short and quick.  When we arrive in Guangzhou, we had to go through customs and then get our luggage so that we could recheck it back in for the domestic flight to Jinan.  That was a bit of a struggle – we were given misinformation about where to do this from a few different airport workers, but after about 20 to 30 minutes, we figured it out and still had plenty of time to get it checked in before our next flight.  The tricky part about going from international to domestic is the weight restrictions on luggage.  You are allowed 2 bags per person and they may weigh up to 50 lbs. each for the international flights.  In-country flights in China have a 20 kg. maximum per person.  We knew this and made sure that all of our bags were under 20 kgs from the start.  However, once we got to Guangzhou and had to check-in for a domestic flight, we were allowed 20 kgs x 4 people flying = 80 kgs.  Number of bags does not matter – total weight of all your luggage is what counts.  Well, we had 5 pieces of luggage (3 large and 2 small) plus one duffel bag for the 6 of us and because we also brought donations of toothbrushes and toothpaste for both orphanages.  We were well over our limit and it cost us a good bit of additional money to get all of our luggage to Jinan.  It was worth it, though, because if we had shipped the toothbrushes and toothpaste to China – it probably would have been even more expensive.   288 toothbrushes and 144 tubes of toothpaste is going to hopefully help a lot of children in Weihai and Pingliang to have better dental health!  Thank you Tom Noone and Cindy Flannigan for helping us with donation! 

First Chinese food on our flight from Hong Kong to Gaungzhou - Oolong Tea Cookies.  Madeline enjoyed them - Zach not so much! 

Onto Jinan, where we will meet Katie – maybe even right when we arrive at the hotel!  We hope we will have time to change our clothes (we have been wearing them for 33 hours now) and freshen up before we meet her!  The original plan was to have our family day on Wednesday, March 15^th.  The agency called us on Friday before we left and said it got moved up to Tuesday and she will be at the hotel in the afternoon.  At this point we are not sure of the exact time that we will meet.  It will be a bit rushed when we arrive, but we are excited to meet her a day early – it is never easy to sleep that first night in China knowing you will meet your child the next day (and trying to get your body on China time). Only a few more hours until we see her in person and no longer have to ever look at just a photo of her.  We can’t wait!  We can’t stop thinking about what she is thinking and going through as she takes a 4 hour train ride from her orphanage in Weihai, Shandong to the capital city – Jinan, Shandong.  We wonder if she went to school yesterday or if she stayed at the orphanage to prepare for today’s big trip.  This is going to be such a huge and emotional day for her.  We truly cannot fathom what it must be like for a 12 (almost 13) year old girl to leave everything she knows to be adopted by a family that she has only spoken to 3 times before using WeChat (a program similar to Skype for those of you that have never heard of it).  Prayers are needed for her and for all of her caretakers and friends in China as they all grieve the loss of each other. Everyone knows it is for the best for her to be adopted, but the mind and heart don’t always agree and it will be very hard on everyone involved.