Friday, May 30, 2008
We left the hotel this morning for an optional excursion; tour of the Temple of Heaven, rickshaw ride through a Hutong, and a matinee performance of the Chinese Flying Acrobats. With us were two of the families who will be traveling with us to Ellie’s province. Edson, Keri and their twins, Madison and Megan, hail from Orange County, CA; Eric and Jacinda are from rural KS. All of us are getting baby girls! All of our girl’s surname is Bo; and at least two of us are keeping Bo as some part of our baby’s English name.
Event of the day: Finished with the tour of the Temple of Heaven, we made our way to lunch…a Chinese, Chinese restaurant. Lunch was a mixture of perfectly steamed rice, fried noodles, kung-pao this and kung-pao that.
Having eaten our fill, our guide and CHI employee, Dennis, suggested we visit the bathroom before loading the bus. I knew better to accept his suggestion; local restaurants tend only to have Chinese toilets, a.k.a. “squatters.” So I relaxed in my chair. The power of suggestion can come at the most inopportune; no sooner had a few of my table mates headed to the bathroom, that the Chinese preserved egg experiment I was still recovering from fought back.
It had been a measure of pride that I’d been able always to find a Western toilet while traveling in China. Consider, 2005…days using a Chinese toilet: 0; days using a Western toilet: 15. 2008…days using a Chinese toilet: 0; days using a Western toilet: 9…until that very moment.
Needless to say, the “squatter experience” was not that bad, save for having to hang my shirt, my cargo shorts, and my pride on the door hook in the stall in order for this cultural transaction come to its conclusion.
Quote of the day: At 10:45 p.m., I awoke having fallen asleep before I’d completed charging all the camera batteries. (Caroline was fast asleep.) Still recovering from the Chinese preserved egg experiment, I was feeling the need for a bit of potassium; I left the hotel and walked along Wangfuling Street looking for a vendor still open that still had bananas for sale. After a few blocks it became clear that most of the fruit vendors had closed.
As I made my way back to the hotel, walking this time on the opposite side of the street, a young, attractive sharply dressed Asian woman approached me. After the obligatory, “Ha-lo, Ha-lo,” the woman uttered words I’ll long remember, “You want hotel room with night of romance?”
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Preserved Eggs and Happy Buddha
May 29, 2008
Until today, we’d been rather scheduled, so we enjoyed sleeping in until 7:00 a.m. After a great phone call from dear friends and a leisurely “get-ready-to-face-the-day,” we made our way to breakfast. Another standard buffet with the exception of Chinese preserved eggs. Also known as hundred-year eggs or thousand-year eggs, this Chinese delicacy is made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice straw for 100 days. When completed, the yoke becomes a dark green, cream-like substance with a strong odor of sulfur and ammonia, while the egg white becomes a dark brown transparent jelly with little flavor or taste.
I had two. Given that for the rest of the day, I found it necessary to be cognizant of the proximity and availability of Western toilets, those two will be my last.
It was a gorgeous day in Beijing, mid 70’s, low humidity and blue sky. This was a bit of a surprise. Three years ago when in Beijing, even on cloudless days, the sky wasn’t blue; rather it was a hazy grey. Smog. In preparation for the Olympics, all factories, manufacturing concerns and the like, were required to move from Beijing proper to outskirts of the city; it was believed that doing so would help improve the air quality for the Olympics. Based on today’s experience, it seems to have worked. There is, however, a bit of irony to this. Beijing is laid out in six concentric circles. All the factories, etc., were to be relocated to at least the fifth ring (based on what we’d been told three years ago by an ex-pat living in Beijing). Today, Caroline and I made our way to the Olympic Stadium; it’s located in the middle of the fourth ring. The closer we got to the Olympic site, the poorer the air quality became.
We took advantage of the Beijing subway system today. This was great as we saw a lot of the city and because it made us feel like we were truly traveling, having to find our own way rather than relying on guides.
Tomorrow we will meet some of the people in our adoption travel group. It’s getting a bit surreal; two days and a wake-up and we’ll have Ellie!
Quote of the day: Walking down Wangfujing Avenue’s pedestrian shopping zone, we take a side street into a local marketplace complete with vendors selling seahorses and scorpions on a stick (yes…to eat…kind of like state fair food!) to Chairman Mao watches. As we’re pursuing the goods, a young woman vendor in her teens calls out to me, “Ha-lo, Ha-lo, Happy Buddha, shop here, give you good price.”
Until today, we’d been rather scheduled, so we enjoyed sleeping in until 7:00 a.m. After a great phone call from dear friends and a leisurely “get-ready-to-face-the-day,” we made our way to breakfast. Another standard buffet with the exception of Chinese preserved eggs. Also known as hundred-year eggs or thousand-year eggs, this Chinese delicacy is made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice straw for 100 days. When completed, the yoke becomes a dark green, cream-like substance with a strong odor of sulfur and ammonia, while the egg white becomes a dark brown transparent jelly with little flavor or taste.
I had two. Given that for the rest of the day, I found it necessary to be cognizant of the proximity and availability of Western toilets, those two will be my last.It was a gorgeous day in Beijing, mid 70’s, low humidity and blue sky. This was a bit of a surprise. Three years ago when in Beijing, even on cloudless days, the sky wasn’t blue; rather it was a hazy grey. Smog. In preparation for the Olympics, all factories, manufacturing concerns and the like, were required to move from Beijing proper to outskirts of the city; it was believed that doing so would help improve the air quality for the Olympics. Based on today’s experience, it seems to have worked. There is, however, a bit of irony to this. Beijing is laid out in six concentric circles. All the factories, etc., were to be relocated to at least the fifth ring (based on what we’d been told three years ago by an ex-pat living in Beijing). Today, Caroline and I made our way to the Olympic Stadium; it’s located in the middle of the fourth ring. The closer we got to the Olympic site, the poorer the air quality became.
We took advantage of the Beijing subway system today. This was great as we saw a lot of the city and because it made us feel like we were truly traveling, having to find our own way rather than relying on guides.
Tomorrow we will meet some of the people in our adoption travel group. It’s getting a bit surreal; two days and a wake-up and we’ll have Ellie!
Quote of the day: Walking down Wangfujing Avenue’s pedestrian shopping zone, we take a side street into a local marketplace complete with vendors selling seahorses and scorpions on a stick (yes…to eat…kind of like state fair food!) to Chairman Mao watches. As we’re pursuing the goods, a young woman vendor in her teens calls out to me, “Ha-lo, Ha-lo, Happy Buddha, shop here, give you good price.”
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Snippets of what we've seen
Peasent farmer making lunch in her kitchen in a village of Dazu County
Caroline taking pictures from the stern of the Victoria Anna on the Yangtze River
Caroline relaxing on the balcony of our cabin
Getting in line to enter the lock system of the Three Gorges Dam
Three ships get in behind us
The mother of Buhda carved in a cliff at Dazu, north of Chongqing
Buhdist monk at worship in the Temple of the Jade Buhda, ShanghaiBack to Beijing
May 28, 2008
Chongqing, the largest city in China, at 33 million people, was wet and rainy this morning. Nini, our young guide, got us to the airport, helped us check in; we exchanged email addresses, said our good-byes and it was off to Beijing. The flight was unremarkable, with the exception of the interesting manner in which the in-flight meal was served. Each passenger had a choice of rice or noodles, which came in an aluminum foil tin. The tin was placed on top of a cardboard box, much like a box lunch from Honey Baked Ham. Inside the box were an assortment of prepackaged items; cherry tomatoes, bun, pickled vegetables, fish noodles and glutinous popcorn. All in all, it was a pretty good meal.
Speaking of meals…
This morning’s breakfast was another gastronomic delight; sushi, French toast, Danish pastries, banana bread all adorned my plate. As we sipped our last cup of coffee, at an adjacent table sat two couples with young Chinese children. Curious, as we walked by their table, Caroline introduced herself and asked if they were in Chongqing to adopt other children. The couples invited us to join them and shared with us that the children with them were their newly adopted son and daughter. They had gotten the children on Monday. Both were special needs children; the girl was 3 ½ and the boy was 6 years old. The father of the little girl shared that all the fear, anxiety, and unknowns melted away on Monday when he saw his little girl for the first time. His words were an encouragement, as we’ve both been experiencing a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions.
Back to Beijing…
We were met by our CHI Beijing contact, Lena, upon our arrival this afternoon. She dropped us off at the hotel, we checked in, and off Caroline and I went for a stroll around Beijing. Of note; it’s all about the Olympics.
Three more days until we get Ellie!
Another memorable quote from the cruise: Septuagenarian seated behind Caroline on the sampan, while I’m putting on the traditional outfit of the famed Yangtze ‘boat trackers’; “My goodness he’s a big man!”
Chongqing, the largest city in China, at 33 million people, was wet and rainy this morning. Nini, our young guide, got us to the airport, helped us check in; we exchanged email addresses, said our good-byes and it was off to Beijing. The flight was unremarkable, with the exception of the interesting manner in which the in-flight meal was served. Each passenger had a choice of rice or noodles, which came in an aluminum foil tin. The tin was placed on top of a cardboard box, much like a box lunch from Honey Baked Ham. Inside the box were an assortment of prepackaged items; cherry tomatoes, bun, pickled vegetables, fish noodles and glutinous popcorn. All in all, it was a pretty good meal.
Speaking of meals…
This morning’s breakfast was another gastronomic delight; sushi, French toast, Danish pastries, banana bread all adorned my plate. As we sipped our last cup of coffee, at an adjacent table sat two couples with young Chinese children. Curious, as we walked by their table, Caroline introduced herself and asked if they were in Chongqing to adopt other children. The couples invited us to join them and shared with us that the children with them were their newly adopted son and daughter. They had gotten the children on Monday. Both were special needs children; the girl was 3 ½ and the boy was 6 years old. The father of the little girl shared that all the fear, anxiety, and unknowns melted away on Monday when he saw his little girl for the first time. His words were an encouragement, as we’ve both been experiencing a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions.
Back to Beijing…
We were met by our CHI Beijing contact, Lena, upon our arrival this afternoon. She dropped us off at the hotel, we checked in, and off Caroline and I went for a stroll around Beijing. Of note; it’s all about the Olympics.
Three more days until we get Ellie!
Another memorable quote from the cruise: Septuagenarian seated behind Caroline on the sampan, while I’m putting on the traditional outfit of the famed Yangtze ‘boat trackers’; “My goodness he’s a big man!”
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Back to internet access
Friday, May 23, 2008
Caroline and I enjoyed another delightful breakfast from the 31st floor of the Salvo Hotel Shanghai. Once again, I managed to make it an around the world event:
First stop: Asia for sushi, dim sum, fried noodles, boiled duck eggs and sesame bun.
Second stop: Europe, for crescents’, bread, brie, cold cuts, pastry and hard roll
Third stop: America, for Western omelet, hash browns, pork fritters, min-cinnamon roll and jelly pastry
Final stop: Asia, for sushi, pastry, dim sum, pecan pie and fried noodles
It was a wonderful morning!
After a pleasant flight from Shanghai to Xichang we boarded the Victoria Anna for our Yangtze River cruise.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Today we headed upstream to the Three Gorges Dam Project. The dam is the largest in the world and is scheduled for completion in 2009. When the dam goes completely on-line, the water level behind the dam will rise 175 meters, flooding millions of acres of farmland and displacing nearly 1.3 million people, most of them peasant farmers. We’ve made many acquaintances on the ship, from our table mates to the ship’s staff. Most of the staff are men and women in their early to mid twenties. All speak exceptional English and are very good at their jobs on board the ship. We enjoy having conversations with them.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Continuing along the Yangtze, today we ferried up the Lesser Gorges, including a sampan ride up one of the minor gorges of the Lesser Gorges. Along the way we observed monkeys jumping through the trees along the gorge walls and hanging coffins from the gorge walls. The hanging coffins are somewhat an archeological mystery; centuries ago, when a river person died, the family would construct a wooden coffin, place the deceased inside, seal the cover and somehow hang the coffin hundreds of feet above the river on the shear vertical cliff walls of the gorge. Fascinating.
As we returned from the Lesser Gorge excursion, our tour director, Dick pulled us aside. As you can imagine, this made me extremely nervous; my mind raced with possible reasons for his need to speak to us, none of them very positive. Dick had heard via the ship grapevine that we were in China to adopt a baby; he shared with us that he had an adopted daughter from the Philippines. As an expression of gratitude, Dick pulled us aside to inform us that he had upgraded our breakfast and lunch to the executive dining room; a gesture for which we were most appreciative. We shared with many of the staff and other passengers we met that we were traveling in advance of finalizing our adoption of Ellie. The many kindnesses and expressions of gratitude we received from complete strangers have been overwhelming.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Today we visited the city of Fengdu, known as the City of Ghosts. We visited the temples of heaven and hell; surprisingly, the god of Hell is above the god of Heaven, so rather than going down to hell and up to heaven, we went up to hell and down to heaven.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
We disembarked from the Victoria Anna early this morning in the port city of Chongqing. Chongqing is the largest city in China, having a population of 33 million people. We enjoyed a great tour of the city and the surrounding country side; our young guide Nini has been wonderful, perhaps the best personal guide we’ve had to date. We will spend the night and in the morning, it’s off to Beijing to meet up with our adoption travel group.
Quote of the trip thus far: Tracy, our server in the executive dining room, this morning to Caroline, (whispering into Caroline's ear) "Your husband like traditional Chinese cooking. I think that why he so fat."
Thursday, May 22, 2008
May 22
Today found us on a "cliff-notes" tour of Shanghai. Our guide, Ian, and his driver arrived at our hotel at 9:00 a.m. The first stop on the day's tour was to the Temple of the Jade Buddha. The Jade Buddha holds particular significance as it has not been damaged in any of the wars and conflicts of China's history. While at the Temple of the Jade Buddha, we watched a portion of a blessing ceremony being conducted by a dozen or so Buddhist monks. The ceremony was complete with chanting, incense burning, cymbal clanging, drum beating, and just like at home the drum beating monk checking his watch to see how much longer he had to endure!
The balance of the day we spent at the Bund, the waterfront, and Old Shanghai. We also had a two hour tour of the Shanghai Museum. Tomorrow we leave Shanghai and fly to Yichang to begin the Yangtze River cruise portion of our journey.
God's peace and love,
pb
The balance of the day we spent at the Bund, the waterfront, and Old Shanghai. We also had a two hour tour of the Shanghai Museum. Tomorrow we leave Shanghai and fly to Yichang to begin the Yangtze River cruise portion of our journey.
God's peace and love,
pb
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
May 21, 2008
After a two hour delay at O’Hare due to a mechanical issue, Caroline and I settled into seats E and F of Row 54 for the 15 hour flight to Shanghai. With the exception of the stereotypical “ugly American tourist” (loud, obnoxious, complainer, had to have things her way) sitting next to me, the flight was non-descript; good food, fair movies, and plenty of sleep.
As we boarded the plane, we noticed a number of Asian families with infants boarding with us. It was, in a sense, at least for me, a defining moment of the journey Caroline and I are embarking on; when next we board a 747, we will do so with Ellie, our Asian daughter. Walking the aisle of that huge plane, seeing all the Asian infants and toddlers brought a measure of clarity that what had three years ago been a dream, was soon to become a reality. Even our guide, Ian, and his driver, shuttling us from the airport to the hotel was able to acknowledge the significance of our travel in China. Ian told us what a wonderful deed we were doing for one of their children. He also added that his wife has expressed a desire to adopt one of the thousand of newly orphaned infants due to last week’s earthquake.
The more that I’m blessed to travel this world, I’m reminded over and over, we as a global village and as people of humanity share more in common than the differences that seem to divide us. We are all participants in caring for the global village.
God’s peace and love,
Brad
As we boarded the plane, we noticed a number of Asian families with infants boarding with us. It was, in a sense, at least for me, a defining moment of the journey Caroline and I are embarking on; when next we board a 747, we will do so with Ellie, our Asian daughter. Walking the aisle of that huge plane, seeing all the Asian infants and toddlers brought a measure of clarity that what had three years ago been a dream, was soon to become a reality. Even our guide, Ian, and his driver, shuttling us from the airport to the hotel was able to acknowledge the significance of our travel in China. Ian told us what a wonderful deed we were doing for one of their children. He also added that his wife has expressed a desire to adopt one of the thousand of newly orphaned infants due to last week’s earthquake.
The more that I’m blessed to travel this world, I’m reminded over and over, we as a global village and as people of humanity share more in common than the differences that seem to divide us. We are all participants in caring for the global village.
God’s peace and love,
Brad
Monday, May 19, 2008
It's midnight, Tuesday, May 20. In six hours Caroline and I will be zipping up our DaKine Wheelie bags, giving Kirby and Max their good-bye pets, buttoning up the house and making our way to the International Terminal of O'Hare Airport to board our 10:20 a.m. flight. It's been an amazing few days filled with all manner of emotion; one would be calm and focused, while the other was manic and scattered. One of us has been working with little sleep; the other tending to multiple to-do lists.
Having waited three years for this day to come one would expect a level of preparedness to be evident. In a sense, there is; visas received, emergency contacts provided, trip finances accounted, and litter boxes cleaned. Yet, in the scope of the pending life-changing reality, can there really exist any true level of preparedness? How does one embrace the magnitude of leaving an intact, comfortable, albeit hectic lifestyle, knowing that on the afternoon of June 1st all will be remarkably incomprehensible; a person whom we've never met will hand to us an infant whom we've never met, yet loved even before we knew her name...one for whom we will be her forever family. Perhaps our time on the Yangtze will provide some clarity. For this morning, it's simply enough to have everything packed and ready to go for our 6:05 a.m. departure to O'hare.
Having waited three years for this day to come one would expect a level of preparedness to be evident. In a sense, there is; visas received, emergency contacts provided, trip finances accounted, and litter boxes cleaned. Yet, in the scope of the pending life-changing reality, can there really exist any true level of preparedness? How does one embrace the magnitude of leaving an intact, comfortable, albeit hectic lifestyle, knowing that on the afternoon of June 1st all will be remarkably incomprehensible; a person whom we've never met will hand to us an infant whom we've never met, yet loved even before we knew her name...one for whom we will be her forever family. Perhaps our time on the Yangtze will provide some clarity. For this morning, it's simply enough to have everything packed and ready to go for our 6:05 a.m. departure to O'hare.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)