We were up until around 3 AM last night unpacking, talking, and just marveling at actually being in China after years of anticipation. We were both starving when we got to the room. Thankfully the hotel has 24 hour room service. The employees here at the hotel speak very little English so it is at times a bit of a comedy of errors being understood. After being passed around to several employees they finally sent a person up to our room so we could point on the menu at the items we wanted to oder. We each ended up getting a hot dog and french fries. We suspect that cost us $15 but the price sheet for the mini bar says a single coke costs $20 so we are hoping for the best when we see our bill. The bed in the room is lower to the ground than we are used to and is quite hard, but we both slept like rocks last night.

This morning, we woke up at 7:15 and met Glen and Lynda for breakfast. The hotel's breakfast buffet is, in a word, amazing. It is very similar to the type of breakfast buffet they have on cruise ships. There was a mix of western and Asian breakfast options, including omlettes, rolls, dumplings, fried rice, congee, bacon, sausage, cereal, juice, vegetables, etc. Today was a designated free day so we decided to go for a walk around the area of the hotel. The Chinese people are very warm, with most greeting us with a nod of the head or “Ni Hao!” which is Chinese for hello. In the immediate area of the hotel we found an outdoor public fitness area with a variety of exercise equipment. When we happened upon this at first we thought it was a playground for children and then we realized that no, this was for adults as there were such things as rudimentary elliptical machines and the like with adults exercising away. We also found a western style shopping mall, restaurants, and retail stores. One of the striking things in our experience so far has been not how different everything is here, but how similar. There is a strong western influence in Beijing, at least what we have seen of the city so far.

A Local Resturant!!



Some differences we have noted are that pedestrians need to exercise exceptional care as you definitely do not have the right of way here. Workers at most businesses do not have a name on their ID badge. Instead they typically have a number along with their job title. It has been interesting seeing western restaurants and products available as easily as they are over here. We made a stop at a grocery store and bought 2 gallons of spring water as we have been warned not to drink the water over here.

After a short break back in our hotel we met in the lobby to enjoy ham & swiss sandwiches, french fries, coke , Heineken beer & lovely pots of Jasmine Tea! Lynda and Julia enjoyed their first tea service in China! All they were missing were their fancy tea hats! A tea-for-one pot of tea cost about $10 (for one pot). And, the waitress infused the tea leaves three times for Julia but Lynda reached her limit at 2 pots. We are a bit surprised to find out how expensive tea is over here!

Local Tea Room

On our way back to our rooms we perused the gift shops, picked up some post cards, purchased 12 stamps (for a little less than $1 each). We had a conversation with one Chinese Gentleman employee who told us he taught himself English. He was quite the character explaining something about not hesitating when considering any purchases and three legged frogs are unusual thus lucky. Through our conversation with this man we learned that one amongst us is blessed with an unnatural ability to interpret broken English...Lynda is our own personal “Chinese Whisperer” – like the horse whisperer or the dog whisperer... Where Julia heard “I like to touch my toes, bend my knees, where long sleeves & I like vests” Lynda heard “I taught myself English by learning individual words like, pants, shoes, vests, arms, etc.” Or, When Julia heard “Large group of people exercising at one time causes earthquake” Lynda heard “when America dropped bomb years ago it weakened the ground”. Or, when Julia heard, “good for body turn green.” Lynda heard “Jade is a great stone to wear because it heals your body from the inside and in turn wearing Jade is good for the stone because over time your body oils will smooth out the Jade for a softer/prettier stone.”

Now, Lynda's interpretation prowess did not occur until after she had her 7 hours of rest & four cups of coffee. I know this because the very first conversation she had with a local she swears the dude on the phone asked her “What kind of Dachshund do you have?” but we found out later that was our guide Michael asking “Are you the family here for the adoption?”

Speaking of the adoption, we will be meeting with our guide at 9AM in the hotel lobby tomorrow (Sunday morning in China, Saturday night in the States). I doubt we will get much sleep tonight. Tomorrow is the culmination of over 6 years of prayer. Our dreams of being parents are becoming a reality. Praise The Lord! And, the angels sing “Halleluiah, Amen!” God is good!




At the mall!
Chinese Brides

Public Exercise Equipment