Great Wall of China

Today our guide, Tingting, took us to the Great Wall of China. It was quite cold in Beijing about 35 F and colder on the wall since it is located in the mountains.

After the Great Wall, Tingting took us for a traditional Chinese lunch at a friendship store where we also saw jade and other handicrafts. After lunch, we asked Tingting to take us to Olympic Park, where the 2008 Summer Olympic games were held. The last time we were in China in 2005, the Olympic Park was well under construction, so it was really cool to see the finished product. What an amazing park!

We arrived in Beijing. The flight was quite nice and I would recomment Continential to anyone who wishes to travel, non-stop, from Newark to Beijing. Everything went smoothly as our guide, Tingting, met us at the airport and escorted us to our hotel. We're meeting Mike's colleague, Philip Lee, for a traditional Chinese dinner tonight. Philip lives in Beijing and was kind enough to meet us. Tomorrow we're heading to the Great Wall of China with Tingting. I am excited for my parents to see and climb the Great Wall... it is absolutely breathtaking!

Today is the day!

Today is the day we leave for China! I'm nervous, excited, exhaused... We received absolutely fabulous news from Nancy last night about Pope's gotcha day... Mike and Deena are going to be able to bring Pope directly to the hotel, first thing Monday morning! This is excellent news as we were originally told we would have to go to the Civil Affairs office to meet him!

I hope I have everything packed. The suitcase is done. What we have, we have. What we don't, we'll get in China... what we can't get in China, well, I guess we'll make due without it!

I'll update the blog again when I return. Until then, zai jian!

Yum-yum... here were come!

We're taking off in about a week! Mike has made arrangements for a local colleague to meet up with us in each city (very fortunate to know people)... In the mean time, here's a snack teaser... YUM! :)

Ticker

I've been watching my adoption ticker count down the days. Sometimes I'm excited. Other times I feel nervous, even worried. I have so much to do before we leave and I just hope I'm able to get it all (or most of it) done.

Beauty

There is a practice session for the auditions for Beauty and the Beast, the school musical at St. Rose for 2011. Camille was one of only 3 kindergarteners who landed a role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat last year. Her school is K-8th, so it's difficult for younger children to land roles in the musical. It's a very popular extra-curricular activity at the school. Camille has worked very hard this year. She is a wonderful dancer, but her hearing loss makes singing difficult. Still, she works on it very hard and practices her singing regularly with her dad.
We're pulling for her in auditions next week! We hope she gets the part!