Truth be told I didn't get much sleep last night. I woke up at about 3AM nervous and excited to meet Bo. We tried to eat a little breakfast and met our guide at 9:30AM.
They took us straight to civil affairs office for this province. We went up the elevator down a hall of red doors. We stopped in front of one door and were told to wait outside. We've waited for about a year and a half but knowing our son was behind that door made it terribly difficult to wait even a second longer.
We waited probably only a few minutes but it felt like forever to an impatient Mom and Dad. We could hear tears from other children as they met their parents. They told us Bo wasn't crying. After they let one family leave and we were walked inside. Bo was directly in front of us. I want to tell you it was a beautiful moment, but it was anything but.
Don't get me wrong. He was amazing and beautiful, but he was clearly terrified. When we approached he lost it and didn't want much of anything to do with either of us. You want to give him time to adjust and become comfortable but they sort of force things to happen pretty fast.
He was very very sad and very very wet. They told us he got sick on the way in and apparently they didn't bother to change him. So he's scared, wet and cold. We had to go take an official family photo for the adoption registration and then were brought back to our hotel.
We pretty much broke every adoption rule book by having to strip him down and take away his clothing. Essentially that is the only thing he has in this world that might be comforting and familiar but we had to get him into some warm dry clothes. Poor little guy. I felt so horrible for him.
We got him cleaned up and in clothes and being the great parents we are, we fed him goldfish crackers and Cheerios. He loved them so I'm calling that a win! Matt also got him some noodles and he ate and ate which was pretty much the only time he wasn't crying today.
He cried himself to sleep for a late nap and then Matt took him across the street to get some formula and bottles which turned into a bit of an adventure around town.
We are doing okay just feeling bad for our boy. His whole world has changed so dramatically overnight. We are praying he starts to feel a little comfortable with us tomorrow. It is painful to watch him be so distraught. Not at all what we'd planned for our first day as a family but we know that he will forever be our son. We will walk with him through these hard days and pray for a more hopeful tomorrow.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Day 2 - Hutong Tour and on to Shanxi
We checked out of our hotel in Beijing and went on a Hutong tour the morning of our second day.
It was amazing to see the history of the Hutongs that are 300 years old. Our guide shared that many Hutongs were destroyed and replaced with high rise condos. Only in the 90s did they realize they would not have any if they didn't start to preserve them.
The one we visited was in Beijing. It is not very large but has 10,000 people living there. The people consider those living there very lucky because the government is restoring and preserving the Hutong.
Hutong is actually more the alleyway than the neighborhood. So the village is made of many Hutongs. We got to ride a rickshaw through the village and got to visit a family residence.
It looks like many in the neighborhood were military and you can tell the rank of the official by how many posts are above the door. We saw 2 post and four posts.
The family home that we were able to tour had 3 generations living there. The eldest always lives int he south building and it gets the most sun. The other generations live around a square open garden area. It was very neat to get a glimpse into this piece of Chinese history.
We then were off to Taiyuan in Shanxi province which was a short flight from Beijing (about an hour). It is more like a high desert here. There is an unbelievable amount of construction here. I lost count of the cranes building condos. Hundreds maybe. I've never seen anything like it.
I've also never seen so much pollution in my life. It makes me sad for those that live here and it is one of the reasons they have one of the highest birth defect rates in the world. Coal mining is big business here but there is a cost to that.
We just checked into our hotel and got paperwork and ourselves ready for tomorrow when we meet our son. Then we went to dinner at a traditional Chinese restaurant at the hotel and had one of the most interesting experiences.
We are so excited to meet Ethan HongBo Motley tomorrow!
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Arrival and Day One
We arrived and everything has been going smooth and easy so far. We have had trouble with the internet being real smooth and very slow but we will try and update as best we can.
The flight here was very long. We had hoped to sleep more but we just couldn't. All in all a good flight. Korean Air is pretty nice.
We went through Korea really briefly with not too much time to spare to catch our flight to Beijing. Our bags and guide met us in Beijing and we checked into our hotel Friday night. After not sleeping much the night before we left and not sleeping much on the plane we were beyond tired and just crashed when we got to the hotel.
Day one was AMAZING. Seriously awesome!
We started the day with breakfast at our hotel. It was a huge buffet of western and Chinese food. Then we met our guide and headed off.
We first went to a jade manufacturer/store. Very interesting to watch them carve the stone, see all the beautiful pieces and learn a little about how to tell real jade from fake.
Then we headed to the JuYong Pass area of the Great Wall. It was so interesting to see in person and we hiked up about 45 minutes. It was pretty much all stairs in the section we were at, so the climb was pretty much vertical, but the views were amazing. We hiked up to tower 9 which felt respectable because it was raining. We saw many umbrellas below us and very few above. :)
We bought a lock there to give to Bo someday. We saw thousands of heart shaped locks there. From what we can tell you put a lock somewhere special with your wife and throw away the key to symbolize your ever lasting love. We hope someday Bo will come back here with his wife.
From there we went to the Olympic stadium and saw the birds nest and water cube and then went on to lunch. Our guide took us to a wonderful local restaurant. I'm pretty sure we were the only tourists in the place. The food was fantastic.
Next stop was a tea house where we went through a tea ceremony and tasted many different kinds of tea. It was interesting to taste them side by side. We spent far too much on beautiful teas but they were really great.
Next we were off to an acrobatic show. The best description I can give is sort of a Chinese version of Cirque de Soleil. It was very amazing to watch.
Our guide brought us back to the hotel for dinner but we were still full from lunch so instead we headed out for a walk.
Right near our hotel is a walking street filled with high end shops. We strolled down walking street to another street that had a night market. We were told not to eat from the vendors but it was so interesting to see. We saw some extreme stuff (at least to me). Things like scorpion, silk worm, snake all on a stick like appetizer. There were also many things that looked yummy but we avoided it just to be safe.
We kept walking down the shopping street and onto a road that leads to Tiananmen Square. It was pretty cold and very wind,y but we kept on to the square and also saw where Mao is buried.
It was very beautiful at night and ultra secure. I'm not sure if there is more police presence than normal but we saw hundreds of policemen along the way. They are going through their congress elections right now.
It was a very long but wonderful day. We both like Beijing even more than we hoped. Today we will go see a hutong (traditional neighborhood) in the morning and then we are off to Bo's province.
We wish there was more time to explore Beijing but we are very excited to go to Shanxi. One more sleep until our son!!! Please keep him in your prayers!!
The flight here was very long. We had hoped to sleep more but we just couldn't. All in all a good flight. Korean Air is pretty nice.
We went through Korea really briefly with not too much time to spare to catch our flight to Beijing. Our bags and guide met us in Beijing and we checked into our hotel Friday night. After not sleeping much the night before we left and not sleeping much on the plane we were beyond tired and just crashed when we got to the hotel.
Day one was AMAZING. Seriously awesome!
We started the day with breakfast at our hotel. It was a huge buffet of western and Chinese food. Then we met our guide and headed off.
We first went to a jade manufacturer/store. Very interesting to watch them carve the stone, see all the beautiful pieces and learn a little about how to tell real jade from fake.
Then we headed to the JuYong Pass area of the Great Wall. It was so interesting to see in person and we hiked up about 45 minutes. It was pretty much all stairs in the section we were at, so the climb was pretty much vertical, but the views were amazing. We hiked up to tower 9 which felt respectable because it was raining. We saw many umbrellas below us and very few above. :)
We bought a lock there to give to Bo someday. We saw thousands of heart shaped locks there. From what we can tell you put a lock somewhere special with your wife and throw away the key to symbolize your ever lasting love. We hope someday Bo will come back here with his wife.
From there we went to the Olympic stadium and saw the birds nest and water cube and then went on to lunch. Our guide took us to a wonderful local restaurant. I'm pretty sure we were the only tourists in the place. The food was fantastic.
Next stop was a tea house where we went through a tea ceremony and tasted many different kinds of tea. It was interesting to taste them side by side. We spent far too much on beautiful teas but they were really great.
Next we were off to an acrobatic show. The best description I can give is sort of a Chinese version of Cirque de Soleil. It was very amazing to watch.
Our guide brought us back to the hotel for dinner but we were still full from lunch so instead we headed out for a walk.
Right near our hotel is a walking street filled with high end shops. We strolled down walking street to another street that had a night market. We were told not to eat from the vendors but it was so interesting to see. We saw some extreme stuff (at least to me). Things like scorpion, silk worm, snake all on a stick like appetizer. There were also many things that looked yummy but we avoided it just to be safe.
We kept walking down the shopping street and onto a road that leads to Tiananmen Square. It was pretty cold and very wind,y but we kept on to the square and also saw where Mao is buried.
It was very beautiful at night and ultra secure. I'm not sure if there is more police presence than normal but we saw hundreds of policemen along the way. They are going through their congress elections right now.
It was a very long but wonderful day. We both like Beijing even more than we hoped. Today we will go see a hutong (traditional neighborhood) in the morning and then we are off to Bo's province.
We wish there was more time to explore Beijing but we are very excited to go to Shanxi. One more sleep until our son!!! Please keep him in your prayers!!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
On a wing and a prayer
So we are finally off to China!!! If you are wondering why we are doing this - meet Ethan!
We are so excited to finally be able to meet him and bring him home!!! YAY!!!
We will do our best to update family and friends via this blog.
I can't promise any blog greatness. That's my official disclaimer.
We will be flying to Beijing (via Korea) today.
We appreciate your prayers for safe travel, prayers for our kiddos we are leaving at home, prayers for my Dad and Linda who are caring for them.
Thank you Dad and Linda!!!
Mostly, we hope you will join us in praying for Ethan. As excited as we are to meet him, we know that he probably knows very little about us. This will be a huge transition for him! So we pray for a sense of peace for him through all of this.
More from Beijing.....
We are so excited to finally be able to meet him and bring him home!!! YAY!!!
We will do our best to update family and friends via this blog.
I can't promise any blog greatness. That's my official disclaimer.
We will be flying to Beijing (via Korea) today.
We appreciate your prayers for safe travel, prayers for our kiddos we are leaving at home, prayers for my Dad and Linda who are caring for them.
Thank you Dad and Linda!!!
Mostly, we hope you will join us in praying for Ethan. As excited as we are to meet him, we know that he probably knows very little about us. This will be a huge transition for him! So we pray for a sense of peace for him through all of this.
More from Beijing.....
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