Nyle has been doing a great job keeping up the blog, but today I'm taking over the keyboard. I have so much to say.
What a contrast between Beijing and Nanning! We're very close to Vietnam and the countryside reminds me of the jungles that I've seen on American war movies. It's unbearably hot and humid. I hope we'll adjust. While Beijing was heavily influenced by Western ideas, Nanning is remote and more of what I imagined China would be like.
We are very much a spectacle to the Chinese. For the first time in my life, I really understand what it is to be a minority. The girls are continuously surrounded as everyone wants to take their pictures and touch their blonde hair. We try to always smile and be polite, but at times it can be tiring. Many people approach us and count our children...one,two, three and then give us the thumbs up. They refer to Patrick as our "handsome boy." Yesterday, he told me that he plans to come back to China when he's older. Ha!
I'm anxious to sample the food here in Nanning-it's mostly Cantonese. The food in Beijing was wonderful! Everyone here eats so healthy. We actually feel better now that our diets have changed to mostly fresh fruit, rice, chicken, and steemed veggies. Although, yesterday in the Beijing airport we found a KFC. It tasted great!
We had trouble obtaining purified water in Beijing. We were advised not to drink bottled water from anywhere other than the hotel. Of course, it was sold for $7.00 a bottle. (The kids were thrilled to drink as much Coke as they wanted.) Here in Nanning, our hotel provides us with unlimited purified water. We're rehydrating!
Our hotel is nice and very clean. The staff is extremely helpful. Best of all, our room has a tiny metal crib waiting for Fiona. I can't believe that we'll meet her tomorrow. It seems like we've been waiting forever to hold her. How blessed we'll be to finally have her!
Today we plan to visit some local markets. We'll take lots of photos and post them later. Keep the comments coming. We look forward to reading them every day. We miss everyone so much!
Where in the world are the Bolligers?
Fiona Anne FuYe Bolliger
Fiona's Referral Picture
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Countdown to Meet Fiona: 2 Days
We survived our second full day in Beijing! We signed up for a bus tour to the Great Wall, Ming's Tomb, a jade factory, and a Traditional Chinese Medicine center. It was quite a day!
The tour bus departed from our hotel at 7:00 AM and we proceeded to wander through the city picking up other people from hotels. We ended up going with a lady from Tel Aviv (whose brother worked for Amdocs of all places), and two gentlemen from Iran with their Chinese host. We had a Chinese guide (Angela) who kept us all together and provided great information into the history of all of these places as well as insight into the culture. We also had a bus driver that we decided would be the first person we'd hire for driving a get-away car for a bank robbery. He did things with that bus that I think may have violated a few laws of physics.
We saw Ming's Tomb which is actually a collection of various tombs from the Ming dynasty that are strategically placed across a large valley. These tombs are incredible and the whole history and symbolism behind them all is mind numbing. After that, we went to a jade factory where we got a tour and the "opportunity" to purchase some jade pieces ourselves. We went from the jade factory to the Traditional Chinese Medicine center where we had lunch. Much of the food was made from traditional herbs and spices. It was quite good. One of the intriguing aspects of lunch was that we were all sitting down at a table in Beijing with people from China, Israel, and Iran all eating and talking and enjoying the experience. Although we are all from different corners of the globe, we were able to talk and share stories as though we had known each other for years. English truly is the main international language.
After lunch, we went to the Great Wall. We had to take these little carts to get to the wall on the mountain which reminded me of Alpine Slides. Once on the wall, we had to hike it to get to various the posts/towers along the wall. We were in the mountainous area of the wall and it was very steep. The wall is truly incredible. It is unbelievable the amount of work that was required to build this. The hike and altitude really took a toll on us and we were feeling it by the end of the day. Once again, the girls were a center of attraction. We were stopped a number of times and the girls were asked to be in pictures; we're also on another 100 cell phones.
We got a call from Echo last night who is our ISS rep/guide during the adoption process in Nanning and Guangzhou. She seems so nice and we will meet up with her tomorrow night. We then get Fiona the next day! We will fly from Beijing to Nanning this afternoon.
We are getting your comments. Thanks for sending them!
The tour bus departed from our hotel at 7:00 AM and we proceeded to wander through the city picking up other people from hotels. We ended up going with a lady from Tel Aviv (whose brother worked for Amdocs of all places), and two gentlemen from Iran with their Chinese host. We had a Chinese guide (Angela) who kept us all together and provided great information into the history of all of these places as well as insight into the culture. We also had a bus driver that we decided would be the first person we'd hire for driving a get-away car for a bank robbery. He did things with that bus that I think may have violated a few laws of physics.
We saw Ming's Tomb which is actually a collection of various tombs from the Ming dynasty that are strategically placed across a large valley. These tombs are incredible and the whole history and symbolism behind them all is mind numbing. After that, we went to a jade factory where we got a tour and the "opportunity" to purchase some jade pieces ourselves. We went from the jade factory to the Traditional Chinese Medicine center where we had lunch. Much of the food was made from traditional herbs and spices. It was quite good. One of the intriguing aspects of lunch was that we were all sitting down at a table in Beijing with people from China, Israel, and Iran all eating and talking and enjoying the experience. Although we are all from different corners of the globe, we were able to talk and share stories as though we had known each other for years. English truly is the main international language.
After lunch, we went to the Great Wall. We had to take these little carts to get to the wall on the mountain which reminded me of Alpine Slides. Once on the wall, we had to hike it to get to various the posts/towers along the wall. We were in the mountainous area of the wall and it was very steep. The wall is truly incredible. It is unbelievable the amount of work that was required to build this. The hike and altitude really took a toll on us and we were feeling it by the end of the day. Once again, the girls were a center of attraction. We were stopped a number of times and the girls were asked to be in pictures; we're also on another 100 cell phones.
We got a call from Echo last night who is our ISS rep/guide during the adoption process in Nanning and Guangzhou. She seems so nice and we will meet up with her tomorrow night. We then get Fiona the next day! We will fly from Beijing to Nanning this afternoon.
We are getting your comments. Thanks for sending them!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Countdown To Meet Fiona: 3 Days
It's 4:00 AM in the morning and our internal clocks aren't quite adjusted yet! We all went to bed around 8:00 PM last night; it was as late as any of us could stay awake.
Our first day in Beijing was very interesting and fun. We went to the Forbidden City and saw some amazing things. We also saw Tiananmen Square which was quite intriguing as well. The biggest shock was that we are quite a tourist attraction ourselves! The Chinese people seem to love our kids; especially, little blonde haired blue eyed girls. We literally had young girls lining up to have their pictures taken with the girls. Everywhere we went, people were taking our pictures. We must be on a hundred cell phones. They also seemed to be intrigued with our choice of footwear -- especially sandals / flip flops. This is a wonderful experience for our family to get to see all of this and understand other parts of the world and their cultures.
Today we have a tour scheduled for the Great Wall, Ming's tomb, and a market. It should be quite interesting and we are looking forward to it. We have a number of pictures that we'll try to post later today.
Our first day in Beijing was very interesting and fun. We went to the Forbidden City and saw some amazing things. We also saw Tiananmen Square which was quite intriguing as well. The biggest shock was that we are quite a tourist attraction ourselves! The Chinese people seem to love our kids; especially, little blonde haired blue eyed girls. We literally had young girls lining up to have their pictures taken with the girls. Everywhere we went, people were taking our pictures. We must be on a hundred cell phones. They also seemed to be intrigued with our choice of footwear -- especially sandals / flip flops. This is a wonderful experience for our family to get to see all of this and understand other parts of the world and their cultures.
Today we have a tour scheduled for the Great Wall, Ming's tomb, and a market. It should be quite interesting and we are looking forward to it. We have a number of pictures that we'll try to post later today.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Count Down to Meet Fiona: 4 Days
We've arrived in China! We spent 20 hours flying yesterday. The flight between Detroit and Tokyo was 14 hours on a jumbo jet. We had the very last row in the plane that was completely full. Since it was next to the bathrooms, we got to meet and talk to a multitude of people from all over the planet. The kids were great and made the trip with no complaints.
Sue has decided that she wants to move to Tokyo. It is the cleanest most organized place on the earth. Every 20 yards there was someone who was there to either help you or was cleaning. We felt as though Monk designed and operated this place.
Beijing is very nice as well. The people are incredibly helpful and polite. We arrived in the Hotel around 11:00 PM last night and we are now just getting up (it is 6:00 PM Central Time, 7:00 AM Beijing time). Our internal clocks are all out of whack! The hotel is very nice; however, the kids were dismayed that the hotel staff didn't know what a vending machine was. There will be some adapting that is going to occur.
We will be doing sightseeing today -- we may hit the Forbidden City and the Temple to Heaven. We'll keep posting updates as we go and are able to.
Sue has decided that she wants to move to Tokyo. It is the cleanest most organized place on the earth. Every 20 yards there was someone who was there to either help you or was cleaning. We felt as though Monk designed and operated this place.
Beijing is very nice as well. The people are incredibly helpful and polite. We arrived in the Hotel around 11:00 PM last night and we are now just getting up (it is 6:00 PM Central Time, 7:00 AM Beijing time). Our internal clocks are all out of whack! The hotel is very nice; however, the kids were dismayed that the hotel staff didn't know what a vending machine was. There will be some adapting that is going to occur.
We will be doing sightseeing today -- we may hit the Forbidden City and the Temple to Heaven. We'll keep posting updates as we go and are able to.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Countdown to Get Fiona: 6 Days
Today was the final day of packing and getting things ready to go. We heard that Fiona was sick last week with a fever, cold, and cough. Hopefully she'll be back to health when we pick her up.
We'll leave from Indianapolis at 1:10 PM tomorrow afternoon. We'll finally get into Beijing at 9:30 PM the next day. Nothing like 20 hours of flying. Pray for a safe trip!
We'll leave from Indianapolis at 1:10 PM tomorrow afternoon. We'll finally get into Beijing at 9:30 PM the next day. Nothing like 20 hours of flying. Pray for a safe trip!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)