Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Keep replying to our posts!

We have been checking twice a day and enjoy feeling connected to those of you that have posted. This is so exciting. Tomorrow is the big day. Probably no sleep tonight. Next pics will be of us with our beautiful little girl.

Love you all. Alex and Jason.

Who says there is no hockey in China...



An intense game of hockey broke out on the 8th floor of the Bejing International Hotel after lunch. The game was settled in the overtime session with the win going to Mathew and Todd over Jason and Charlie. The chinese men and women passing us to the elevator had to duck a few rubber pucks. No Ming Vases were broken during the game.

Silk Market


On the way back from the Hutang tour we stopped at the famous Silk Market. It is a huge place to haggle for cheap knock-offs of anything from clothes to jewelry to luggage and art. We had people yelling at us from everywhere and swarming us to show us their wares. It was fun. We saw a few adoptive families there putting clothes on their beautiful new babies. That was so exciting for us as tomorrow at 2pm is the big moment for us!!!!

Hutang Tour.











We went on the Hutang tour this morning. It was quite chilly. The tour is by bicycle (with us under blanket) in back through an old community in the city. We stopped at a local kindergarten where we went into two classes and met the children where they sang to us and then we sang to them the same songs in english. It ended with tea in a local family's home. Quite amazing.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Debbie and Kirks blog

In case any of you cant get enough from our blog go to http://bringinghomeolivia.blogspot.com/
Love Alex and Jason.

Chinese Acrobatics!


After my hour long, full body massage, we packed up and went to the Chinese Acrobatics show. These young women and men were incredible! They turned themselves into human pretzels and leaped and flipped everywhere. It was done to great music with compelling lighting.
We are thinking alot about our little girl and really are starting to get excited! It is hard to imagine sleeping tonight.
We are off on a Hutang tour this morning- which will include a visit to a local kindergarten and a visit with a local family in their home for tea. After that we will go to the Silk market for some shopping and lunch. The rest of our group is flying in this afternoon to meet us at the hotel. We will have to pack tonight for the province. Alex started this yesterday, but somehow we have to get all our stuff into two bags under 44lbs!
Miss you all, Love Alex and Jason.

Food... thank god!

We just wanted to reassure everyone that we are eating. The restaurant here is quite American and our breakfasts have been great. Bacon, eggs, cereal, potatoes, fruit and delicious coffee! Also, accross the street is KFC, McDonalds and delicious Starbucks. All taste just like home and have sat well with our limited efforts to eat locally.... sorry Eric. I ordered spaghetti from room service last night and it was great. Prices here are inexpensive. Alex and i ordered meals from McDonalds yesterday and the cost for both of us was under $5 Cdn. (so about $2.50 each).

We are also sleeping quite well (and enjoying it), as we know that it all ends tomorrow when we finally meet our sweet pea.

Summer Palace










We went to the Summer Palace yesterday morning. It was amazing. This is where the Emperor went in the summer when the city heat was unbearable. It is north-west of the city against the mountains so it is cooler. They created a man-made lake with many beautiful bridges at some great expense. The weather was crisp, but the skies are blue. We picked up lattes and walked the grounds. At the end there were many locals trying to sell us Gucci bags and quilts. They followed us a long time down the road, always reducing their prices the farther we went. On our way to the Summer Palace we passed the incredble work being done for the Olympics. The main stadium called "The Nest" was incredible! It is an enormous tangle of bent steel beams in the form of a huge birds nest. The diving facility was a steel structure wrapped in bubbled acrylic panels and was immense. The workers are going around the clock to have it ready in time. The traffic is unsettling, as all cars, buses, makeshift motorcycle cars, bicycles and pedestrians try to avoid each other by inches!!! It is making some people in the goup sick.

Monday, January 29, 2007

We have arrived

After a long flight, we are finally in Bejing.
We are off to the Summer Palace today and then to the Chinese Acrobatics show. We had a yummy breakfast and slept well last night.
Will post again later.
Love Alex and Jason.

Thursday, January 4, 2007