In Beijing

Well, we have arrived in Beijing. We had a wonderful flight. When we were standing in line to get on our plane, a ticket agent came up to us and said, “Let me see your boarding passes” He stamped them, winked at us, and said, “today is your lottery day” We didn’t know what he did, but assumed it was something good. When we got on the plane, we were seated in first class.

That’s when we made spectacles of ourselves. We laughed and pulled out our pillows and blankets, complimentary socks, individual TV screens with GPS that showed where we were at all times. We were served a 4-course meal and many other things.

I sat beside a man who works at the US Embassy here in Beijing. We talked a lot and he told us many interesting things! It was a long flight but the time went by quickly because it was so nice and relaxing in FIRST CLASS. Our Embassy friend told us that economy class in and out of China is really chaotic. Our return flight should be quite different. We met a couple on the plane heading to pick up a little girl from the same orphanage we are. There were four adoptive families on our flight.

All the airport employees where we went through immigration and customs wore masks. You know...because we are contaminated. :-) (Actually, I think it's because of the flu scare around the world.)

We are hungry but afraid to eat. Our guide, Susan, wrote a note for us to carry with us that says “No Ice” and “No vegetables or fruit” in Chinese characters. Listening to her chatter in Chinese with the hotel staff makes us smile. She just stood here and gave us a whole bunch of instructions that I tried to follow, but I am about asleep on my feet and nothing she said really stuck in my mind very well. We are exactly 12 hours ahead of you all.

That’s all for now. Mitch is out jogging, of course! The streets are full of mopeds. I think I’m going to take a nap. Love you all…and…Christian and Gracie, we miss you already, we love you very much.

-- from Cherie at 5:52 am our time.