Free Time in China

We are gathering ideas of things to see and do between adoption appointments. In Beijing we have a long list of options: the Great Wall, Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Pearl Market, Silk Market, KungFu and Acrobatic shows. Our host and guide, Joy, has assured us that we have great flexibility in planning, especially because it is low season for tourists. This will allow us to wait until Alice is with us to decide how we want to spend our free time.

We want to make sure that she has the opportunity to see as many of the great cultural sights of her birthplace as we can fit in and she is interested in seeing. I have no way of knowing yet if she has ever seen the Great Wall or any of the other iconic places in and around Beijing. We will strike a balance between quiet time at "home" getting to know each other and being on the go, learning about each other by how we react to various experiences. Hopefully we will have a bit of a honeymoon during those first days together when we can just enjoy the newness of each other and the excitement of sightseeing.

As the week wears on and the reality of leaving everything she has known settles in, it is very likely that we will see another side of Alice. She may put on a brave face, she may shut us out, she may regress emotionally, she may even become angry and resentful. Try to imagine what being adopted by a foreign family looks like from her perspective, realizing that she may not have very much (accurate, if any) information about the changes she is facing and no control over her life. Honestly, I find it rather amazing that any of these older kids agree to be adopted. Please pray for Alice and for us.

Our second week in Guangzhou will be slower paced. We are staying at The Garden Hotel. It is big, fancy, and totally different than any place we would select for ourselves, but our adoption agency gets a decent price there, other adopting families will be there and it will be our final splurge before coming home to real life. We don't have any big sightseeing plans for our time in Guangzhou. Besides finding interesting places to eat (we are on our own for lunches and dinners), the only things on my list of options are shopping (or at least browsing), Safari Park (nice all day outdoor activity), a cruise on the Pearl River (the night cruises give a wonderful view of the city lit up at night), and visiting some of the scenic city parks and/or Shamian Island.

I updated the itinerary page, but once we leave home I won't be able to make any more changes to that page. Glitch in the software doesn't see my other "pages", so I will only be posting to this main page. That should keep me plenty busy!

PS - In 48 hours we will be in the airport shuttle, on our way to Dulles International Airport!