Day One In The Books

Still battling some jet lag, but today we toured around the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island by foot and then by bus with the rest of our adoptive parents group. Hey Paul - I see now why you wanted to come with us just to stay at the White Swan again. I just came from the lobby where I was looking out over the Pearl River with the neon lights lining the opposite shore, the lobby waterfall was ever flowing, and a pianist/violinist duo was playing nearby. Chinese children all around added to the joyful sounds. A huge wedding dinner was taking place with elegantly dressed guests milling about. This place is magical.

I was in such a hurry on this morning's post that I forgot two incidents worth mentioning during the flight. First, at Detroit, while my bag was being searched right at the jetway, a Japanese woman came sprinting back up the jetway screaming about leaving her handbag behind. It was odd enough that about five security folks were hot on her trail. She found it. Angie and I had aisle seats from Detroit to Tokyo. The young Japanese man sitting in the window seat did not get up to move around, let alone take a potty break for 11-1/2 of the 12 hour flight. It hurt me to think about it. I guess he made it once he finally got up to the lavatory.

Today we had the tour of the Chen Family Museum that houses many provincial pieces of fine art. The wood carvings were incredible. Bonsai trees were all over. The ornamental roof was carved from porcelain. A lovely place, but hot in the Guangzhou heat and humidity. I'd throw in a few pictures but this computer is not recognizing my thumb drive.

Tomorrow is Gotcha Day! We fly to Kunming and then we will get Aidan. We cannot wait to see him. We had an interesting tease today. All of the 10 adoptive couples in orientation received a nice binder with info about the upcoming week, latest update on our child, and a latest picture. Oh, except for us five couples traveling to Kunming - no updated picture. Darn the luck.

I guess we'll just wait to see him in person.