Ni hao! Wow! I hardly known where to begin! What a whirlwind two or maybe three days it has been! Our trip from Honolulu was very long, but all in all a very good trip. We have nothing but good things to say about Korean Airlines. We had a full flight, but flew on a 747, had incredible leg room (I could actually cross my legs!) individual movie screens, and delicious food. I know that last one sounds like an oxymoron, but it is true. Jolon got to watch the movies he wanted, Tori watched Winnie the Pooh and played games, and I watched three movies, Puss in Boots, Footloose, and The Help. I haven't seen three movies in the last year! The only downside beside the 11 hours+ it took to get to Korea, was that it was way too warm in the plane. The whole trip will be like that, cold outside and way too hot inside, especially with winter clothes on.
The Incheon Airport in Korea was beautiful and a good place to have a three hour layover. Some of you have seen the picture we posted of Tori playing on the indoor play equipment. What a fantastic idea! She really needed a chance to let off some steam and run and play. Totally wonderful!
The final leg was the hour and fifteen minute flight to Beijing. Pretty uneventful, except by this time sleep deprivation caught up with me and I actually fell asleep as we were taxiing down the runway. I have never done that! Tori fell asleep partway through and we had to wake her up when we got to the gate. Then it was the half-mile walk to immigration, always a bit of a scary process, even though we breezed through.
Before I go on, Jolon and I have to sing the praises of our beautiful daughter, Tori. A trip of this length could make an adult go stir crazy, but she was unbelievable. We brought things for her to do, and she did a little of them, but mostly she wanted to watch movies and talk to us. She is so good about entertaining herself. Each time we have gone on a long trip she had been fantastic, including her initial flight from China to Honolulu almost four years ago when she was only 15 months old.
Okay so now we have cleared immigration and customs and we need to try and find someone from our hotel who is supposed to pick us up. Of course there are tons of people but we manage to find him, holding a sign that could only be for us....The Wengener Family! I have a feeling this will be the norm for the trip. :)
We bundled up before we went outside, added a few layers to Tori's ensemble and then it hit us, the blast of arctic air. So cold you can see the steamy air not just out of your mouth but out of your nostrils, too. Tori loved it. It had snowed during the day and there was a light dusting of it on the streets, cars, and trees. Quite beautiful and of course, such a novelty for us.
We checked in to a nice hotel by the airport and then it was definitely time to shower and get to bed. We needed to be up early in the morning in order to eat and get to the airport on our own. I was a little nervous about that, but all turned out well. We had a great breakfast buffet; all the breakfast buffets are good, a combination of Chinese fare and Western food. Think french toast with a side of steamed vegetables and a half ear of corn.
I will sign off at this point as I am very tired. Definitely feeling some jet lag. Next stop Hohhot, Inner Mongolia where we will meet our son, Taz, a few hours after we land.
Thank you for following us on this incredible journey but most importantly for your love, support, and prayers. We NEVER could do any of this without knowing we have such an awesome network of family and friends. So, until a few hours from now when we will become a family of four....zài jiàn
