The Daddy Diary - Day One

* * * Now that we've been home for almost 3 months - we are reviewing our unpublished blog posts from China and adding in the photos.  And we are FINALLY ready to post some more about our trip.  The next few blog posts will be from "The Daddy Diary" - the electronic journal Brian wrote of our experiences in China.  We will link you back to the posts I wrote to remind you of my perspective of our journey.  Once we've had the opportunity to catch up The Daddy Diary with our other blog posts while in China, we will begin posting both of our journals from each day's events.  I hope you enjoy reading about how our love crossed oceans to complete our family. * * *

Here's the first post I wrote about our travel to Beijing:
http://mcginnispartyoffive.blogspot.com/2014/04/we-left-on-jet-plane-or-two-wednesday.html

The Daddy Diary - Day One

     And just like that, we started our journey to pick up our little daughter and little sister, Emma. We didn't get to bed early as we had planned. The problems with sorting our clothes among suitcases presented a dilemma. We had more clothes and less weight allowance for free. It was an interesting dilemma. Our American carrier, United, would allow us a lot more weight than we had in our suitcases. But we knew that traveling on the domestic flights in China had a weight restriction of forty-four (44) pounds. 

     Therefore, we decided to keep our weight to forty-four (44) pounds and add an additional suitcase. We were only allowed four free suitcases. One for each of us, Brian, Shannon, Ian and Aidan. The fifth would cost, we just didn't know how much. And we wouldn't know how much until we arrived at the airport (too late to be able to turn back and make a different decision).

     We found out soon enough. We packed five suitcases for checking. We had four carry-ons and a personal item for each of us. Lately airlines have been really good about charging extra fees. It’s practically made them more financially solvent than they were before. The fifth checked bag was an even $100. But it was worth it to have a smooth flight and plenty of items for us in China. Plus, we would not have to pay on the way back to the United States because Emma would be allowed a checked bag.

     We made it to the airport and had no line getting our boarding passes. We sped through the TSA checkpoint. The only thing that slowed us down was liquid medication packed in a carry-on. Band-Aid antiseptic wash and liquid milk-of-magnesia might have been thrown away at the check-point if it had not been for the story of our adoption that Shannon relayed to the TSA agent.

  

     The flight was comparatively short. The two hour flight was on a small plane. Although we asked for our seats to be side-by-side (or at least where one adult could sit with one child), the seats assigned to us were not side-by-side. Two kind gentleman made way for me to sit across the “aisle,” keeping a watchful eye on Aidan. One man even had a bum knee from being in the military and wanted the aisle seat. But he gave it up for our little 5 year-old Aidan.

  

     The person I sat beside was from the Lenoir area. He was taking students to Wisconsin on an exchange program for a short four-day visit. His wife taught at Catawba Valley Community College, down the road from Catawba Valley Medical Center, where I work.

     We made it to our destination in Chicago for the three-hour layover there. We quickly found a bathroom and while Shannon and the boys were waiting for me. They were approached by a family who had read our blog who was also adopting from China. Although they used a different agency, we would be Beijing bound on the same flight.

     Restless children being what they may, the boys were quickly hungry. A McDonald’s was a short walk away. I knew that would be their destination. The boys got their typical 4-piece and 6-piece chicken McNuggets, while mommy and daddy kept to a grilled chicken sandwich. We ate sitting in the concourse seats across from the McDonald’s and we polished off our meal and left for our gate with plenty of time to spare. 

     We also timed it just right. The person just came out of the employee walkway and she went directly to the podium to begin checking passports and boarding passes. We were second in line with a lot (I mean a whole lot) of people behind us. While some people who spoke Chinese were accustomed to our line system, the United agent was quick to tell them to go to the end of the line. When she realized they did not speak English, she would speak more loudly in an attempt to break the language barrier.

     At one point, I felt bad for an older lady and decided it was time to begin using my Chinese language skills. I asked her in Chinese if she could speak English and her reply was “No.” Then I was at a loss because I had not prepared for the moment to have to tell someone in Chinese to go to the end of the line.

     But eventually we received our boarding passes and got ready for our journey overseas. We met one lady who could speak Chinese and English. When I said “Nin hao” to an elderly gentleman she took the time to speak to us in English about China and the Chinese language. She seemed to be focusing on Aidan and was particularly impressed with China’s pandas. 

     Now, we are on the plane and it does seem to be taking forever. We quickly flew into Canada and we could see the snow on the ground. We will fly over the North Pole next (or at least closer to it than Alaska). According to the flight computer we have traveled 2,099 miles and are over the northern part of Canada. Just a little over 3,000 miles left to fly. Our ground speed is 544 mph. Our altitude is 34,001 feet. We have eight hours and 53 minutes left in the flight. The outside air temperature is -62 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, that’s right a negative number.

     But, it’s warm in here and Aidan is ready to start playing games on the monitor on the back of the seat in front of him. Anything to keep him busy.

     We then arrived in Beijing’s airport. Surprisingly that part of the airport was pretty empty. We sped by the equipment that  quickly tests your temperature. I don’t know what happens if you have a fever and I didn't want to find out. We used the restroom and followed the crowd. Now we knew why it was not busy. We had to take a light rail train to another area of the airport to claim our luggage.

     But it was all there. Thank goodness! Another couple we met who was adopting and was on the flight said they seemed to have lost their luggage. We had to quickly move on so we may never find out the ending to that story.

     We made our way to the next gate area. There we spotted a friendly sign. Our last name! And it was Helen, our guide, who was holding it. So she led us through the crowd quickly to our van that would be taking us to our hotel.

     The trip was sort of uneventful. However, it was rush hour on a Wednesday. Not exactly the place you want to be at that time. However, we had no choice but to wait it out.

     Helen ordered us take out and had it to delivered to our room. It was actually ready before we got there. We briefly bought some bottled water and we were good to go. 

     So we made it to our hotel, exchanged some money, and then off to our rooms for some sleep. Except it was too early. We had to wait about five more hours until bedtime.

     The pizza tasted good and gave us what we needed before we hit the sack. Hopefully, since we had not slept on the way, we would sleep restfully. However, that was not the case.