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Wednesday, November 5, 2008 7:30PM Well, we are here on in our hotel in Beijing after a long day of travel, which began yesterday. It's already Wednesday evening here. By God's grace I've been able to travel a handful of times now internationally and the experience of the first day is predictable, for me anyway. I'm always a bit disoriented because so many things are different. Forgive me for getting a little deep here but I think we derive a good bit of our identity by being in comfortable surroundings. I suppose it's why we like to shop at the same grocery store, sit in the same pew, go to the same movie theater and hang out with the same people. We are creatures of habit and when we are familiar, we are comfortable. Of course, we like some variety. Some of us like to try new foods, or going to new restaurants or visiting new places. But traveling in a foreign country is a sensory overload that tends to overwhelm. Almost nothing is the same. I feel a little bad for my mom, though she is quite the trooper, because not only is she encountering a foreign culture for the first time, it's her first time to negotiate flying at all. The day generated a little bit of everything that air travel offers, both good and bad. And then we land in cavernous airport, negotiate customs and within minutes we are driving in one of the largest cities in the world with a man whose English skills amount to "Nice to meet you," and when I tried to say something else he replied, "I'm sorry I don't speak English." You've heard plenty about Beijing, I don't need to review that except that it's a fascinating place, not that I have seen much of it so far. Lots of people, big buildings, cars, bikes, rickshaws, super nice cars, dilapidated buses, poverty and wealth. We were transported in a late model Audi that was in perfect condition. We ventured out to find something to eat after getting settled in the hotel. I felt like McDonalds was a good plan, for there to be something somewhat familiar. The day has held plenty of jarring firsts, I didn't think we needed to add negotiating a restaurant where we couldn't read the menu and couldn't communicate with anyone else. Today and tomorrow we are mostly on our own. (We did meet our guide from Bethany who provided transportation to the hotel and some suggestions on where to find something to eat.) But after tomorrow we will have two guides with us all the time and we will be with five other adopting families. I am grateful for the experience of trying to negotiate a new culture on my own, it's always a challenge and I feel that I'm spiritually challenged by the experience. The agency continues to cautiously warn us that this trip will not necessarily be an easy thing. The stresses of being in a foreign culture can be daunting. More significantly however, is that it is typically a traumatic experience for the child being adopted. We are about to introduce Noelle to people she has never met. Of course, we are confident that we are following God's call but in the short term we will be removing her from everything that she has ever known. Only God knows what that's like for a one year old child. Please pray with us that she will adjust well, that she will be able to strongly experience not just our love, but more importantly the love of God. Though she won't be able to understand anything about that now, it's my prayer that she will begin to sense it in her heart. I don't know how to communicate to a one year old child I've never met. But God does and in that I take great hope. Thanks for being along on this journey with us, I don't know if I'll write this much every day or not. But today, there is so much on my mind, and I tend to think by writing.
God bless you, Gene (and Kat who is sleeping off a hard day of travel ) ------------------------------ Monday, November 03, 2008
Perhaps we could call today pre-travel. Thanks to the generosity of a friend, we are staying in a hotel near the airport in Norfolk because we have a really early flight. That way no one has to get up at 3:00 AM tomorrow to drive us to the airport and for that we are grateful, especially Will & Hannah. We are excited and nervous, but so looking forward to meeting Noelle. We picked up a baby carrier from Laurie Kimrey who happened to be at the mall in Norfolk and had a quick dinner there at the mall. Mom talked me into sharing a slice of Snickers cheesecake. I definitely can’t afford to eat like that very much. Our daughter Hannah and Will’s girlfriend Kim drove Kat, mom and me to the hotel.
I want to get started. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to sleep tonight. Tomorrow will be a really long day, but I am so looking forward to actually getting airborne and on our way. It’s odd to be flying all day long on Election Day. Kat, mom and I all three have already voted. If all goes as planned, we should land in Beijing about 2:00 AM Eastern Time Wednesday morning. If I’m thinking straight that will be about 3:00 PM Wednesday in Beijing. Of course, we’ll be extremely curious to find out how the election went. Thanks for reading. I don’t know how long it will take me to be able to post to the site again. I’m not sure how coherent I’ll be when we get to our hotel Wednesday evening but if I can string a thought or two together, I will certainly try to do so. God bless you, Gene
We fly from Norfolk, VA to Newark NJ to Beijing starting at 6:15 AM on Tuesday. |