T minus 19
Our plane tickets have been purchased, our hotels have been reserved, our guides have been scheduled and our Panda phone has been ordered.
We leave on Thursday, Sept 4- late morning. We will arrive in Beijing on FRIDAY NIGHT. Yes I said NIGHT!!! And, you did catch that we were leaving late THURSDAY MORNING. If you do the math, that's almost 24 hours of traveling. I'm not going to lie. I am afraid that I am going to gouge my eyes out on the flight from Detroit to Tokeyo. I can't imagine what one does on a plane for that amount of time. Then, they want me to get off the plane and get back on for a 4+ hour plane ride to Beijing. I think Paul is going to have to sedate me and call security to get me on that plane! Oh boy! This is going to be a long trip!
Sept 6-7 Tours are being arranged for us to tour the Great Wall, Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. We will also see an acrobatic show. (I know this is what Paul is looking forward to the most! HaHa!!!)
Sept 8 - Morning- Fly to Nanning
AFTERNOON- Go to the Civil Affairs Bureau of Guangxi Province TO GET EMME!!!!!
Sept 9- Civil affairs to complete adoption registration procedure. Go to Notary Office to complete notarization procedure.
Sept 10-11 Tour may be arranged and will be optional. Free time available if not touring. Pick up all notarized paperwork except the passport for Emme.
Sept 12- Pick up passport for Emme
Sept 13- Morning- Fly to Guangzhou
Sept 14- 8am- GO ON A MAD SEARCH TO FIND THE OSU vs. USC GAME (see previous post)
Tour may be arranged and will be optional. Free time available if not touring.
Sept 15- Have visa picture taken and medical exam performed for Emme.
Sept 16- Our guide submits the visa application document for us to the U.S. Consulate
Sept 17- Group oath taken at the U.S. Consulate. Receive Emme's visa.
Sept 18- Morning- fly home wrestling a baby for 24+ hours, touchdown in the good ol' USA!! Yeehaw!!
There you have it!
P.S. A Panda phone is a phone we rented so our kids could call us and we could call them. It's at the hotel when we arrive and we leave it at our last hotel.
P.S.S. The picture at the top- The Beacon will be my next post.
6 comments:
I'm hearing a lot about those Panda phones. Do you know what advantages they hold over a regular cell phone with international service? My hubby has a work phone that they are allowing him to bring with, and the tech guys have assured us it will be fine. But as a mom leaving her four "babies" (ha!) behind, I find I'd like some more information :)
Congrats on your travel arrangements. God certainly is paving the way for your trip!
I am soooo excited for you guys! I can't wait to follow your journey! Best wishes and have a great time! I was in China about the same time 4 years ago...time goes too fast. I left on Sept 7 and got LiLi on Sept 13th (12th our time so I celebrate both)
Have a wonderful time and enjoy it all. I shopped until I dropped and loved it all. I did carry on only and came back with 170 pounds of extra luggage. Enjoy the exchange rates!!!
I did use the Panda phones and I had no problems. It was great to call family and friends any time.
Well I can just go on and on about China. If you need any packing tips, feel free and ask.
Congrats!!!
Sharyn
Hey I just noticed that you said that you are from Buckeye Country. I am from Boardman, Ohio (Youngstown). If you don't want to say where in Ohio you are from but here is my email address. If you email me I can sign you up for LiLi's Blog page. She is 4 and full of life.
Sharyn
sharyn-lili@hotmail.com
I'm so excited for you! It seems like it was just yesterday that we received our itinerary and now we've been home 2 weeks. For the trip to Beijing...Tetris! Get one of those little handheld electronic games from Walmart (solitaire and yahtzee too)...you can lose yourself for long periods of time in those games!
I absolutely can't wait to follow your journey...it's going to be amazing! Counting down with you!
Love,
Sharla
Congrats on getting your trip all planned. The flight is long but you'll survive! Have a wonderful time :)
I'm so excited for you guys... You will be in our prayers like crazy, the couple days before, during, and after. Enjoy your sweet little girl.
PS... Shelby looks so much like you in the picture with the Beacon.
PPS... Would you pray for us... 1) This Sunday something BIG is going on that could change the course of our lives... and 2) that I'd have patience until Sunday. Thank you.
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