Experiencing China

Our hotel

A rickshaw

Had a great day today. Only 3 days until we meet Ella!! We started out the morning with an orientation meeting. There are 19 families here from Bethany in our group. There will be another couple traveling with us to Wuhan, where Ella is located. They are bringing home their 18 month old daughter. Everyone in our group is so friendly. After the meeting we all headed to the Bank of China where we spent 3 hours exchanging our money into yuan - the Chinese currency. We have a stack of bills two and a half inches thick that we are supposed to conceal under our clothing when we head to Wuhan to pick up Ella ... umm not sure how that is going to work. For lunch we headed to McDonalds with some members of our group. We pointed at pictures to place our order. There are cars, and people everywhere!! There are no driving laws only "suggestions" as our guide put it. Bicyclist weave in and out of traffic. Crossing the street as a pedestrian is an adventure and a bit of a risk. Many people stare at us but all the Chinese people have been very kind. Personal space doesn't really exist and if you are too slow/leave a gap you will be passed up or cut in front of without a second thought. A short break in our room and then off to see an acrobatic show. It was fantastic. We ate dinner at the Chinese restaurant next to our hotel with a Jill and Scott, a couple in our group that live south of Indianapolis. The staff in the restaurant didn't speak English so ordering was fun. We were pointing at items and thought we each ordered one entree. Dish after dish kept arriving to our table!! I laughed and laughed and we all had a good time. I'm not gifted at using chop sticks and opted to use my serving spoon (large in size) to feed myself. A table of men near us found this amusing. Paul on the other hand picked up cooked onions with his chop sticks - I was impressed!! We were able to see and talk with Colin and Carleigh today and that warmed our hearts. Grandma Maje and Aunt Kathy are enjoying the kids and taking good care of them. Off to bed soon as we have an early morning. We will visit the Great Wall tomorrow.