We've arrived!

We're here!

We left home at 5 am on Monday morning, March 30, and left St. John's at 7 am for Toronto. After 6 hours hanging out in Toronto, our flight for Beijing left at 3 pm and 13.5 hours later we landed in the great sprawling city of Beijing. Flying in, the girls could see mountains and then the city get bigger and bigger. It made them excited to explore. 

We met the Dower-Renaults - Steve, Lisa, Caleb, Joshua and Levi, at the airport (they arrived an hour ahead of us) and after filing a report for Gina's lost luggage (how unfair is that!) Lis hailed us a cab and the ten of us, along with all our luggage, piled into a mini van that made the Grand Caravan look like a luxury tour bus. Needless to say, seat belts were not a priority. 

We arrived at our apartment, which we all agree is far superior to anything we could have imagined. Towering windows, balconies, fluffy white duvets and all the comforts of home. 

Dinner was a different story. We went to a hot pot place around the corner and puzzled over the menu, making our choices from the photos. We ordered what looked like (a) spicy chicken, which turned out to be burn-the-face-off-you suicide bits of white thingsthat may or may not have been chicken; (b) chicken and rice, which turned out to be chicken FEET and rice; and (c) pork and veggies, which turned out to be pork fat and other things that none of us were brave enough to try. We all came home and ate nutella and bread. Thank God for that bit of foresight. 

The girls and boys are getting along like best buddies. While the adults sipped wine in one apartment last night, the kids swung from the beams in the other apartment. Literally...we opened the door to face Caleb swinging from the living room beam with Jo in the background perched on the five-foot high window ledge. 

Today, we're renting bicycles and riding through Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. And we're hunting for food that everyone will eat. 

Gina