Food, fun, and JET LAG!
Today was totally awesome! There were a few obstacles and incidents that made the day SO much more interesting...
We got up, ate breakfast (which was GREAT by the way), and went to orientation. Orientation was so long and boring until the end when we got to see Chloe Grace's most recent pictures! We were kind of disappointed because they shaved her head, but she's still as cute as all get-out! Mama was the most upset because she packed a huge bag of all different kinds of hair bows, and now she couldn't decorate Chloe Grace with them! The beginning of orientation was just one of the Holt guides about most of the things we already knew. The guide's name was Sarah, and she was so nice.
After orientation, we went to lunch, which is where is starts getting interesting. We got seated by a bunch of other really nice Holt adoptive parents, and also got a (non-English-speaking) waitress to read my allergy card. I'm allergic to peanuts and eggs, so we have to be really careful about what they give me. This was a Chinese arranged meal, though, so we didn't get to pick what we ate. In China, if a large group is eating together, they order a type of meal before-hand and eat it off of a giant lazy suzan thing. The waiters/waitresses just bring the food out on big platters and set it on the lazy suzan in the center of the table. Then the people spin it and you just get what you want off of it. They wanted to make sure I didn't get anything with eggs or peanuts in it, so instead of just checking the food, they brought me individual miniature plates with the exact same food as it was on the platters. Talk about feeling like a high-maintenance customer! I was so embarrassed because they were bringing me tons of food, I couldn't eat it all, and I was having them bring little plates out just for me. Man, that was really annoying because I was uncomfortable the whole time. Lunch was fabulous though, so I made it through-haha.
When everyone was done with lunch from our Holt group, we went to one of the many "beautiful places of Beijing." (that's what the guide kept saying about the places. They were all beautiful to him, I guess.) I have to do a fictional narrative about China, take pictures, and do a voice-over thing with it, and I know exactly where it's going to bet set-the Forbidden City. I love my story already, and I can't wait to finish it! The looks I get on the streets of Beijing are nothing compared to what I got here. The people WOULD NOT stop staring, and I promised myself, the next person who stares will get stared down by me! I am, unfortunately, too shy to do this. Oh well, I'll probably be a pretty bad starer myself by the end of these two weeks!
The Forbidden City is very beautiful and very crowded. We probably took about 150 pictures total today, most of them probably of palaces in the Forbidden City. I had to think about my fictional narrative and take pictures according to that, we had to take family pictures, and some were just for memories. My dad teased me when I asked him to take a picture of the Chinese guards. "You're going to get me arrested." he said. The guards did look at him pretty funny when he stepped in front of them like the paparazzi trying to get a good shot while they were walking! We also got to see the emperor's bed, throne, sitting room, and other fancy rooms made for the emperor's family. I learned some really cool facts about the Forbidden City. There are 9,999 rooms because the number 9 represents long life. Every emperor wanted to have a long life so they could be emperor forever, but that didn't happen. It took 14 years to build the whole thing, with over 1 million and 1/2 workers. It is about 600 years old, but wasn't open to the common public until 1925. Only 1/3 of it is available to the public even now, and the other parts are forbidden. I got some really good pictures of all the things we went to see in the Forbidden City, and we also got pictures from all the other places...
We walked about two miles to get to Tiananmen Square. I've been there before, but I was still surprised when I saw it because it is just SO huge! We came out from under a tunnel, and as I got to the top of the steps, I could see the Square. It is just a huge open part in the heart of Beijing with important buildings like the National Museum of China, the Civil Affairs building, and memorials. There were probably thousands of people there. There was a huge garden full of really pretty flowers, huge T.V. screens, guards, and more people I have ever seen in my life! I thought the looks in the Forbidden City and on the streets of Beijing were bad, but here, with so many people, I got so many looks of curiosity that I wanted to scream. I felt bad for my mom, though, because these two women just grabbed her while we were walking and wanted to take a picture. By the way, she has curly red hair just like me. I was so glad that nobody wanted their picture taken with me! In social studies, we are learning about the protest at Tiananmen Square in 1989, and I could easily see a huge protest here. It feels so much more real than when you just look at the pictures. I thought all these places were amazing!
Tiananmen Square and rode about 10 minutes to the silk factory of Beijing. They said it was probably the busiest one in China, and they were probably right. The lady who is president of the silk factory showed us around. She showed us the stages of the silkworms and when they make the silk for the Chinese people to spin and weave. I think it's pretty cool how they can get such important material from a worm! Since we are still getting over jet lag, it felt like about 5 in the morning to us at the silk factory, and we weren't very happy. Everyone in our group was trying to buy things, and we couldn't leave without them. By the time we got back to the hotel room, everyone except Hannah(who always has too much energy no matter what) felt ready to pass out. We decided to rest a little in the room. Then, we were hungry, so we went to a French restaurant. At this French restaurant, we ate Italian food-pizza, listened to Spanish music while in China, and we are American. My family and I found that very funny. China has a very good mix of all the different cultures! I am so tired because it is eight forty five at night here, and I got up around three thirty this morning, which was another effect of jet-lag! We have to be picked up tomorrow at 12:00 ready to go to Chloe Grace's province-Heliongjiang! I'm so excited because for all we know we could be getting her tomorrow. More than likely we're getting her Monday, but we are hoping whenever we get her it will be really memorable. Thanks for reading! Bye!
MaCayla
We got up, ate breakfast (which was GREAT by the way), and went to orientation. Orientation was so long and boring until the end when we got to see Chloe Grace's most recent pictures! We were kind of disappointed because they shaved her head, but she's still as cute as all get-out! Mama was the most upset because she packed a huge bag of all different kinds of hair bows, and now she couldn't decorate Chloe Grace with them! The beginning of orientation was just one of the Holt guides about most of the things we already knew. The guide's name was Sarah, and she was so nice.
After orientation, we went to lunch, which is where is starts getting interesting. We got seated by a bunch of other really nice Holt adoptive parents, and also got a (non-English-speaking) waitress to read my allergy card. I'm allergic to peanuts and eggs, so we have to be really careful about what they give me. This was a Chinese arranged meal, though, so we didn't get to pick what we ate. In China, if a large group is eating together, they order a type of meal before-hand and eat it off of a giant lazy suzan thing. The waiters/waitresses just bring the food out on big platters and set it on the lazy suzan in the center of the table. Then the people spin it and you just get what you want off of it. They wanted to make sure I didn't get anything with eggs or peanuts in it, so instead of just checking the food, they brought me individual miniature plates with the exact same food as it was on the platters. Talk about feeling like a high-maintenance customer! I was so embarrassed because they were bringing me tons of food, I couldn't eat it all, and I was having them bring little plates out just for me. Man, that was really annoying because I was uncomfortable the whole time. Lunch was fabulous though, so I made it through-haha.
When everyone was done with lunch from our Holt group, we went to one of the many "beautiful places of Beijing." (that's what the guide kept saying about the places. They were all beautiful to him, I guess.) I have to do a fictional narrative about China, take pictures, and do a voice-over thing with it, and I know exactly where it's going to bet set-the Forbidden City. I love my story already, and I can't wait to finish it! The looks I get on the streets of Beijing are nothing compared to what I got here. The people WOULD NOT stop staring, and I promised myself, the next person who stares will get stared down by me! I am, unfortunately, too shy to do this. Oh well, I'll probably be a pretty bad starer myself by the end of these two weeks!
The Forbidden City is very beautiful and very crowded. We probably took about 150 pictures total today, most of them probably of palaces in the Forbidden City. I had to think about my fictional narrative and take pictures according to that, we had to take family pictures, and some were just for memories. My dad teased me when I asked him to take a picture of the Chinese guards. "You're going to get me arrested." he said. The guards did look at him pretty funny when he stepped in front of them like the paparazzi trying to get a good shot while they were walking! We also got to see the emperor's bed, throne, sitting room, and other fancy rooms made for the emperor's family. I learned some really cool facts about the Forbidden City. There are 9,999 rooms because the number 9 represents long life. Every emperor wanted to have a long life so they could be emperor forever, but that didn't happen. It took 14 years to build the whole thing, with over 1 million and 1/2 workers. It is about 600 years old, but wasn't open to the common public until 1925. Only 1/3 of it is available to the public even now, and the other parts are forbidden. I got some really good pictures of all the things we went to see in the Forbidden City, and we also got pictures from all the other places...
We walked about two miles to get to Tiananmen Square. I've been there before, but I was still surprised when I saw it because it is just SO huge! We came out from under a tunnel, and as I got to the top of the steps, I could see the Square. It is just a huge open part in the heart of Beijing with important buildings like the National Museum of China, the Civil Affairs building, and memorials. There were probably thousands of people there. There was a huge garden full of really pretty flowers, huge T.V. screens, guards, and more people I have ever seen in my life! I thought the looks in the Forbidden City and on the streets of Beijing were bad, but here, with so many people, I got so many looks of curiosity that I wanted to scream. I felt bad for my mom, though, because these two women just grabbed her while we were walking and wanted to take a picture. By the way, she has curly red hair just like me. I was so glad that nobody wanted their picture taken with me! In social studies, we are learning about the protest at Tiananmen Square in 1989, and I could easily see a huge protest here. It feels so much more real than when you just look at the pictures. I thought all these places were amazing!
Tiananmen Square and rode about 10 minutes to the silk factory of Beijing. They said it was probably the busiest one in China, and they were probably right. The lady who is president of the silk factory showed us around. She showed us the stages of the silkworms and when they make the silk for the Chinese people to spin and weave. I think it's pretty cool how they can get such important material from a worm! Since we are still getting over jet lag, it felt like about 5 in the morning to us at the silk factory, and we weren't very happy. Everyone in our group was trying to buy things, and we couldn't leave without them. By the time we got back to the hotel room, everyone except Hannah(who always has too much energy no matter what) felt ready to pass out. We decided to rest a little in the room. Then, we were hungry, so we went to a French restaurant. At this French restaurant, we ate Italian food-pizza, listened to Spanish music while in China, and we are American. My family and I found that very funny. China has a very good mix of all the different cultures! I am so tired because it is eight forty five at night here, and I got up around three thirty this morning, which was another effect of jet-lag! We have to be picked up tomorrow at 12:00 ready to go to Chloe Grace's province-Heliongjiang! I'm so excited because for all we know we could be getting her tomorrow. More than likely we're getting her Monday, but we are hoping whenever we get her it will be really memorable. Thanks for reading! Bye!
MaCayla
MaCayla, your posts are amazing! - makes me feel
ReplyDeleteas if I'm right there with you. It is so com-
forting to know you are enjoying this wonderful
journey to bring our little Chloe Grace back
to us. We miss you like crazy, and look forward
to any word we can get. We love you all.
Mama Jo & Big Pop too
MaCayla- this is Sarah Beth!!! I bet your having fun!!! everyone at school misses you already!!! i especially miss you sitting beside me in band (you make me sound x25 better haha). I think its cool how you get to see all of this stuff. what a great learning experience!! I knew you shouldve taken me on your carry-on bag... :)
ReplyDeleteLove ya like a sister!!!