Sunday, August 21, 2005
The Trip To Beijing
Friday - We woke up in Wichita at 4:00 AM and headed for the airport. Our flight left right on time at 6:00 AM, and we arrived in Chicago at 7:30 AM. We checked the “departures” board and found that our flight, which had originally been scheduled to leave at 12:30 PM was delayed until 3:00 PM.
To make a very long story short, our flight was delayed several times and finally canceled for the day. We left the airport a little after 6:00 PM and spent the night in Chicago at the Crowne Plaza? Hotel very close to the airport. It was a very long day, and there was little to do in O’Hare International Airport. Power outlets are scarce, but we did manage to plug the laptop in and watch a DVD. We tried to walk around quite a bit because we kept thinking that we would be leaving soon.
Saturday - Woke up at 5:00 AM and caught the 5:30 AM shuttle bus from our hotel back to O’Hare. Flight was supposed to leave at 8:00 AM, but by the time we took off, it was closer to 8:47 AM. From here on out, I’m going to switch over to Beijing time.... as I write this, it’s 5:28 PM CDT at home, and 6:28 AM Sunday morning in Beijing. We’re due to arrive in Beijing at 10:20 AM (Beijing time). Today was the day that our adoption agency had scheduled for us to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City - we still hope that we get to do those things, although we’re going to be pretty tired by the time we get to Beijing, as it will be 9:20 PM in Kansas.
The flight is about 13 hours, and time is going rather slowly... we’ve met some of the other families that are adopting through our agency, and look forward to spending more time with them once we get on the ground. It’s nice to be traveling with a group, rather than just stumbling through everything ourselves. We’re in coach, but had our seats changed yesterday (while we were waiting in Chicago) and got moved up to an “exit row”. Good move... we’ve got lots of legroom, which is very nice (although we’re right next to the galley, and it’s a little noisy at times). We’ll try to get a couple of pictures of plane before the flight is over.
To make a very long story short, our flight was delayed several times and finally canceled for the day. We left the airport a little after 6:00 PM and spent the night in Chicago at the Crowne Plaza? Hotel very close to the airport. It was a very long day, and there was little to do in O’Hare International Airport. Power outlets are scarce, but we did manage to plug the laptop in and watch a DVD. We tried to walk around quite a bit because we kept thinking that we would be leaving soon.
Saturday - Woke up at 5:00 AM and caught the 5:30 AM shuttle bus from our hotel back to O’Hare. Flight was supposed to leave at 8:00 AM, but by the time we took off, it was closer to 8:47 AM. From here on out, I’m going to switch over to Beijing time.... as I write this, it’s 5:28 PM CDT at home, and 6:28 AM Sunday morning in Beijing. We’re due to arrive in Beijing at 10:20 AM (Beijing time). Today was the day that our adoption agency had scheduled for us to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City - we still hope that we get to do those things, although we’re going to be pretty tired by the time we get to Beijing, as it will be 9:20 PM in Kansas.
The flight is about 13 hours, and time is going rather slowly... we’ve met some of the other families that are adopting through our agency, and look forward to spending more time with them once we get on the ground. It’s nice to be traveling with a group, rather than just stumbling through everything ourselves. We’re in coach, but had our seats changed yesterday (while we were waiting in Chicago) and got moved up to an “exit row”. Good move... we’ve got lots of legroom, which is very nice (although we’re right next to the galley, and it’s a little noisy at times). We’ll try to get a couple of pictures of plane before the flight is over.
