And we even have our luggage! I will post in more detail later and include photos, but as we were on the way to the airport we got an email from the school saying they upgraded us to a 2 bedroom apartment because they “thought our little girl might like her own room.” WOO HOO! Then we got to the airport and United DIDN’T charge us the upgrade fee for Nadia’s child’s ticket to go Economy Plus. WOO HOO! So I was feeling good at 5 am and ready to catch our first flight. Both flights were uneventful and I was very pleased with the service we got on United and so, so, so happy that we went through Chicago and cut out the travel time that we went through using China Southern through Los Angeles (like we did for the adoption trip). 3 people from the school came to meet us at the airport including the VP which was nice. They got us up to the apartment and Nancy took me down to a little store right by the entrance for bottle water and “Coca Cola Light”. Then she pointed out to us the major grocery store/mall that is just across the street. She showed us where we were on a map and then asked us if we needed anything else right then.
Now by the time we rode through Beijing traffic to the apartment we had been traveling for about 26 hours and were zombies. Nadia had only slept about 5 hours in the last 24 and we were just beat. The apartment is a good size and it’s fabulous to have a separate room for Nadia. But as we were trying to get her to sleep and get a little settled we kept finding things it didn’t have and that I didn’t pack like towels, toilet paper and the like. It said it came with basic kitchen utensils and here is what the kitchen had:
- Refrigerator
- Microwave
- Countertop appliance with 2Â burners.
- A VERY old skillet.
That’s it. No silverware (or chopsticks if you like), plates, cups, bowls or anything else. I would have laughed, but I was so worn out I wanted to cry. But instead we decided we would hit the store in the morning. We fed Nadia and got her in bed where she promptly threw up. All over her baby, blanket, the crib sheet and Taggie. So we got her up, changed her and the sheet (thank goodness I brought 2). And finally got her back to bed and ourselves into bed.
We both really wanted a shower, but as I said, there were no towels. And there isn’t really a shower……there is a shower head handle that just sprays out all over the bathroom. No joke, all the cupboards are up high in there (taller than Mike) so they don’t get wet. Mike says we are going to be having Navy showers for a month. Hee hee. But it’s got a western toilet and I am one HAPPY camper about that. I can handle all the rest like brushing our teeth with bottled water.
This apartment is very nice and GIANT by Beijing standards. I would say it’s the size our old apartment minus the extra bathroom and walk in closet for those of you who remember that place. There are tons of things very close to us and the school is in walking distance. Our apartment is on the 14th floor and everyone has been really friendly so far. We have gotten quite a few double takes, but that’s to be expected. A man on the plane with us told us afterwards that Nadia was such a good baby they didn’t even realize she was there. He said that he is used to parents going home with Chinese babies, not coming back. The man in front of us on the flight also said she was so good and quiet and thought it was really neat that we were bringing her back to China already.
Now I am off to finish unpacking to help us get settled in for our month long adventure. I will tell you more about today in the next post and include some photos.