Only 24 Hours Away!

Tomorrow morning at 9 am China time we leave to receive Zachary Eli Toering! Today we are going to visit the Purple Mountain and also another garden. It is a more relaxing day for us as we rest up for the big adventure tomorrow. Right now Stacie is watching her Chinese DVD of Dora that we bought yesterday at the shopping market in Shanghai. I am so glad that we bought two different Dora DVDs because they are so cute. They are mainly in Chinese (Mandarin) and also have some English words that Dora is trying to teach the kids. Stacie is so facinated with the DVD and is answering some of the questions that Dora is asking in Chinese. : ) (Maybe there is some recall of her native language after all.) I am sure that Zachary will enjoy the DVD too. I am trying to have familiar things around him so that he won't be void of his language. Gord and I are really trying to learn key words and phrases so that we can communicate.

I asked Stacie if she likes it her in China and she said "yes!" I asked her if it was because everyone looks like her and she again said "oh yes!" She seems so very happy here and we only have had one "meltdown".

The Lakeview hotel is very luxurious and our room is beautiful. We upgraded our room so we have a queen - almost king bed, room for Stacie's little crib and most exciting is the twin bed that is also here for Zachary! The breakfast today was very good and the view from the 20th floor is wonderful. The restaurant is a revolving restaurant and had a great breakfast buffet.

Yesterday we went up the Pearl Tower in Shanghai. The view was great (from~800 feet) and it was a wonderful place to visit. In the plaza entering the Pearl Tower was fun American music playing and there was a water fountain and the atmosphere was very happy. Many people were there and because we were tourists we were escorted to the front of the line. I felt kinda weird doing that. Seeing the nationals waiting while we got special treatment.

When we took the High speed train (150 mph) we had another good experience with a policeman/guard being very kind and friendly to us. He said "welcome". : ) I personally think that the PR is really trying to ramp up here in China because of the Olympics next summer. The price for the train was about $13 to go from Shanghai to Nanjing, which is about 180 miles I think. Although the price was so cheap the headache of getting all of our luggage onto the train is another story. In other words...if you have more than one piece of luggage per person I wouldn't recommend taking the train. Our guides were fantastic and we would probably be still at the train station without them.

The other thing we really notice a lot is how 8 out of 10 people stare at us. Once I smile at them most seem to smile back. I am sure that it looks crazy seeing two blonde/brown hair white people with an asian child. Even some have started talking with Stacie in Chinese and Stacie just giggles as she tells me that they are talking to her. (She is such a hoot on this trip!)

Our guide in Nanjing seems to be very good and I am looking forward to getting to know her. Julie, our guide in Shanghai was a sweetheart and she was very kind to us and helpful too.

Our hotel is near a park and a lake, which is nice. Right now Stacie is napping. Stacie decided to wake up at 4 am so she needs some rest. We also have been waking up early as well. Hopefully we can get our sleep schedules straightened out.

Sue (once again in Nanjing we can't see our blog because it is blocked but I hope you receive this and it makes sense to you!) : )