Today, Karah woke up at 4:30 AM so we all woke up slightly after that.We got our showers & organized our room a bit. We then learned our way through the breakfast buffet and I learned from the cook that that ketchup is called “fānqié jiàng” (番茄酱 - Can’t have hash browns without them :-). Our friend and guide William is with us and will be traveling to Kunming & Guangzhou with us too! He was our BLAS guide for Karah’s adoption too so it is very nice to work with him again. He introduced us to a university student who is helping to guide us; her English name is “Sunny”. I have some pictures of her here with us. Today she had breakfast with us And she went with us and guided us through the “Hútòng” area of Beijing by one of the old city gates. It was just casual walking and sightseeing. I chatted with the locals a bit too which was fun. My Chinese is understood but makes them laugh because my grammar and tones are so bad. Then we had lunch at Pizza Hut right here by the hotel. Now it’s about 4:30 PM as I am writing this and Mary & Karah are napping. More adoptive families arrive today and tonight and then tomorrow we will meet them. The weather is very nice. It was cool for most of the day & warmed up a bit this afternoon but not hot at all. No rain in sight yet.
. For my friend Mike Foo in the US:
Mike I want you to know this is a “proper” hotel with and ironing board and
Iron in the closet :-)