It's just another Monday. In Beijing China

Monday 10-24-2011 I have tried several times to post pictures and it keeps erasing the post. They are on Shutterfly.com adoptinginoklahoma password is China

Gotcha day is getting closer. After all this time waiting I’ll finally meet them. If I think to much about it I’ll end of a tearful mess just like I was at home before we left. I’m trying not to think about it. That’s not working but I’m still trying to concentrate on Beijing and the boys right now.

Monday we walked to the subway by T Square to check out the line for F City then instead we took the subway to the Beijing Zoo. The subway was easy breezy. We don’t live in a town with public transportation and had never ridden a subway before. Still it was so easy. Bought our tickets out of an automated booth that had an English button. Touch screened the stop we needed and 4 cards were dispensed, 2Yuan each. No matter how far you go it is 2 Yuan, about $.30 each. Taxi rides start the meter at 10 Yuan plus 2Y fuel surcharge, $2. And since the subway didn’t have traffic it seemed faster even with the stops. No lines in China, just push and shove. Even if rules are posted or lines are painted on floor or the seat belt sign is still on it seems the Chinese way is whatever they want.

D says the Beijing Zoo like photos of the zoos in the US in the 50’s. I thought most of the animals we saw had plenty of space but the enclosures were dirt and grey walls. The Panda House was interesting. But my favorite part was the Cockatiel display and the Parakeet display. Such common animals here and zoo exhibits in Beijing. The bears have learned to eat snacks thrown to them. More surprising was their love of Sprite. They would back up to the pit wall and patrons would slowly pour Sprite or water into the bears mouths. We bought French fry snacks with toppings like chocolate, yogurt with fruit or Thai sauce and I bought a fried chicken leg. A man with his child walked up while we were resting. He just wanted to visit. He lives close and comes once a week on the subway with his son who is 5. Oh no, it didn’t make me think about Joseph. Like I hadn’t been comparing all the hundreds of children we had seen today to Jewel and Joseph, sure. I think he wanted his son to meet Americans maybe? The boy was very shy just like many American children. We think we have discovered why so many people want photos with or of E. How many Chinese people see American children? Almost all of the tours we see that have white faces do not include any kids. One day the boys will think how lucky they were to come with us to China. During a rest break we were sitting by the panda house between two exhibits eating a snack. It sure was funny the number of people who came around the corner and took our photos. D said he thought we should have a moat or something to keep them back from our enclosure. Come see the strange Americans! They talk and eat before your eyes! Only one man was brave enough to ask me if they could have their photo with E. Most people who want to pose with E ask me before for permission. The candid shots however are not asked about. Little D was leaning in a nook and looked like he was sleeping so many photos of that too. I should take photos of the Chinese taking photos of us for later.

A subway hop and we were back to T square and the F City. The close F City at 5pm and it was a little after 3 so the lines were almost gone. Entrance fee 60Y each=$10. We were going to rent the audio headphone tour but at the last minute paid a guide 200Y=$35 to take us through. Most of the building are empty. The artifacts are in the National Museum or stolen by other countries who won’t give them back. Seeing the building and hearing their purposes was fun, especially by a guide who spoke hard to understand English. The North gate entrance has been closed so we entered through the South gate and left through the North. That was the worst part. Going in there are people trying to sell souvenir of course and guides offering their services. But leaving there were beggars and the souvenir salesmen were grabbing and yelling. Awful! You are trapped by barriers for probably an entire block before you can get across the street. I had E look at the ground or to his right at the F City most. ADVICE If you have children it would be better to walk back through the city and leave from the South gate even though it is more walking.

Speaking of walking. We walked or stood from 9:30am until 5pm with basically no breaks longer than 5 minutes. Its funny because on our first day Angela said we would need a taxi to get to Bei Hai park and we walked there the long way no problem. From the lack of seeing other Americans on the streets I think they maybe right in thinking Americans cannot get around without vehicles? If your guide says taxi you do or if all the other adoptive parents are flying then wanting to take the train is uncommon. But that’s us, an off the path family. At the end of today though we all wanted to get back to the room and put our feet up. Update on the Lee Garden Serviced Apartments. There are no dryers in Beijing homes. So it is not washer/dryer just washer. We will need to make sure the laundry is caught up in time to air dry before we pack on Friday.