Touring Beijing Day 2

2/20/05

It was a sunny, warm day in Beijing today. The high was 34F with very little wind. Unfortunately, the elevation of the Great Wall is significantly higher than that of the city of Beijing, but the cold weather did not distract us from enjoying one of the most amazing man-made structures in the world. But let me start at the beginning...

After a wonderful breakfast, we met our guide, Michael, at 8:15 a.m. this morning for another day of site-seeing. Our first stop was the Ming Tombs. Michael continues to amaze me with his knowledge of Chinese history. He mentioned yesterday that the Ming dynasty was his specialty (kind of like a minor in college I suppose) so I knew he would enjoy showing us this area. The jade market is located near the tombs, so afterwards we stopped by for a lesson in jade. Sonya was so impressed that she decided to spend lots of money there, but it was money well spent.

Then it was off to the great wall. We debated on whether or not to take the chair lift to the top of the mountain so we could have a better view of the wall, but since it was so cold we decided to start at the base and walk as far as we could without freezing to death. Boy, did we make the right decision! We would not have survived the chair lift. I left the family near to bottom of the wall and decided to venture up to the peak on my own. I made it about 5 minutes and headed back down. It was so cold that I literally could not talk because my face muscles were frozen. I kept wiping my face with a tissue because I was afraid that I had snot frozen to the top of my lip, but couldn't feel it. That would probably have reminded the locals of a scene from Dumb and Dumber (you'd have to see the movie to appreciate that comment).

After thawing out in the van, we headed for lunch. There was not much western food. It was purely Chinese cuisine today, but not bad. The restaurant was located upstairs at the Friendship Market, so guess what? We dropped some more cash. I will say, however, that we found some great bargains. Sonya is very good at spending her money wisely and today was no different.

On the way back to the hotel, we asked Michael to take us for another lap around Tianamen Square for some pictures. As we circled that huge expanse of land, it was incredible to think about all the history that had taken place in that very spot. What a blessing it is to be able to see all this. I hope that Ben and Drew are able remember these things. You never know what is going through their little minds -- are they watching and listening in between all the giggling and wrestling in the van? Or is this all like a brief dream to them. Time will tell, I guess. I am so glad we included them in though. Kids amaze me with their ability to learn, even when you think they aren't paying attention at all.

In closing, tomorrow is a day of rest before the big day. Sonya and I admitted to each other today that we are both feeling pretty nervous right now. Reality is starting to set in. Tomorrow is our last day as a family of four. It's kind of like the day before you go to the hospital for labor to be induced, only this time your child is a fully grown one-year-old who is aware of what is going on around her. I can't imagine how grieved she will be when she is taken away from the foster family who has loved her so much until this point in her life. In time though, she will realize that no one can love her more than we do. In a sense, her life as God intended it is just beginning.

Keep those prayers going up.

Jeff, Sonya, Drew, Ben and Grandmother

P.S. Believe it or not, Sonya took lots of pic's today. We've posted some of them in our photos file.