Saturday,
May 28
We woke up to the realization that it was 48 hours until we meet
our Isabelle. What a feeling!
An attempted call by the boys from Atlanta was the first order
of business this morning but we were attempting to send pictures
through the dial-up connection here and forgot that we could not
do both. So, after unplugging the computer, we called and
talked with Asher and Dalton. Dalton was a little busy
playing Jak II on the PS2 and really didn't have much time to
talk -- his comfort level just proves what we knew all along,
Angie and Bob rock!
We all had the breakfast buffet again today but did not try to
eat the place out of business this time. Mr. Wang
suggested yesterday that we meet a little later this morning and
that turned out to be an excellent suggestion because we needed
the time to get some stuff done and not be rushed. Mr.
Wang picked us up and off we went to bargain hunt in the most
interesting shopping venue I have ever seen. It was
a lesson in how to drive a bargain and without the help of Mr.
Wang we would have either spent way too much or given up and not
gotten anything. We discovered that the initial price is
merely a place to start. Stefanie had heard that a third
of the price was where we to begin but Mr. Wang insisted that
1/5 was the better starting point. His technique
worked well and he saved us from being overcharged numerous
times. His understanding of the prices and culture put us
at ease and made us OK with bargaining.
Tori and Stefanie bought pearls by the bunches, silk for
everyone we know, jewelry, and chops -- Chinese character stamps
for use when signing documents. Mr Wang again was an
enormous help as he brought us to reputable shops that were very
inexpensive. We also had a chance to get some toys for the
boys -- won't mention what they are. Tori was unsuccessful
in finding the elusive purse that she keeps hoping to find but
there was this one that caught her eye... it was a purse a woman
had brought from home (France probably) and we didn't think that
she would appreciate our bargaining skills, though they were
finely honed by then.
After we shopped until we dropped, we went to a Korean
restaurant that Mr. Wang spoke of the day before. The food
was awesome! First we cooked thin strips of meat on a
hibachi, had sweet tea, and some vegetables -- cabbage and
mystery vegetable -- that were served in a spicy red sauce.
We thought that was enough food and were ready to say we were
stuffed when the waitress brought out a huge ceramic bowl filled
with rice, mushrooms, vegetables, and eggs; followed by fruit
salad and watermelon and, finally, frozen pudding. The
entire meal was only 134 RmB (16.75 USD) for all four of us.
We took a quick run around the hutong in the car and saw some of
the oldest parts of the city of Beijing. We were simply to
bushed to take a bicycle tour of the hutong but Mr. Wang served
as a better guide than anyone there because he has lived his
entire life in Beijing. His English and attempts to
communicate with us were warmly received as our Chinese is poor
to say the least. We said goodbye to the best driver in
the entire city of Beijing (17 million people) -- Mr. Wang -- at
the hotel and then we all ventured to the pool before calling it
a night.
Tomorrow is another big day as I plan to see the flag raising at
Tiananmen Square at 5:30 a.m. and then we will fly out of
Beijing for Nanjing at 12:45 p.m. Tomorrow also marks 24
hours prior to Gotcha Day and Forever Day and the entire reason
for the trip.
Please keep praying for us! It is helping! |
Chun Yi -- Legend of the Kungfu --
Chun Yi and his mom rise from the stage
Chinese family on a bicycle.
The son was resting on the watermelon.
Tons of families like this but this one struck
a chord in our heart.
Chris and Stefanie with Mr. Wang -- a friendly Chinese
man who went well beyond and allowed us to experience why he
thinks
" Beijing is the best, why leave?"
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