The Adventure to China

Well the adventure in China has begun. As Steven Curtis Chapman says, “This is the GREAT Adventure,
we’ll travel far…” and so we have.
The adventure began Thursday, April 7, 2011 at Hartsville Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, GA.
We were so grateful that my parents (Rick and Carol Davis) came down from North Carolina to take us
and all 6 bags, a stoller, pack and play, and car seat with base to the airport. I’m sure anyone watching
us was completely amused and thinking “Holy Cow they really over packed”! We have now learned how
NOT to pack on our trip back! The precious lady at the Medallion Member desk, Polly, was so helpful
and even gave my parents tickets to walk to the gate with us. Saying goodbye was difficult, but in the
end we knew it was more of a “See you later!”
And so the fun starts…the flight to Detroit was filled with babies so that was a blessing! Aiden did well
and slept most of the fight and even as we came down! Thank you for all who prayed for that part since
the decent was one of our biggest concern. But then came the LONG flight to China. One of the best
perks of all of Jeffrey’s travels is that he is a Diamond Medallion Member at the moment…this meant
that since there were seats open we got upgraded to Business Class! WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve never
flown in the front before and know I don’t know if I can go back to coach! At least not for 14 hour flights
with a baby. That made all the difference. We had so much space on the floor in front of us that we
were able to spread out a blanket and let Aiden play. He didn’t sleep a whole lot so that meant not a lot
of sleep for mom and dad, but we made it. Surprisingly since we had the stroller they let us go to the
front of the line at Immigration so that was a breeze and customs really surprised us…all that entailed
was getting our baggage (which with all the bags we had checked was a feat unto itself and walking
through. With the guaranteed 100% inspection on our air and sea shipment we were amazed they didn’t
want to inspect our bags, but we were so grateful.
Our driver met us as soon as we made it through customs and we began the journey to Wuxi. The city
looked just like Atlanta at night (well with lots of exceptions), lots of cars and signs everywhere. Their
billboards here are HUGE!!!!!!!!! We arrived at our hotel and were amazed. It is so nice and our room
is very large. We have a bedroom area, living area and office area. They even provided a nice crib for
Aiden. We are definitely spoiled at the moment.
The time change really began to wear on Aiden and the first night we woke up every 3 hours! After
being blessed with him sleeping through the night at home, this was difficult and I was so tired. We slept
in Saturday morning and tried to catch up on sleep as Aiden would let us. But I must say…the bed is
heavenly!!!!!!! After sleeping on an air mattress for so long and the not so good mattress at the Holiday
Inn Express…this bed is wonderful!!!!
We headed out for our first day in the city later that day and what an experience that was!!! First we
went to see our new apartment. It is adorable. Jeffrey did really good! Once we are in and it is furnished
I’ll post pictures. We decided to wait to move in until our sea shipment arrives…wouldn’t be near as easy
to live without furniture on this end like we did back in Georgia. Next we tried to go set up our bank
account but the bank was packed. Then we headed over to buy me my very own Chinese cell phone.
The iPhone4 here is very hard to come by. Many different people said they would help me get it but it
all seemed to be a little sketchy so we decided to order the new HTC Incredible S! It should be here by
the end of April so in the mean time I just got a cheap phone to get me by. The numbers here are so
different and I can never remember my number! But I’m excited that I’ve met so many people that I
already have 13 contacts! LOL! It’s the little things in life.
Sunday we went back to the apartment to meet the owner. Emily Wang has a baby boy as well that is
only one month younger than Aiden! I hope they will be very good friends. The complex is beautiful and
has a lot of areas to walk around.
So much here has amazed and shocked me. First, they all LOVE babies. Catherine Bland you were SO
CORRECT!!!! They swarm everytime we are around and if we have Aiden out of his stroller they will
actually come up and take him out of our arms and hold him. They all want to take their picture with
him. Yes, I realize that we do have one adorable child but never would I have imagined he would get this
much attention! The second thing is the driving here! Holy Cow!!!!!! Never have I prayed harder while
in the car! I do think they have any fear whatsoever here! They just go wherever they want and honk
nonstop!!!!!!! No napping in the car for me, but this makes me so thankful that we have a driver who
knows what he is doing and is very careful! Finally, (well there is so much but I’ll keep it brief) while at
the doctor’s office on Monday (getting my physical for the residency permit) this mom and her 2 year
old came up to see Aiden. I noticed his little bottom sticking out of his pants and thought they must have
just ripped but then he stood up and the other part of him was hanging out! I didn’t know what to think
and I’m sure my face said it all! His pants where slit all the way from the bottom of the waist band in
front right around to the back waist band. I have since learned that this is how they potty train. Yikes!
They actually make pants like this, parents don’t do this themselves! I definitely think that we’ll stick
with diapers for awhile and use good ole American potty training styles.
To wrap up this very long post, I’m actually beginning to learn some Chinese and the people are very
surprised when I say something in their language! The wonderful waitresses at the restaurant have
taken me under their wing and teach me a new word everytime we are in there. And they are wonderful
with Aiden. He has made so many friends down there and they all play with him while Jeffrey and I
eat…that is been very nice. I’m sure with all the Chinese that is being spoken to him he will be speaking
it in no time!
That is all for now my friends! We will do our best to keep you with us on our Amazing Adventure each
week. I’m sure there are many more surprises to come!