Tomorrow we are boarding an airplane in Las Vegas and heading to China. Da will drop us off with our 8 pieces of luggage (mostly donations to Starfish Foster Home), 5 carry-ons (including a violin and a viola) and a double stroller that we are taking to Amanda. This trip has been years in the planning and I am so grateful that everything has fallen into place. I have not been to Xi’an since 1983 and this will be the first trip for Da (who will be joining us for 45 days) and the girls. Everyone is very excited.
We are staying at the volunteer apartment that is run by Amanda and her staff. We are renting only one room for $250/mo. The room currently contains a single and a double bed, but there is room to add a bunk bed when we arrive. The apartment rent includes a housekeeper (insert snoopy dance here) and lunch. We will reimburse Amanda for any lunches they serve us and will be tipping the house keeper well since we are such a large family. We are still considering the rental of our own apartment, but we want to get a feel for the area and how it would work before making any commitments.
These are photos of the apartment we will be living in:
Our priorities for this trip are #1. to practice and learn more Chinese #2. to play with the children in the foster home and #3. to scout out the area and make a decision on an apartment home in Xi’an for our family.
Our schooling each day will consist of scripture study, Chinese and the Drawing Textbook. We will also be looking for music lessons, abacus classes and a pool. I also hope to convince the girls to become regular contributors on this blog. Wouldn’t that be fantastic?
We are reserving the weekends for sightseeing and there is plenty to keep us busy! In addition to all the sites in Xi’an we are hoping to take a trip to Lhasa, Tibet by train! A special permit is required for that trip, so we will have to see if it works out.
Hopefully I will be able to post to this blog from China. I have purchase a VPN that will should allow me to get through the “Great Firewall of China.” If all else fails, I will be sending posts to Da via email and he will get them up. (Like we did during Le Wen’s adoption.)
So, until then, Zai Jian! (??!) and God Bless!
I can’t wait to live vicariously through your adventures!
How exciting!
So thrilled for your family! What a lifetime adventure you will be having. Can’t wait to follow along.
Awesome. I can’t believe you guys are doing this. You are going to have so much fun.
Wow! This will be amazing. Thanks for inviting us to follow along!
Hey that is terrific! We will be watching your journey. Hopefully we will also follow in time, once we get our old house sold in Lindon, and are out of debt!!
Also we are waiting until our kids finish healing enough, (one from a heart condition and liver issue) and we have our dossier submitted for number ten!
Oh also, I never had any problem submitting by email (with attached pictures) directly to our blog . You just have to fix the settings to set up an email address to post to your blog. Or you can go through annoymouse.org
The apartment looks absolutely lovely!! I know you have waited so long for this trip to work with Amanda @ Starfish. I hope you all have a wonderful time!!
This is so thrilling! Thanks so much for sharing this adventure with us. We’re so impressed and proud of you!
Tessa