Hello from Beijing!

Well hello from Beijing!

Our team arrived safely AND we have all of our luggage. Praise!

I’m just going to write a short and sweet post because we haven’t been doing much for the past 24 hours. I think I sat on a plane for 15 of those.

As Rachel and I boarded the flight we heard lots of Chinese chatter around us, and it made me so excited. Obviously I have no idea what they’re saying, but it was just a reminder that we are so close to China.

I slept for most of the long flight from Detroit to Beijing. It was really wonderful, and I think it was the most I’ve ever slept on a flight before. The middle seat in my row was open, so I took turns 
with the girl on the aisle seat, and we laid down in that seat to 
sleep.

Rachel said she slept for a good amount on the flight, and poor Bob only slept for an hour or so. They’re both pretty tired tonight… I’m still pretty awake.

As soon as we stepped off of the airplane, we were immediately welcomed with all the sights and sounds of China. I love it. I took 
in all the characters around me and the mandarin being spoken 
around me.

It’s strangely comforting to hear the Chinese, even though I have 
no idea what it all means. It’s exciting and I’m just happy to finally 
be here.

We met up with our guide, Steve. I loved Steve last year and was very excited to have him again this year. Rachel has already gotten a taste of his sense of humor.

Favorite Steve moment today:

Bob told Steve that Rachel took a year of Mandarin, so she knows some of the language.

Rachel says, “Ni Hao!”

Steve replies, “A whole year and you know only two words??” 

We checked into our hotel and we went to dinner soon after.  We 
stopped at a Chinese fast food type restaurant, and we ordered food. 
The food was good, and I have to say… there’s nothing quite like rice in China. It tastes so much better here. And of course the chicken and vegetables were good too. ;)

Since our plans have changed a little bit this week, we have decided to do the Great Wall tomorrow, and then I think we will be visiting an orphanage in the Beijing area on Monday. We’re pretty excited about that.

That’s all I really have to say for now. Please continue to cover us in prayers. We appreciate them and have felt them the last 24 hours.