The flight

I can't believe I'm writing this from Shenyang.  It has been a busy few weeks getting ready for the big move.  I really wish I could have spent a little time each day to blog about the experience, but time just got away from me.  I might have to backtrack and blog about the things past later.  But for today, it's all about the flight.

Yes, the 14 hour flight from Dulles to Beijing.  I have been both dreading and looking forward to it, mostly just wanting to get over with it.

The kids did GREAT, all things considered.  I almost cried when I found out that we didn't get the bulkhead or a basinette for K to sleep in.  I really did cry when I found out that even though we requested kid-friendly meals for the boys, the flight attendant said that they didn't receive the order.  (That means the boys wouldn't have eaten a real meal for almost 24 hours...) I know, the boys should just eat what they're given but that's a whole another thing.  And in all honesty, what we were given was horrible, even by airplane food standards. We're making them fly nonstop to Beijing.  The least we could do is give them some chicken nuggets! But in God's kindness, everything worked out.

First off, the flight was shorter than anticipated.  We arrived a whole 30 minutes early.

Second, the kids slept pretty well.  NJ and J slept stretched out across 2 seats.  K slept mostly in the Ergo carrier.  Nathan and I did not sleep a wink, aside from dozing here and there but we were not exactly expecting for this to be a relaxing flight.

Third, I'd say 95% of the plane was filled with Chinese people.  And they were too charmed by our kids to be annoyed at them even for handful of times they made a fuss.  I guess it's somewhat of a rarity for them to come across hybrid kids, part Asian, part white.  They just kept coming around to stare at them.  And I guess it's a part of their culture to just stare, and not even bother to be nonchalant about it.  I was fascinated by their fascination.  It got to be a bit much though, when I was trying to discretely nurse K at one point, I peeked over my shoulder, and hello! There was a Chinese lady practically face to face to me. We're still trying to figure out what the protocol is in responding to all the staring and invasion of personal space.  Stare back?  Smile?  Ignore?

The hardest part of the flight was when NJ started crying and freaking out because he had to poop really bad but wasn't allowed to get up because the plane was landing.  As soon as the seatbelt light went off, he booked it to the bathroom and did his business.

I scrubbed his little booty extra good at the hotel that night.

Next up: our first taste of hard core jet lag.