On year ago today, we spent our first full day in China. I'll always remember how excited we were to be there, in China, the same country Claire was in. Even being in the same time zone as Claire was thrilling to us.
We had a wonderful day exploring but unlike other trips we had been on, my mind wasn't fully on the sights I was seeing. Usually, I savour all the facts about what I'm seeing - what year a building was built, its interesting architecture, who lived there, etc. - but on this trip, I was distracted by impending parenthood. We were to meet Claire in 2 days.
We were filled with a strange mix of feelings: elation about finally becoming parents, disbelief that the moment was almost upon us, intense curiousity about the beautiful girl we were about to meet, excitement about joining up with our travel-mates, nervousness about performing the simplest tasks for our baby, and solemn awareness of issues that could present themselves on our journey with Claire (thankfully, none did).
We had a wonderful day to ourselves, followed by a fabulous evening with Yulin and a few other folks, including our travel-mates Pat and Kathleen, and Kathleen's parents. Our trip to Claire had officially begun!
In China at last! 
Below: a hutong for me (Dajiao means big feet); the nearby, Xiaojiao ("small feet") hutong was where the girls popular with the emperor lived. 
Sampling some dumplings (yummy!) at the Wangfujing Snack Street:
Not sampling the scorpions and other exotic fare at Wangfujing's Night Market:
Below: enjoying our night with Kathleen, Pat, Kathleen's parents, and a few other travellers. I still don't know where we actually were that night. All I know is that there was a lake, surrounded by trendy restaurants and lounges on one side and clubs on the other.
Below: a hutong for me (Dajiao means big feet); the nearby, Xiaojiao ("small feet") hutong was where the girls popular with the emperor lived. 
Sampling some dumplings (yummy!) at the Wangfujing Snack Street:
Not sampling the scorpions and other exotic fare at Wangfujing's Night Market:
Below: enjoying our night with Kathleen, Pat, Kathleen's parents, and a few other travellers. I still don't know where we actually were that night. All I know is that there was a lake, surrounded by trendy restaurants and lounges on one side and clubs on the other.
4 comments:
Wow...the memories. It's funny because your feelings about finally being in China were so much like ours...OMG, we're in the same time zone!! Wasn't that a great feeling?!
Love listening to your memories...
Can't believe it has been one year..
Look at the excitement on your faces! The past few days I keep thinking about where I was one year ago, what I was doing, what I was thinking. I can hardly believe that I didn't know Caia a year ago. Wow, how our lives have changed.
The trip of a lifetime! We are honoured to have shared it with you.
I remember talking with you even up to minutes before we met our daughters how it didn't quite seem real yet.
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