Day 5 - Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - Beijing to Changchun, Jilin

The last crepe has been eaten. Sad as that fact is - it is the fact that says we have left Beijing! We are safely in Changchun, Jilin. It is cold and windy. No snow on the ground yet - but we are hoping to see some when we are here!

Tomorrow, November 23, is THE DAY! We meet our Holt guide tomorrow in the lobby of our hotel at 8:20am to go to the Civil Affairs Office to get our Li Juan! YEAH!!! We've been to Wal-Mart already to get a few things - juice boxes, milk, M&M's (the way to every 2 year olds heart, right?). Now we just need to sleep and make sure we get up on time to get to breakfast before our meeting. Once again we are very tired and I have napped for several hours before getting up to post this message.

Our flights to Jilin went well. The airlines did charge us for over-weight luggage - but it only amounted to a $30 charge. We had 2 bags over the allowable limit - but nothing was said about our extra carry-on. First class was empty and I begged to be allowed to sit up there - but my begging fell on deaf ears. Thankfully it was only a 1 ½ hour flight from Beijing to Changchun.

The Hotel here is gorgeous! We love our room and have it set up for the girls. Lilla is sleeping on 2 very nice chairs pushed together into a make-shift crib. Juan Juan will have the crib with side-rail removed (like a toddler bed). We have 2 beds (between twin and full size) that are pushed together in the room and make a giant bed for Ben, me and Emma. The room is a little crowded - but not bad. We have quite a view of the city from our room on a very high floor. The hotel staff has been very friendly and kind. The only problem is that it is very warm in the hotel rooms. We had the window cracked for a bit which helped with the temperature of the room air - but not the air quality. So we had to shut the window.

Jenny, our Holt guide, knows Li Juan! She is the administrator of the Holt sponsored foster care that Li Juan is in. We are so glad that our guide personally knows Juan Juan!

Tomorrow the dear little girl that we have fallen in love with through a picture - she becomes REAL!

"Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue. And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true . . . "

Lisa ><>