Additional stress

The UPS package containing our passports, travel visas, and airplane tickets was delivered to different person living in in a different apartment building with a completely different address. I had asked that this package be sent to my work address, of course.

Fortunately, some kind soul called us up and gave us the package.

-- Dan

One week to go -- YIKES!

Yesterday, I set up a going away party for the night before we leave. The flight's at 3pm; leaving plenty of time to recover from the hangover, hopefully.

Today, I woke up realizing that that party is in one week, and that we will be on an airplane a week from tomorrow.

The panic has officially commenced.

For the first time in a long time, I'm actually concerned about whether I have enough time to pack. Our agency assured us that the hotel laundry service is great and we don't need to bring more than a week's worth of clothes, but...

The apartment is still a mess, there's no time to practice our Mandarin, and I've already thought about three different client events that will take place while I'm away, so I have to draft the advance materials now. Yikes indeed.

The party, for those who missed the email, is at Druids, 736 10th Ave (between 50th and 51st Streets), at 6:30pm Thursday January 4.

Our flight leaves Newark Airport at 3pm the next day.

We're bringing our laptop to watch a few dvds during the 15 hour flight. Recommendations are welcome.

-- Dan

Where we're going: the pre-pick up itinerary

So sorry for the delay in writing. There hasn't been a lot to report on--a lot of frustration with travel agents unable to figure out how we can visit the area where our daughter is from.

As we wrote earlier, Meg and I wanted to spend a few days traveling around the Shangrao area in Jiangxi province, documenting and photographing and exploring.

After reaching out six different ways, we finally found a tour operator in Toronto who will arrange for a guide to travel with us. The itinerary is far from final but would look something like this:

(Day 0): Travel to Nanchang, stay at Nanchang hotel

Day 1: Meet guide, travel to Shangrao, see Longhushan (on the way, stay at Shangrao hotel

Day 2: Sightsee in Shangrao, stay at Shangrao hotel

Day 3: Drive to Jingdezhen, sightsee in Jingdezhen (seeing this site and this site, perhaps), stay at Jingdezhen hotel

Day 4: Drive to Nanchang, see Lushan on the way, stay at Nanchang hotel and meet up with adoption group

We're also going to visit our friends Grace and Sammy in Taipei, I think.

And, for those wondering, we should be hearing on the actual travel dates real soon. Like, maybe Monday!

--Dan

Thanksgiving, and an update on the name game

Tomorrow we're hosting Thanksgiving, 12 people at the table, and you can bet that the name question will be discussed and debated a bit.

We're trying to figure out just how much to invest in the name that the orphanage staff gave Cha Jiao. If she has been called that for the first year of her life, do we honor that or move on to something more Americanized? Complicating matters is that the name is in itself an unusual name in Mandarin, and we're trying to figure out more on the meaning. In China, you see, names are invested with a lot of meaning and context, moreso than in the US.

Suggestions in the comment section are welcome, which despite our best intentions is still making folks sign up with blogger first. Any complaints about this practice should be directed at our friend who works for Google.

Oh, and those 12 people (10 guests) will be at our apartment. We're feeding 12 for dinner, and then my sister and her husband and their two kids join us for dessert. That will be one crowded apartment. Should be fun, although clean-up will be a challenge. But that's why I volunteered to do the cooking... -- Dan