Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Travelin' Pants

We have arrived safe and sound in Chengdu. After a gruelling 24 + hours of flying and layovers we made it to our new home city. We were a little concerned about making the right decision about moving when they tried to put Gemma in a seat by herself on the flight from LA to Beijing, but we were able to finally, after much negotiation, able to get them to let us sit together for the whole flight. When we arrived in Beijing I was also a little concerned by the gloominess of the airport and the outside air. I had tears in my eyes and flashbacks of all of my friends back in AZ! I definitely thought I would be leaving Jonny in China and high tailing it back to the US. But I was pleasantly surprised when we were greeted warmly at the Chengdu airport by our relocation guide, Patric. He spoke great English and was very friendly. Even better was the trip from the airport to the hotel took all of 10 minutes and the hotel is absolutely incredible! We are staying at the Kempinski, a German owned hotel, which I highly recommend.

We have been up since 3 a.m., which is noon AZ time, but I am determined to stay up today. This morning we went out with Patric and visited the Global Doctors, which was pretty incredible. We met a couple of the doctors, one who is from South America and seems extremely personable and knowledgeable. We also went to visit Gemma's new school, QSI. We were so impressed by the school we were ready to leave Gemma there and then. I am going back tonight to a back to school assembly and will be able to meet the other parents. I was pleasantly surprised to meet a couple of the mother's from Gemma's class. Tanya, who just moved from Oregon, has a 3 year old, Tea who hopefully will become Gemma new playmate! After the school we were able to check out a supermarket. It was pretty good and very cheap! We picked up some noodles, sodas, beer, and a bottle of Australian wine for the room and got out of there under $20.

My Cheng"do" for the day is stay at the Kempinski if you are ever in Chengdu.

My Cheng"don't" is don't drive a bicycle, moped, or car in China.

2 comments:

Mac and Caden said...

I'm so glad you made it and are getting situated already. And I love your Chengdu and Chengdon't for the day--how clever!

Brooke said...

Glad you are safe and sound. I miss you guys already - Arizona is a little less sunny without you around.

Keep us posted about all your great adventures!