My Experience

Okay, so I have never written a blog before so you will just have to bear with me. Stacy wanted me to write a blog post about my experience and my point of view. I wrote a really long post a few days ago but when we went to post it the internet was down so I lost alll of it. So this time I am making sure to save it before posting it :)

The start of my trip was a little rocky.. I made sure to get to the airport an hour and a half early just in case. When I gave my ticket to the lady at the airport she looked at it funny and said '$25 dollars for your bag" I didn't think anything of it because I've never flown Delta before and I knew they charged for bags so I handed her my card right away. When I went to get my boarding pass the screen kept saying 'error error'. I got really scared. I was thinking oh great it's not going to accept my passport! Something's wrong! I'm not going to get in to china! The worst things were going through my mind. I went and stood in this line for help and thank goodness for a guy who knew what he was doing!

He said the lady that checked me in didn't transfer my luggage from Detroit to Beijing. She had it stopped in Detroit because she didn't know I was going on to Beijing. She also wasn't supposed to charge me for luggage for an International flight. So this guy had to go find my bag, put the right sticker on it so it would go on to Beijing, figure out how to refund my $25 back into my bank account, and print off my boarding pass. By the time I was done with that and through security, it was 9:45 and my flight left at 10:15!! That whole ordeal took an hour and fifteen minutes to figure out! Now, I am SOOO glad I got there early because you never know what can happen!

alright now on to CHINA! I think this place is amazing! I am loving every minute of it! I love traveling and experiencing new things so I do not want to go home yet although I do miss Wes and my family very much!

a few things I've noticed that are WAY different than in America

1. It's okay for chinese children to go to the bathroom on the sidewalk! I've witnessed this a few times! gross..

2. There is NO personal space. I guess it is not rude to bump in to somebody and not give an apology in China

3. They serve octopus at their Pizza huts :) that one was just a little fun fact

4. There are no traffic rules and pedestrians do not have the right-a-ways.. I had to cross the street with Susie to get an SD card for my camera and about had a heart attack. It was quite scary!

5. Slurping food and eating with your mouth open is normal. I sat by this guy on the plane to Chengdu and he was slurping his noodles very loudly. 

6. I have become used to being stared at because I am not from here.. but what I thought was the most interesting was that the people that stared at us the most were other white people... I mean like turned around in their chairs staring!  Kinda funny.

 I hope i'm not making this too long or boring... 

The first day in China was pretty amazing! I can now say I climbed the Great Wall of China!! It is something that I've always wanted to do and it was more than I expected. The view from the wall is breathtaking!!  It was pretty tiresome though.. when they mean climb the great wall.. they really mean it!! We also visited a jade factory where they showed us how to tell the difference between fake and real jade, the olympic stadium, and an amazing chinese acrobatic show. 

The next day is when we got Sophie. I have to hold my tears back when I talk about "gotcha day". It was something so special and amazing and I was not expecting to feel all those emotions! When I saw Sophie peek around the door with a huge smile towards her new family members I knew it was going to be hard not to cry! Sophie threw her arms around Stacy and gave her a big hug. It was hard to get a good picture of it because it happened so fast! Sophie took to them right away. She smiled at Isabella and grabbed her hands and held them and smiled. Isabella was so excited to see Sophie too! They hugged each other and held hands and it was the cutest thing! Finally sisters! I could see she was happy! Her smile was so vibrant and excited! I am glad I got to be the photographer because I was able to capture every moment and emotion on Sophie's face.

Sophie is a very sweet girl and quiet and lovable. She loves to hold hands and hug and her smile is beautiful!! I can tell she is in love with her new family! She may be homesick a little bit or miss what she is used to sometimes, but she loves her new mommy and father (as she would say it) and Isabella, Trey, and Big GeGe. 

These people are amazing and I am blessed to even know them let alone travel to China with Stacy and Isabella! Sophie probably doesn't know it yet, but she is very very lucky to have a family like the Richmonds! They truly are a gift from God to everyone that knows them.

- Kim Haberman