OK, so I'm typing this from a room on the 16th floor of the Beijing International Hotel. The traffic is honking outside the window. I haven't had to change my watch because I've traveled exactly 12 hours out-of-phase.

We weren't expecting to stay here. We thought we'd be at the Sino-Swiss Hotel in (or near) the Beijing Airport. Apparently it's booked up or something. Instead, the lady who met us outside the baggage claim whisked us away into Beijing traffic. And then here. You have to laugh when you see a beat-up backpack being wheeled around by a dapper young bellhop (complete with the hat). I do, anyway.

We drove past the hutongs on the way in -- the old neighborhoods.... more

By the time you, gentle readers, are reading these words, I should be over the North Pole.

Originally, we'd hoped to fly out of San Francisco to Hong Kong, do a little bit of cultural & time-zone decompression in the once-Westernized city, then head up to Chongqing. But compressed travel time leads to compressed choices -- because of the Trade Fair, it's far less expensive to fly into Beijing (not Hong Kong or Guangzhou, where the Fair is), and to linger a few extra days at the end of the trip and fly out on May 1, the international Labor Day holiday (because for one thing, the Trade Fair's over, and for another thing, it's always cheaper to fly on a holiday rather than right before... more

So, we've just gotten home from dropping Daughter off with Nai-nai & Ye-ye for the duration. All three seemed utterly delighted.

I've gotten Skype installed on the laptop and the home computers for communication with the rest of the family while we're overseas.

And are we packed? Like heck we're packed.

As long as we're on that pre-dawn plane tomorrow.....

These are the drugstore-type things I know I'm taking:

Vitamin E oil. For a while, you could get this at Costco. It's great for anything skin-related -- cuts, itches, chapped lips, whatever. Tiger Balm. You can get this at most Asian markets. It's good for aching muscles, but also has a kind of Vick's Vap-O-Rub quality to it that's not half bad when you're congested. Airborne. Fizzy tablets like citrus-flavored Alka-Seltzer, only with the power to kill sickness before it sets in. I *always* get colds, and this stuff works. I'm sucking it back like crazy right now because The Boy (age 12) is just getting over a nasty bout with pneumonia, and I...... more

Things I've had to consider lately:

If you're hoping to have a close friend tag along for part of your journey and you happen to work for the media, it's probably a good idea not to refer to him as your "chronicler" (no matter how fun and/or accurate it sounds), or else the rumor mill might magically transform him into a photographer from the National Enquirer, causing waves of panic among official agency people, and strange evening phone calls perilously close to the departure date. He's not able to come anyway (things happening too quickly), and has nothing to do with... more

Holy [expletive], I'm going to China next Tuesday.

Looking forward to meeting my son(son!), I find myself confronted with two sources of anxiety.

First source: My desire to actually go to Yunyang, see the Zhang Fei Temple and, just maybe, visit the orphanage where the boy spent the first months of his life. As the Buddha teaches, desire is inextricably linked with suffering, especially when you desire to jaunt off across the Chinese countryside with a small infant in your arms, and your world-traveling sister whispers diabolically in your ear, "Look! They have car rental agencies there! Do it! Do... more

So, I'm still waiting for a C.A. (consular appointment).

Instead of the usual 36-72-hour turnaround the consulate has been experiencing after getting the T.A. (travel approval) from the Chinese government, it's turned into more like a week, they say. (Or, more properly, our agency says they say.)

So I still don't know when exactly we're leaving for China.

I'm guessing this is another result of a greater number of Americans adopting from China, but who knows.

We wait.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we do play requests. Got a comment asking about this bit of the travel decision-making process, so here's our justification:

We hear the pai gow tables at the new Wynn Resort Casino are even hotter than the ones at the Casino Jai-Alai, and, y'know, Vegas might have rides for the... more

I was hoping to write a post about Ethicanet's response to the US signing onto the Hague's new adoption guidelines, but My Diligent Spouse just called me to say our TA (Travel Approval) has arrived at our agency.

So, China has said "Red Rover, Red Rover, send grant on over!" and the agency has now faxed the TA back to the US Consulate, who will then, sometime over the next 48-72 hours, give us an appointment wherein we will take an oath of naturalization on behalf of a small human being in our arms. At least he won't have to learn all the stuff my parents did when they got naturalized.... more