Day three we woke up in Beijing and ate breakfast and got ready to travel to Zhengzhou, where we would meet our daughter, Emma, the next day!
It was sad to say good-bye to George as you get attached to the guides who help you navigate so much. George took us to the train station where we waited with our group in a line to board. We stood with our suitcases and then walked down to get on. Edmund was so excited to ride the train and be on a bullet train. Even once we started going we enjoyed more surprises such as s bag of snacks. Edmund eventually needed to rest and we put his seat extender bed out and he slept.
This day we would get to ride a bullet train, that would reach up to 300 km per hour. It was so smooth you couldn't tell it was going fast. Our group sat together and when we all heard the stop before ours we got up and gathered our suitcases. The exit time was quick and then we all followed the signs toward the exit. It is a bit of an unnerving feeling to go toward what you hope is the right direction and look for your next guide.
Then happily we saw the CCAI sign and our new guide, Tina, waving at us. Then we were there, heading onto the bus and going to our new hotel. This new hotel was the Hilton and we were on the ___ floor. I've never stayed up so high and on the elevator and when getting off it made me feel like I was moving back and forth. But! We were in the city where we would meet our daughter.
Tina let us get settled and then gave us a paper that had printed on it the daily schedule of our child and what formula our child drank and ate and took us the nearby shopping area to find those things.
The shopping store was several floors, you had to store your purse in a locker, and it reminded me a lot of Korea. We couldn't find Emma's formula so Tina offered to look at another store for us. We never ended up finding it but got one that we thought would work well enough. Tina was so kind and helpful and I think she could tell we were all nervous and excited/anxious for tomorrow and for things to go well.
After shopping Matthew and I had spotted a Pizza Hut across from the hotel so I took Edmund back to the hotel and Matthew went to get us pizza.
In our hotel was a precious wooden crib. I couldn't believe that after all this waiting we would finally--finally meet and hold and forever love and care for our daughter.
