Day 4: Friday in China

Everyday is interesting. I'm just glad we are all mostly healthy. You'll see why in

 

a couple of lines.  We began the day getting packed up and got ready to move

 

to stop two--Beijing. We did have one last stop in LangFang though. I think the

 

theme of the day became--Be Flexible, it's all going to change in an hour, or

 

twenty minutes, or right now. The tone of the trip changed a bit as we became

 

purple again with tiaras, sashes, and polos. The kids looked awesome and

 

definitely drew attention as they boarded the bus and got off at the LangFang

 

Pediatric Hospital. We were welcomed there by their staff and led to a reception

 

room through cameras, video cameras, and multitudes of stares and

 

smiles from patients in the windows of the hospitals. One of the lead doctors

 

officially welcomed us and gave an overview of the Chinese health care

 

system. Steve and Sydnee spoke briefly about the cause of our journey. We

 

then broke into two groups and toured the hospital. In China, people go to the

 

hospital when a bed is open and family members are the primary care givers so

 

there were many people around--a lot just waiting for a doctor to become

 

available. As we traveled we gave away hundreds of stuffed animals that a

 

young girl in Spokane gathered to send with us. The animals were a huge

 

blessing to the entire family as were the lotions, toothbrushes, coloring books

 

and other things. The one room I will always remember though was the corner

 

one with six men sitting on their beds, each having a smoke, one with an IV in,

 

just biding their time until they could receive the care they needed. Not quite

 

the ultra-sterile scene we see at our local hospitals. Seeing the differences has

 

really been a good thing to help stretch our framework and to understand each

 

other a bit better. As we finished touring we got word that the director of the

 

local orphanage was going to allow us all to come visit, when he heard that

 

cameras were there and exactly what type of delegation we were. We were

 

excited about that possibility and then ten minustes later the plug was pulled. 

 

Don't know why. This was an incredible opp in a lot of ways as this is the

 

hospital that does a lot of the surgeries for the kids we had just met the

 

previous two days.

 

 

Lunch was spent at McDonalds. Watching the other people you would never

 

though they had scene 21 people all dressed alike in purple. Weird. As we

 

boarded the bus for Beijing, we said our goodbyes and pulled away. Our bus

 

also seemed different though, like there was more space.  Hmmm....I know we

 

all can count to 21, but 20 is usually close enough. Yes, we were misisng one.

 

The girls were well-watched by the chaperones, Hal and Arne were closely

 

watched by their wives.  Lisa and Dennis and Sandra, and the Steves were

 

there. Most of the moms were there. As we spun around, there was Terri (Lexi's

 

mom) standing on the corner waving her arms, either saying "Don't leave me, I

 

have no idea where I am and I still only can say Ni Hao" or "Lexi, I'm here! Lexi,

 

I'm here! Don't forget your mama!!" We took a vote and with a 13-7 swing we

 

did pick her up and heading to Beijing.

 

Because of the time and traffic is a bit heavier than I-90, we went right to the

 

acrobat show that we ordered tickets for the day before. The man on the phone

 

said to meet him in front of the theater and we got there on time, and waited,

 

and waited, and waited. Finally one of the girls talked to someone from the

 

theater who said there is no show today. Or tomorrow. or the entire year. 

 

Hmmm.  At least we didn't prepay for the tix when he asked me for my credit c

 

ard info.

We then went to HouHai--a local lake, shopping, restaurant, night life area to

 

have dinner and see a different side of the people. It's an awesome place to

 

watch people and almost all of us got to enjoy it. Hailey wasn't feeling well and

 

so she, kathy and I (Steve) took the subway to the hotel which was clear across

 

town and a car would take about two hours to get there at this time of day. The

 

first subway ride was pretty casual as there was plenty of room. I think Kathy's

 

line was, "I thought there would be more people." Well, I guess the working

 

part of the 20 million people in Beijing take the same train we do. We couldn't

 

get on the first car, and the second we barely got in. Cool experience--wish

 

Hailey was feeling better though to enjoy having people two inches from her

 

face.  The night ended with all of us in our rooms at the Holiday Inn ready to

 

tackle the Wall on Saturday morning.

 

All, well mostly all, is well.

 

Pictures to come!!!!!!!!!!!