Made it to Minneapolis!

It has never been easy for us on this journey for adoption and today was not any different.   The flights were all canceled in Madison, so we needed to rent a car to drive to Minneapolis to catch our connecting flight on Wednesday.  Using the force and prayers we made it here!  It looks like the plane should fly out tomorrow, so hopefully the next blog you will see will be from China!

Matthew and Linda

Thanks to my extended Family- American Family!

Just in case I do not get to thank everyone by the time I get back to work- I wanted to thank my extended family(my co-workers at American Family!) for the wonderful gifts and support you have given me over the years.  This has been a long journey and I appreciate all of you taking it with me and my wife!  Preston will love the gift we will pick out at Babies R Us when we get back!  Stay tuned on the blog for updates in China and I will see you in a month!

Matt

Shantou City, China

In 2006, Shantou City was inhabited by 4,971,000 people.  This city was significant in 19th century Chinese history as one of the treaty ports established for Western trade & contact.  According to China Daily, Shantou people "drink more tea than anyone else in China, in total 700 million yuan (US $87.5 million) each year".  Manufacturing accounts for a large portion of employment.  Some of the products produced in Shantou City are toys, lithography, plastics, and canning goods.  The main product is clothing  It is also listed that the hotel industry is flourishing because there are "over 50 multinational corporations and 11 of the world's top 500 enterprises have investments in Shantou, giving the city the seventh best rate of commerce among all cities in China."

About Our Son

Our son was born June 30, 2008 and given the Asian name Li Jibin by officials in China.  Li comes from the book of family names.  Ji means luck and happiness and Bin means both good at literature and martial arts.  He has been cared for in Shantou City, which is in the southeast region of China on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean.  This city is two hours from Hong Kong and is a fairly mild climate, similar to northern Florida.  

Northwest Airlines

December 9 take Madison flight 3514 at 7:55 am to Minneapolis.  Arrive in MN at 9:18am and depart at 12:40pm (flight 321).  We travel 12 hours 50 minutes (5,953 miles) to Tokyo-Narita, Japan.  We arrive in Japan at 4:30pm on Thursday, December 10.  We have a short layover and depart for Beijing at 7:30pm (flight 296).  We finally arrive in Beijing at 11:05pm!

On December 26, leave Hong Kong at 8:00am (flight 296) and arrive in Tokyo-Narita, Japan at 1:05 pm.  Take flight 320 at 2:50pm and fly 5,953 miles to Minneapolis arrive at 10:35 am (flight duration 10 hours & 45 minutes).  Depart MN at 1:00pm on flight 7393 and arrive in Madison at 2:05pm.

Travel Schedule

Wed, Dec.09: Leave the United States
Thurs, Dec 10: Arrive in China (Stay at the Radisson SAS Hotel)
Fri, Dec 11: Sightseeing in Beijing - Temple of Heaven, lunch at Dai Jia Cun Restaurant, & Hutong Tour
Sat, Dec 12: Group Sightseeing in Beijing - TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City and the Great  Wall (Juyongguan), CHI orientation
Sun, Dec 13: Fly to Guangzhou (Stay at China Hotel)
Mon, Dec 14: Meet our son!!!!!
Tues, Dec 15: Do adoption process, registration and apply for the passport
Wed, Dec 16: Sightseeing or free day
Thurs, Dec 17: Sightseeing --Yuexiu Park & Chen Clan Temple
Fri, Dec 18: Get the passport and all papers back; Sightseeing -- Guangzhou Zoo
Sat, Dec 19: Medical exam for all children
Sun, Dec 20: Free day sightseeing or free day
Mon, Dec 21: Free day (medical rechecks); free day
Tues, Dec 22: Appointment at American Consulate at 0900
Wed, Dec 23: Take oath at the American Consulate and sign DS230 forms
Thurs, Dec 24: Receive Preston's visa late in day depending on date of ACS appt.
Fri, Dec 25: Leave Guangzhou & travel by train to Hong Kong; Disneyland Hong Kong 
Sat, Dec 26: Fly back to the United States

GREAT NEWS!

Senator Kohl's office had e-mailed to inform us the American Consulate in Guangzhou received our long awaited Visa 37 cable with confirmation of appointment at American Consulate!  We are finally going to China to get Preston!!!!  Matthew & I now need to scramble to purchase airline tickets today.  Lotus Travel in Washington will be facilitating us with this procedure.  We chose them because Louie Yi & his wife, Lea, specialize in China adoption travel.