Hello from a Starbucks in China!

We made it to Beijing!
Our flight leaving Chicago was delayed almost 5 hours, due to a broken B777
(our plane). But, once we got going, it was a nice flight. Each of us got
about 6 hours of sleep enroute, so the flight didn't feel as long as we'd
worried it would be (12 hours, 55 mins). However, instead of getting to the
hotel (Marriott Courtyard NE) at 5pm, we arrived around 10; 29 hours since
we'd awakened- uggh.
It didn't take long for us to fall asleep; and we got almost 7 hours of
rest before our "clocks" simply wouldn't let us sleep any longer.
After a quick buffet breakfast at the hotel, we grabbed a taxi (yes, my
first chance to use some Mandarin!), and headed to the Holiday Inn- where
the rest of our CCAI travel group was staying.
We have 15 families (about 50 people) in this group-folks from as near as
Augusta, and St. Augustine, and as far as Texas and upstate New York. It's
amazing how quickly everyone has become best friends.
Our tours today included Tianeman Square, the Forbidden City, a silk
factory, and the Hutong area (where we took a rickshaw ride).
Now, with exhaustion setting in, we sit in a Starbucks, waiting for "You",
a friend (and GSU grad student) that we met in Statesboro. She is in
Beijing and coming to meet us.
I've had "phone issues" and can't seem to get my Blackberry to connect (not
even for voice)- but SBUX has WiFi, so this is the first chance I've had to
blog. BTW, if any of you Gulfstream friends knows "the trick" to get these
AT&T phones to connect- please email me!
"Zai jian" (goodbye) for now. I'll try to blog more tomorrow (after our
trip to the Great Wall). Thanks again for all your prayers. Only 3 more
days until we get Noah!!
Adam + girls