Embassy rockstars

It's hard to articulate the feeling of elitism and self-importance you get when, as an American, you go to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The entire layout is set up so Americans visiting the ACS (American Citizens Services) get to cut the line and receive preferential treatment over the sea of Chinese locals who are waiting in line outside on the cold streets to get inside the embassy compound.

It's not enough to simply have a separate line for American citizens; the guards draw back the lane dividers with dramatic flourish and allow you to enter ahead of everyone else. It's nice because you feel like royalty, but also you feel a bit dirty since the others have to wait. I'm sure it's similar at the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C.

We were at the embassy to sort out the last adoption document (the last that we know of anyway) and to get it notarized. Notaries are a distinctly American concept so getting a document notarized outside the U.S. often means a trip to the embassy.

We successfully got a hailed a cab to the embassy and then found another taxi to the restaurant to meet my old colleagues. Whenever you can navigate the taxis in Beijing and get to your destination without drama, then you know you're having a good day.

Lunch with friends

My old assistant was nice enough to arrange for a reunion lunch with my old management team at a nice Chinese restaurant near the office building. It was so good to see everyone and catch up. This restaurant also serves my all-time favorite Chinese dish called Mei Cai Kou Rou (梅菜扣肉) which is steamed pork belly with preserved greens. It was fantastic to eat it again. I've not been able to find it in Madrid.

Playing with Dundun

After lunch we went back to my old assistant's apartment on the east side of Beijing. Traffic was horrendous and it took us at least one hour to travel the to her place. She was pregnant when we left Beijing, so we wanted to see her baby boy (who is now 16 months old) and just hang out and chat. Her mother-in-law (from Baoding) is living with them and helping to watch their son while they are both at work.

Her son, Dundun is only 3 weeks older than Priscilla so it was great to sit and play with him on the floor. He had just woken up from his nap and he was not at all cool with seeing two lǎowài (foreigners) sitting in his living room playing with his toys. I am proud to say that we are the first foreigners he's ever seen. :)

It took some time but he eventually warmed up to us and soon we were playing with blocks, reading books, and testing out some of the little kid iPhone apps we downloaded for Priscilla. It was a good test run for our first 24 hours with Priscilla. Jess and I are looking forward to it but we understand how traumatic it will be for her so we are keeping our hopes low that she will be happy to see us when we first meet.

The Brewery

We had planned a dinner with some friends from ISB (the school the kids attended) at 6:00pm that night at our favorite brewery in Beijing. Lydia (my old assistant), bless her heart, offered to drive us the 10km from her house to the brewery. With the insane Beijing traffic, it took two hours to get there.

We were late meeting our friends, so they sat two strange foreign guys (one Swedish, one American) at their table with them. Eventually we made it and it was great to catch up with them. One of the friends we met was Adeline's old teacher (who I think looks like my sister Laura's identical twin). The power went out at the restaurant (classic China) so they were unable to serve us any food until much later, but the beer was just as fantastic as we remember it.

Since getting a taxi at night is even harder than getting one during the day, we were lucky and bummed a ride to our hotel with one of our friends! The pollution was over 400 (the hazardous level starts at 300) so it was gross outside and we realized we smelled bad when we returned to our hotel. I liken it to returning home from a night out at the bar and returning home to realize how much you smell like cigarette smoke. Only this time we smelled like Beijing air (i.e. pollution).

Side note about the airplane trip

So, I had a strange experience on the flight from Frankfurt to Beijing. After our meal, I went to sleep to take a nap. We were in pretty small seats so getting comfortable is no small feat. The flight attendants were offering upgraded seats from economy to economy extra. I inquired, but at 349 euros it was way too pricey to even consider. $370 is worth more to me than the 8.5 hours of having my knees rammed into the seat in front of me.

I felt pretty fine when I closed my eyes to take a nap, but when I woke up (after they had turned on the cabin lights to announce "breakfast" service, I felt absolutely terrible. Like, super terrible.

I instantly felt feverish and started sweating uncontrollably. I thought I was going to throw-up so I grabbed the vomit bag (classy, I know) and just closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I couldn't see; I could only make out vague shapes, and I could barely hear. I had no energy and it was all I could do to sit there quietly and be miserable.

Jess said my head was lolling around, sweating, with my eyes half-open and rolled up in the top of my head. The flight attendants were getting very concerned and kept offering help but Jess said I was fine and refused their help. I was oblivious to all of this.

By the time we landed my fever broke and I just felt weak and strange. But by the time we made it to the hotel, I felt completely normal. To date, I have flown A LOT of air miles and getting ill like that has never ever happened to me (and I hope it never does again). It was dreadful.