We made it!

We made it to China in spite of our adventures along the way.
We wondered if we’d find our way in the San Francisco Airport. We took the step-ladder off the plane, to the ground and had to take the shuttle to the main terminal. Knowing that our flight was to be found at gate 98, we went to the very end of the terminal only to find 90 to be the highest. We finally found the international terminal by going through an obscure emergency exit from the main terminal around gate 70 and taking another shuttle. (It’s a good thing we had a 2 hour layover there.)
The 12 hour flight was more difficult to endure than any of us had planned. With Faryn asking every hour how much longer, and Tessa’s sinus problems, we wonder how we’re going to do on the ride back with baby in tow.
Beijing is a big city and we were glad to find our guide, “Michael” (what he has Americans call him) at the airport waiting to help us with our bags (I think he thinks we over packed...hmm...) and find our way to the hotel. At the airport people kept saying “taxi?” to me and I thought it must be some Chinese word because surely I don’t look like a taxi driver. Chaotic traffic was a blast. Half the time we weren’t in a lane but driving between, right down the dotted lines with cars on both sides!
Tessa went to bed while the rest of us went to eat at the restaurant in the hotel. Faryn liked her food the best - fish and chips (although I think the ketchup tasted a little soy-ey) - and nearly ate it all. John ordered the tuna sandwich. I ordered the chef salad which was beautiful to look at but not much on taste. And they don’t have ranch dressing here so I received a VERY soy-ey tasting Thousand Island. It surprised us to see that each of our meals was around 70.00 (of course, that’s in Chinese money but it looks very surprising on the menu)!
The beds are almost like boards but it felt so good to lay down and sleep after this exhausting day. Now we’re all wide awake and it’s 3:00 AM and so we broke the locks off of Tessa’s and Faryn’s suitcases (having left the keys at home) and are having a morning party in our room. We are having fun!