All posts by Mette

Välkommern till sidorna om Hans, Mette, Ofelia och Linnea

5 month from today!

4th of May to 4 of October equals 5 months! At this time we will be in Frankfurt, Germany waiting in the plane to lift of towards Beijing!

5 months are both far away and very soon!

This month we’ll book the train tickets online and wait for the agency to book them at the Chinese railways witch only can be done 20 days prior to departure. It it just to hope for the best. The first train ride from Guiyang to Guilin is on the 15th of October and will be confirmed in September while the second ride from Guilin to Nanning is on the 24th of October and will be confirmed in the beginning of our trip!

The agency says the booking rate is 98% of the customers get what they want! Wish us luck!

It is also this month we’ll meet the Morin family for the first time. They have just been in Nanning and Yangshuo. We look forward to see photos and talk to them!

A-Manifesto-for-Travel

 

Making a budget!

We have known of this trip since the beginning of our adoption journey and decided on the date (October 2014) in 2007-2008. So we have tried to save some money. Actually this is the biggest thing we ever saved money for!!!

During our time with Linnea, I have been on a lower income most of the time. Maternity leave, studying, unemployment, working and unemployment again.

So saving up for this trip has and still is a bit of work.

Last year we had a flee market / garage sale och we’ll have one more in a little more than a week. When you live in a big house it’s easy to just keep a lot of stuff you don’t need.

In a little more than 5 month we’re off and we want to have as much as possible saved up to be able to do want we want when we’re in China.

But we still need to get the car fixed, and we choose to do some fun this spring and summer too.

In May we’re off to a long 4 day weekend in Stockholm. We are going to visit a childrens books museum and Linnea won tickets. The trip is also about China since we’re going to meet a family that are in China just now and have been back to Nanning & Guangxi.

We will also meet friends who we met on our last day in China in 2007 with Linnea. They were on their way to Nanning to meet with their son.

We have 3 weeks summer holiday and one will be spend in Denmark.

Well it seems like a lot of what I think and do is about China.

I also want to say thank you here on the blog, to a very special woman from Scotland. Who cared for a girl she knew as Shari. She played an important role in Linnea’s first 19 months in China. And she still does! Thank you for being there then and now, B! You are forever in our hearts and I wish we will meet soon!

Hugs and gratitude to all of you out there!

Thoughts on a Thursday

Today I have had many thoughts about my job situation and what I should do in the future. I won’t say I have been in a bad mood but not it a good mood either.

In the mail today there was a book I ordered. It’s about families with adoptive children or adults who was adopted as children who travels back to their birth countries and towns.

One family travels to China, Guangxi and to places we are going to visit in October. I look at the pictures in the book and on the internet from Guangxi. I have a hard time understanding that WE are to see all this: High tech modern cities with skyscrapers and huge malls, poor families in the country side, abandoned children (who hopefully will get their own forever family one day) and the breathtaking beauty of the nature! Such big contrasts!

Suddenly it becomes impossible to feel bad or sad. Instead I am overwhelmed with gratitude that I get to go on this adventure with my family!

nanning1

Nanning by night

guangxigirl

A girl from the Guangxi girls program by Hope 4 China’s Children

typical-guangxi-landscape

Guangxi mountains.

Check and done!

In Sweden we have compulsory schooling from the first grade to the ninth. That means children are required to go to school and if you want them to have one or more days off you have to apply for it.

First out is the teacher, and if it’s several days in a row the principal needs to sign the application too.

Our China trip started out as a two weeks trip for a very short time. We quickly realized we needed tree weeks and we ended with four in total. One week of them is school holiday, so we had to apply for 15 days leave for Linnea. In the school law 10 days are mentioned as a maximum per year unless it a very special occasion.

Today I got the application back signed by Linnea’s teacher and the principal, it was approved.

I still have a hard time getting that this is happening! We are going to China again on an adventure I never imagined! For every little thing that falls in to place, I realize that this is real!!!

I am just so happy and grateful for being a part of this!

thank_you

Seats

I have booked the seats with Air China, after some detective work finding a phone number I could call from my mobile phone.

Frankfurt – Beijing (Red)
Beijing – Frankfurt (Purple)

B777-300

Beijing – Nanning

B737-800_1

Nanning – Beijing

A321

Hotels booked

The hotels in Nanning and Guiyang are booked.

In Nanning we chose Majestic or Mingyuan Xindu Hotel because we stayed there when we got Linnea. She wanted to see the hotel where she spend her first time with us.

I’ve asked around and looked at reviews and I would say 50-50 says it ok, hard beds (as most places in China) and the breakfast is Chinese. We will stay there in the beginning and in the end of the trip.

Majestic
Majestic

In Guiyang, we googled our friends address,  looked at their photos and found a hotel close to them. They have checked it at says it’s close. So we booked 2 Executive double rooms including breakfast for 328 Yuan/night/room. Wonder how they look and we hope for softer beds…..

miracleIsland
Miracle Island Express Hotel

 

 

 

Time table

Here is the time and dates.
(Will be updated when we book activities)

Day
no.
Date Where Local
Time
Flight no/Train no/To do
1 4 Copenhagen        10:10 Air China – CA 7100 
Frankfurt 11:45
13:55
Arrival
Air China – CA 966
 
2 5 Beijing 05:15
11:40
Arrival
Air China – CA 1485
Nanning 15:00* (15:05) Arrival
Picked up by Foster family & Kelly
Nanning
Majestic Hotel
Check in
3 6 Nanning
Majestic Hotel
Pick up train tickets,
Dinner at the Foster family
Massage
4 7 Nanning
Majestic Hotel
8:30 Visit to a park with monkeys with the foster family
5 8 Nanning
Majestic Hotel
 9:00 Visit Li & her family with Matthew and the foster family
6 9 Nanning
Majestic Hotel
Qingxiu Mountain
7 10 Nanning
Majestic Hotel
8 11 Nanning
Majestic Hotel
Check out
Nanning 13:20** (13:40) Tianjin Airlines – FGS6424
Guiyang 14:15** (14:40) Arrival
Picked up by Henk, meet Jet & the kids.
Guiyang
Starfish fosterhome Volunteer appartment
 Check in
9 12 Guiyang
Starfish fosterhome Volunteer appartment 
10 13 Guiyang
Starfish fosterhome Volunteer appartment 
11 14 Guiyang
Starfish fosterhome Volunteer appartment 
12 15 Guiyang
Starfish fosterhome Volunteer appartment 
13  16 Guiyang
Starfish fosterhome Volunteer appartment
Check out
Guiyang 7:50 China Express Airlines – G52611
Guilin 8:40 Arrival
Picked up by taxi via Giggling Tree
Yangshuo
Giggling Tree
Check in
14 17 Yangshuo
Giggling Tree
15 18 Yangshuo
Giggling Tree
16 19 Yangshuo
Giggling Tree
17 20 Yangshuo
Giggling Tree
18 21 Yangshuo
Giggling Tree
19 22 Yangshuo
Giggling Tree
20 23 Yangshuo
Giggling Tree
21 24 Yangshuo
Giggling Tree
Check out
Guilin  12:55 G431
Nanning  15:10
Nanning
The Poenix Hotel
Check in
22 25 Nanning
The Poenix Hotel
23 26 Nanning
The Poenix Hotel
24 27 Nanning
The Poenix Hotel
Lunch with Grace & Hope for Children staff
25 28 Nanning
The Poenix Hotel
26 29 Nanning
The Poenix Hotel
27 30 Nanning
The Poenix Hotel
Check out
Nanning *** 21:05
(18:10)
Air China – CA 1376
Beijing ***
00:15
(21:30)
02:00
ArrivalAir China 965
28 31 Frankfurt 5:10
9:25*
Arrival
Air China – CA 6867 (SK 640)
Copenhagen 10:50* Arrival

* Back to the original time updated 2014-09-07
** New time updated 2014-08-27
*** Changed time 2014-09-28

Getting somewhere

Time is a funny thing. There are a bit more that 7 month to “take off” and now that we booked and know when and where, small things come along.

Today Hans was ordering shoes on the internet and we found trekking sandals for Linnea for half of the normal price! Not that she likes that model but we want her to have this kind with her to China when we walk, take a bike ride or something else. So we ordered them too.

Later Linnea and I went to town and we went to the police to get her a new passport. The one she had was valid until June and we need the passport number to order train tickets. She will get the new one next week.

We also found her a “belt – bag” i metallic purple, so she can  have her camera and purse on her all the time in China.

Small things that means we’re a little bit closer to our biggest trip ever!

I have also decided to make a Link collection here on the blog. Many adoptive families plans home land trips and and we all help each other finding good prices, nice things to see or do! So hold on and I make it soon, and keep updating it as we move on in the process.

We want to do it all ourselves and tomorrow will be hotel booking day for Nanning and Guiyang.

Booked!

Ohhh my!!! We did it today!!!!

The flight is booked!

October 4-5th: Copenhagen – Frankfurt – Beijing – Nanning

October 30-31st: Nanning – Beijing – Frankfurt – Copenhagen

We have also send a booking request to The Giggling Tree outside Yangshuo – 9 nights!

Now it’s for real! This is going to happen! Feels a bit unreal!

We’ll decide on the Nanning hotel(s) and Guiyang (?) tomorrow!

A timetable will be posted later here on the blog!