mugsyboo

First Day Home

Today was our first full day at home and we decided to take things easy...Frances took this to heart and didn't wake up until close to 10 and that was only because we finally woke her up.  Poor thing was exhausted, she went to bed around 8 last night and only woke up once when she moved from her bed to ours last night.  We didn't even make her get out of jammies today..it was all about relaxing and playing. Yesterday she was a little overwhelmed by everything in her playroom but today she dove in and picked out a few favorites like her tea set...

Brobee likes tea too :)

She loves this little stroller...I have an American Girl Bitty Baby that I bought for her but she absolutely hates it, it makes her cry and recoil in horror so she wouldn't go near the stroller at first because it was in it, as soon as I removed it Kai Lan and Brobee got to take a ride...I think she has the same taste in toys that I do, the more colorful and goofier the better!

Checking out her kitchen...

Mealtimes have been interesting as we have been trying to figure out what she likes...in China she ate everything at first and then progressively became pickier.  At least there we had the breakfast buffet to choose from so we could keep bringing her things until we found what she likes.  Today she had a boiled egg and Cheerios for breakfast and that was a win along with ramen with egg for lunch.  Snacks were easy but at dinner she got a little pickier...I made chicken with rice and some mac & cheese, she liked the rice dish but not so much the mac & cheese, she likes her noodles spicier and longer!  

Our friend Nan brought Mugsy and Pixie back over this afternoon and Frances could not be more scared of them :(  She screams, she cries, she grabs onto me for dear life and the poor pugs and now living in the kitchen for the time being.  We know she will warm up to them in time and I don't expect them to be the best of friends (even though it would be nice!) but it would be great if they could at least be in the same room together.  They have been giving her the side eye through the baby gate as they know she is the reason they are kitchen bound.

All in all today went well...well enough that she was tired out enough to fall asleep on the couch so we had a tear-free bedtime...yay!

Tomorrow we are going to get the car seat installed and run some errands...we are down to China pull-ups and they are not the best quality plus we all need some fresh air plus Frances needs to experience my favorite store Target :)

 

 

 

Home Sweet Home

We are home...finally!

The last leg of our journey began Wednesday afternoon after buying 1 more round of Chinese antibiotics...you just go up to the counter and they will pretty much give you anything

We then took the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong...once again we wish we had packed way lighter. Somehow we eliminated 1 carry-on (we gave it to another family in our group so they could get everything they bought home) but it was still a pain in the neck hauling our stuff up multiple flights of escalators along with Frances, then we you got on the train you had to haul everything on yourself and pile it in between cars.  It was about a 2 hour trip to Hong Kong and we got a chance to see some of the countryside...only able to snap a couple of pics before we were told no pictures (even though everyone else was taking pics)

They brought us bottles of water to drink and then their idea of food service was a woman walking the aisle with a plastic bowl of some kind of mystery meat that she was selling...we decided to wait until we got to the hotel to eat!  Once we got to Hong Kong we found someone who would take us (we were with another family from our agency) to our hotel.  We negotiated a price and then of course as soon as everything was loaded into the van he tried to add on to the price...we told him to just unload everything and were getting ready to get out when he changed his tune...he kept saying" good new car, very expensive" over and over and that is why we should pay him more...I felt like saying "new baby, very expensive" but let Bob and the other husband work things out.  We finally made it to our hotel (Sky City Marriott) and were famished by that point, we ordered some very good but way over priced room service and crashed for the night.  Thursday morning we got up and decided to find something for breakfast at the airport since it wasn't included with our room and would be close to $25 a piece for the breakfast buffet...ugh!  Pre-flight we had a diaper blowout that required a complete wardrobe change for Frances and as I was knee deep in poopy diapers & clothes I wanted to thank whoever kept the restrooms at the HK airport so clean...after 2 weeks of squatties and filthy western style toilets I was thankful for the little things!  

Our flight was relatively uneventful...she slept for about half the flight and considering that she was trapped with us in 3 seats did incredibly well.  I was dreading that flight the whole time we were in China and I think I had prepared myself for the absolute worst so it turned out to not be so bad!  We made it through immigration incredibly fast...the grumpy man in immigration had us go to another room for Frances' paperwork and it took all of 3-4 minutes.  A few minutes later Sarah picked us up and we were on our way home..

She is making herself right at home, but is definitely over-stimulated with all of the stuff we have for her.  Coming off of 2 weeks in hotels where she was playing with plastic forks to coming in to every toy in the world is a lot for her...she is still scared of dolls and stuffed animals, she pretty much hates them, oddly enough though she really liked this one Sesame Street toy and a Kai Lan doll

Thanks Sarah for buying groceries for us so we wouldn't have to run out :)

After she settled in I gave her a nice long bath and got her some snuggly new jammies..

He schedule is all over the place right now...she went from sleepy to grumpy to elated to lashing out with some spitting this afternoon, I can't wait to get her some stability.  We are soooooo tired right now, tired like I have never been in my life and it is hard keeping up with her when all you want to do is crash plus I know I could de better by her with some rest but how do you sneak it in?  I am sure we will find some balance in the next few days but it is going to be a learning curve for all of us.  Bed time was hard tonight, it had been getting better but she fought it so hard even though she was exhausted...all day I have been thinking about going to bed but it left me wide awake and blogging after finally getting her down.  She is now sound asleep, thumb firmly in mouth and tomorrow is a new day....wish us luck!!

 

The Home Stretch

Today is our last day in Guangzhou...this afternoon our guide will take us to the train station, run to pick up Frances' passport with her visa and then we will be on our way to Hong Kong for 1 night before flying home tomorrow.  This has seemed like both the longest trip and the shortest trip...I can't believe that Frances has been with is for a week and a half already, it seems like it has gone by in the blink of an eye, but staying in hotels and getting creative for meal times and entertainment and just being confined in too small of a space has started to take it's toll....we are so ready to come home but it is also bittersweet that she will be leaving the country that she was born in.  I can't wait to start establishing some stability in her life and get routines in place, the poor thing probably wonders why she has come to live with these nomads!  

We had our last appointment yesterday at the US consulate, no cameras were allowed so no pictures, but we were there with a room full of other families, we took a quick oath, signed some paper and then we were on our way.  On the way out the door Frances suddenly decided that the seahorse I brought with us that she originally loathed was now her best friend so it got to come with us...

Upon returning we had a quick lunch in the room and were feeling confident that things were going well so we decided to make one more quick pre-nap trip to the Trust Mart since Bob wanted to pick up some more antibiotics at the pharmacy and I wanted to look for snacks for the plane ride...big, big mistake. We were doing fine but on our quest for healthy snacks we had to go through a brightly colored wonderland of sugary candy and she lost it.  We tried to zoom through but we weren't fooling her and a meltdown commenced in the store.  Bob ran to pay, I ran her outside in the stroller and got to sit on the sidewalk with a crying, sobbing girl who was yelling at me in Chinese while pushing me away which of course made for quite the spectacle for the locals.  When Bob got out we were able to give her some crackers we had bought and magically everything was better in her little world, so much so she fell asleep in her stroller and took a good long nap.  While she slept we started to pack up everything.  After the experience at the airport the other day we decided to eliminate 1 carry on so I would like to apologize to the staff of the Garden hotel for the pile of dirty laundry we are leaving behind! We gave our extra carry-on to one of the other families in our group so they wouldn't have to buy one and I think we have everything down to a manageable amount.  We were not looking forward to dealing with everything on the train so I hope this makes things easier.

Last night we went to a local Mexican restaurant Tekila that was really good!  Frances was a little unsure at first because I think the flavors were all new to her, but she warmed up to the rice and ate a little bit of the pork from Bob's enchilada.  We then walked around for a while and enjoyed the warm temperatures as we will be returning to coooooold temps in Chicago!  

A couple of pics from yesterday...the familes in our group.  Yes Frances has her thumb in her mouth, that means nap-time is right around the corner!

The 3 babies in our group...Frances, Johanna & Thatcher

Next stop Hong Kong and then home sweet home :)

 

Pearl & Jade Shopping

I've already typed up this post once and a certain someone hit a key on my computer and deleted everything so let's try this again...

Yesterday we got to sleep in a little later since we didn't have to meet our guide until 1 o"clock.  We had a later breakfast and then took a walk to a local store that was much like a Wal Mart to do some shopping for water, diapers and noodles.  We found some toys so we decided to pick up a few things for Frances so she would have some more stuff to play with in the room...

Playing makes one thirsty!!

We had time for a noodle lunch before heading out...

Luckily right after lunch Frances fell asleep as soon as we put her in her stroller.  We were heading to the island to have her TB test read and thankfully she slept through the nurse checking her arm.  

We did a little more shopping on the island, we picked up a chop/stamp with her name and then relaxed at Starbucks for a while.  After that our guide took us to a shopping district so we could buy pearls and jade.  The area he took us to was super busy and it was only Monday, he said on the weekends it was insanely busy.

We saw people feeding fish from baby bottles in a fountain...

We bought her a pearl necklace, bracelet and earrings...it was fascinating watching the women string them, their fingers flew at lightening speed!!

I also bought a jade charm that our guide will pick up tomorrow as they are mounting it so I can add it to the necklace I have with her name on it.  We spent a quiet evening in the hotel room as we had to get up early this morning....we are heading out to our consulate appointment in a few minutes and then we may go to the zoo.  Bob is still really sick so we may see if we can get him so more antibiotics, one of the families in our group was nice enough to share some they got at a local pharmacy so we may head over there this afternoon to get more.  They totally helped me but I don't think I was as sick as he is.  Only a couple of more days and we will be on our way home!!

 

China Day 74...

Not really, it's only like day 9 or 10 but it is starting to feel like much longer.  We are both sick, we came down with the sniffles a few days ago and it has now manifested itself into full blown miserable colds, thank goodness for the 537 packs of Kleenex I packed as we have depleted the stock of all paper products in our hotel room.  We've been taking meds to get better but it is just leaving us feeling like we are in a fog, the questionable air quality here doesn't help matters either.  This morning our guide took us out to visit a couple of the parks here in Guangzhou, one new and one old.  We were tempted to skip it but thought maybe a walk would do us good.  The new one was surrounded by huge new buildings and was filled with families watching a fountain of dancing water...

When they weren't watching the water they were watching us...we get stared at everywhere we go, i'm surprised we haven't caused any traffic accidents yet!

Frances was not impressed with the fountain, she much preferred walking on mama's feet...

The next park we went to was filled with dancing retirees...

And a goat statue...I guess Guangzhou is the city of goats don't ask me why, just enjoy the majestic goats, these people certainly were, we were the only ones who weren't clamoring to have our picture taken with the statue...

After the parks we got to go back to the hotel for a while before getting some paperwork together with our guide for our consulate appointment.  This evening our guide took us to a local restaurant for dinner where we were served some questionable salads and food with a face...we tried to make the best of it but once again Frances had missed her nap (she couldn't relax when I had to leave the room to do paperwork earlier in the afternoon) so she was not a happy camper plus there was a whole squatty potty fail on my part when I tried to take her so we just wanted to get back to the room asap.  I feel bad that we left the other family in our group behind but we were just done.  We got Frances back, got her bathed and jammied up and she quickly fell asleep.  We are making the best of our time here but in all honesty we can't wait to get her home and get some structure in her life...I am amazed at how strong she is in the midst of all of this chaos, she's been stronger than me at times.  It was certainly a Christmas that we will remember...which reminds me that I brought her cute Santa pajamas for today but they are still in the suitcase, I will save them for when we celebrate Christmas at home next weekend.  Luckily tomorrow we don't meet up with our guide until 1 to go back to the island to have Frances TB test read so we can have a low key morning.  There is a Pearl River cruise tomorrow night but I think we are going to skip it and hang in the room with the reason we came here :)

 

Guangzhou Day 1: Medical Exam

Today was our first full day in Guangzhou which meant we had to go for Frances' medical exam.  Our guide picked us up and first thing and wanted to know if we wanted strollers since the hotel loaned them out for free...heck yeah was our answer since Miss Frances is a chunky monkey and both of our backs and legs are killing us.  We didn't know how she would take to it but I think she was pretty comfy in it :)

First we got Frances' visa picture taken...

Next we made our way over to the island for the medical exam...

The medical exam center was crowed with Chinese and adopting families...thankfully we got through pretty quickly which was fine with us as the whole experience was so stressful.  We had to go through 4 different steps.  The first step wasn't bad at first as they asked some basic questions but then they had Frances lay down on a table and were taking some measurement and poking and prodding her and she lost it :(  Huge sobs, wails and crying all while clinging to me yelling "momma, momma!!"...lots of tears were shed, me included.  The next step was height, weight and temperature, no big deal and then ENT, again no big deal.  The last step was a shot for her TB test and again a struggle and crying...and Frances wasn't happy either, she got over it faster than I did.  Thankfully our guide got us in and out in great time and then we had time to walk around the island and do some shopping.  The whole feel of the island was very relaxing...no hustle and bustle, just lots of tree lined streets and little shops.  There were lots of photo shoots going on...

And we saw some Christmas pugs!

We did just a little shopping :) Frances loves her new squeaky shoes!

We got her squeaky shoes in several sizes, traditional dresses in different sizes, a really pretty jacket and blanket and a few other odds and ends.  There were a couple of things we wanted to get but ran out of time but will have time for more shopping on Monday.

After that we went back to hotel and then headed out for lunch...

Yay for burger, fries and a coke with ice!!  Frances had her first nugget...she still likes noodles better but we needed a reprieve from noodles for at least 1 meal!

We then took a walk through the area around our hotel...China takes care of it's poor, lonely and old

It seems kind of surreal that today was Christmas eve here...there are Christmas trees everywhere along with Christmas music and Santa all over the place but I don't even know what day of the week it is at this point, all I know is we got the best gift ever this year!  Christmas celebration that we passed while walking...

We can see Santa from our hotel room window...

We are so much more comfortable here in Guangzhou...it is easier to get around, the weather is better and overall I think that just makes things a little easier.  Bedtime was certainly easier today, Frances took a nap on the way back from the island and then this afternoon and evening we ran her ragged playing with her, when it came time for bedtime she just curled up and fell asleep.  We also made sure to get her in her pajamas earlier along with brushing her teeth which made for a smoother transition. 

Tomorrow we don't have any appointments, just some sightseeing.  We both have a touch of a cold and would like to hang out in the hotel but it is important for us to get out and see as much of the country Frances comes from as possible.  Plus it's Christmas and we want to celebrate with our little gift :)

 

 

 

Xi'an to Guangzhou

Yesterday was rough, i'm not gonna' lie.  We started out the day in Xi'an waiting for Frances' passport and our late flight to Guangzhou.  We were told we had a late check out but they front desk called us and told us we had to be out of our room earlier so it cut Frances' nap short.  We packed everything up and called for a bellboy to get our bags and once again the language barrier struck as someone knocked on our door and handed us a roll of tape and some scissors...don't know how that was going to help us get our bags down but through some awkward sign language we were able to communicate that we needed our bags brought down.  Speaking of bags in hindsight I would have packed waaaaaaay lighter.  It would have been nice to get everything in 2 checked bags and 2 backpacks.  As we were trudging across the tarmac at the airport yesterday with our carry ons I would have gladly tossed them under an airplane and didn't give a hoot about what was in them at that point.  Anywho, once we checked out we ended up having to hang out in the hotel lobby for an hour with 1 bored little girl who was getting a wee bit cranky.  Next we get to the airport super early and she gets restless so Bob put her in the carrier and walked her around...I had to break her down and take her to the restroom which was just a little too much reality for me at that point, if the squatties have doors why isn't anyone using them?!  Finally we got on the plane and I thought everything was going to be o.k. but about 20 minutes into the flight we become THOSE passengers....she had a full on screaming at the top of her lungs, wailing, crying, thrashing fit.  At this point it was about 7:30 which is close to her bed time, we have found that each night she has meltdowns before going to sleep that have been progressively getting worse.  I walked her up and down the aisle of the plane for about a half an hour signing about 150 rounds of soft kitty...

Finally she went to sleep and I took her back to our seats for the last few minutes of the flight. We landed in Guangzhou and were immediately delighted with the warmer temperatures. We checked into our room at the Garden, which is awesome! It is super nice here, our room has a bedroom and a sitting area so we can spread out and breakfast this morning was so good. They have high chairs so I was finally able to eat something since I didn't have Frances on my lap. Last night was rough again at bed time and the worst time getting her to sleep yet. She gets so scared and just cries and flails and lashes out, this time it was for about 30 minutes which may not sound long but it feels like hours when it is happening. She finally drifted off and woke up a happy little girl again. We took a walk this morning and found a Starbucks and a McDonalds...I was always like "i'm not going to China just to eat McDonalds" but I can't wait for my dinner of a Big Mac and fries tonight. Today we head to Shamian Island for Frances' medical exam and then we have some free time for shopping, hoping to find her some toys. Just a couple of pictures today... Our guide Penny in Xi'an gave Frances this framed puppet
Our room...
Starbucks!!!

City Wall & Dumplings

This morning we headed out to do some more sightseeing.  We started off at an art museum where we learned about some of the different styles of local art and got to try our hand at calligraphy...

Our guide Penny with  Frances & Tong Tong, a little boy being adopted by the other family in our group. They are both from the same orphanage in Ankang and we were told they are good friends :)

After the museum we headed out to walk part of the city wall...once again Frances loved being in her carrier and Bob enjoyed the extra heat she provided since once again it was COLD here today..

Next came dumplings, Penny took us to a very famous dumpling restaurant here in Xi'an.  I guess today was dumpling festival which  in part is a celebration of family...when we got to the restaurant our table was approached by 2 different news crews who wanted to do interviews.  Penny explained that there aren't a lot of adoptions from Shaanxi province so they were very interested in our families and why we were in China...

I'm glad I decided to sit 1 chair over when we sat down as Bob ended up doing most of the talking ;)

They brought us sooooo many dumplings, just when you thought you were done they would bring out more different ones to try...my favorite was spicy pork and mushroom, least favorite was pumpkin.

After that we all decided we wanted to go back to the hotel for the rest of the day to relax.  Frances immediately decided that for the rest of the day pants would be optional :)

I didn't pack near enough toys for her so we had to get creative, for about 30 minutes she ran around the room with this zip-loc bag full of the clothes she was wearing when we got her.  No wonder she enjoys being pants-less, she was wearing about 5 lbs. of clothes when we got her!

I was trying to save the magna doodle for the plane ride but she was getting a little too stir crazy so we broke it out this evening...

We then ordered room service which requires talking with no less than 6 people on the phone who do not understand what you are saying which then leads to them sending someone to your room to take the order...totally worth it as what we got was yum-o!

Tomorrow we get Frances' passport in the afternoon and then have a late flight to Guangzhou, I don't think we get in until almost 9 tomorrow night, it's going to make for 1 tired and cranky little girl especially since our medical exam appointment is first thing Saturday morning.  At least we are headed somewhere warm where we will have lots of free time, I am going to try to get a good night's sleep tonight!

Here are just a few more things that I am super glad I packed...individual packets of Tide to do laundry in the room, i've done laundry a couple of times in the tub to keep up with a toddler who is adjusting to a new potty schedule, folding travel potty seat for her, knowing the words for potty (ni yao) and poo poo (la ba ba) has made things much easier, making up a zip loc bag with supplies for public restroom runs...I have a bag with a pull-up, wipes and kleenex because even though we have found western style toilets everywhere, they are beyond filthy and I just wanted to streamline things as much as possible. Trying to juggle a toddler and not let your backpack (or anything else!) touch the floor was a problem I needed to overcome quickly!  Now Bob holds the backpack and I grab the small bag of supplies and get in and out quickly...I may burn my shoes when I get home.

The Other Great Wall...

Yesterday I hit the wall, the wall of sleep that is.  Since arriving in China I have slept very little.  I have tried, I knew to stay healthy and to be at my best for Frances I needed to sleep but it just wasn't happening.  Between the jet lag and the excitement I was maybe getting 2-4 hours a night at best. Yesterday afternoon after getting back from the Terracotta Warriors and then dealing with parenting mis-step #2, giving Frances 2 of what we were told were milk biscuits for her afternoon snack but what must have been 100% sugar since she turned into the Tasmanian devil for about and hour and a half, I just crawled into bed and told Bob I was out.  Frances was a little concerned, she kept coming over to the edge of the bed and rubbing my arm.  2 blissful hours later I woke up covered in stickers, she had been fed dinner and was toddling around the room saying "sleepy mama" in a singsong voice, thanks Bob for teaching her that...hopefully she forgets that one before our visit with the social worker when we get back!  It is so hard to come up with healthy snack options for her.  There is absolutely no fruit on the breakfast buffet, I was hoping to take a couple of extra bananas to give to her throughout the day, but no luck.  We bought bananas at the store the other day but they are all gone and we are left with Cheerios and a few yogurt melts that I brought from home and then the devilish milk biscuits and some other overly sugary things our guide told us where good for her when we went shopping the other day.  I so wish I had brought more snacks for her but thought fruit would be easy to come across.  Hopefully in Guangzhou we will fare better, I think our hotel is in more of a business area as opposed to tourist area so there is no 7-11 or grocery anywhere close.

Just a couple of pictures from yesterday...getting ready to see the warriors.  This carrier was hands down the best investment ever, even cynical Bob says so.  Physically it does a number on you carrying her all day.  We found a mall around the corner with strollers, but China streets are not stroller friendly so we will stick with the carrier, plus having her close to one of us is great for bonding.

Freezing our faces off...it was chilly out, but it was absolutely freezing inside the buildings!  We are so ready for warmer temps in Guangzhou.

After touring we went to lunch for noodles.  Did I mention Frances is a noodle girl?  The other couple in our group has a little boy who daintily ate 2 or 3 noodles and a little bit of soup and bread.  Frances ate 3 plates containing rice, stir fried chicken, beef and potatoes, pork balls and 2 cups of noodle soup and would have kept going.  Our guide looked at her in disbelief and said she eats like an adult!  I felt like I needed to pay for the tablecloth when we were done as she had completely trashed it with her messy eating style.  Thank goodness for all of the bibs I have brought but I feel like I should have brought tarps!  I have quickly learned to cover my lap with napkins before sitting down to eat with her if I don't want to be covered in food.  No high chairs make meal times interesting!

Today we are going to the City Wall and the Bell Tower, honestly I would like to stay here in the room but having Frances out and about tires her out and makes nap time easier.  Then we will tackle our mess of a room so we can check out of here tomorrow.

 

 

Free Day

Yesterday was a free day for us without appointments and places to go so we could take things at a more leisurely pace.  

We are starting to have to get creative with ways to entertain Frances since she is scared of some of the toys we brought with us...she literally recoils in horror at the sight of the baby doll we brought and she is not interested in some of the others.  A box of crayons has brought hours of fun, not to color mind you but to take out of the box and put back in repeatedly.  She loves to open things and take out the contents and bring them to us so some packages of underwear became a game with Baba after she opened them all up!

We decided to get brave and head out mid-morning.  Our guide had pointed out a park a couple of blocks from here so we decided to check it out.  Our backs and legs are killing us from carrying her so we broke out the carrier and gave it a try, Bob says it was much better.

Intersection we had to cross where I thought I was going to die...we had to cross about 6 lanes of traffic and there is really no rhyme or reason to the traffic flow so we just jumped into a group of locals and plowed through.

Vegetables anyone?

How about some questionable meat?  No idea what any of this was, it was either sea creatures of internal organs of some sort.

After about a 10 minute walk we made it to the park where lots of dancing/exercising was taking place..

There were lots of places to discard your organisms at the park...

The Karate Kid

There were lots of winding paths through the park and we were afraid of getting turned around and lost so we started to make our way back...notice that hazy film, it is everywhere.  It makes it hard to breathe, you are constantly blowing your nose and you can taste it in the air.

We made it back for a lunch of noodles...

Some cuddles with Baba..

Some silliness with Baba

She interacts with both of us but you can definitely tell she goes to Baba to play and to Mama to have her needs met.

And some more silliness....she loves her hair bows!  At one point she had like 8 in her hair, she would point out where she wanted me to put them and would then go look in the mirror :)

She also loves her lip gloss and she loves putting it on us.  We were trying to find some cartoons she likes, I had bookmarked a bunch of cartoons in Mandarin for her but she wasn't interested at all.  I logged into Netflix and turned on Yo Gabba Gabba and she was immediately entranced!  We watched 2 episodes last night and she would say things in Mandarin and point at the screen excitedly, I think Foofa is her favorite, it may have something to do with all of the pink and the flower on her head.

Sweet girl ♥

And lastly photographic evidence of my first big parenting mis-step, letting her take a nap too late in the afternoon...it made for a pretty tricky bed time last night, lesson learned!  How could I not let that sweet girl cuddle up with me though?!

Today we are meeting our guide to go see the Terracotta Warriors and I think there may have been talk of dumplings for lunch.  It is 3:45 in the morning here so I am going to try to sneak in a few more minutes of sleep despite being wide awake.  I expect to be on China time by the time we leave, I didn't expect the time change to kick my butt this hard!!