Number 2.

The first day after arriving was a little rough. Coming off a 15.5 hour flight to Guangzhou, a two hour transfer and then another 2.5 hour flight to Beijing was a little taxing on my bones. Jack was a total trouper until he crashed for two hours and was forced to wake up and go to dinner when he would much rather have slept for another four hours. Another family, that is part of our adoption group, had just arrived from San Francisco and were also joining us. Among them, a ten year old boy and a seven year old girl but Jack wasn't really into being friendly to them or to me. He could barely keep his eyes open and took a couple of nose dives into his rice bowl. Interestingly enough, you have to ask for soy sauce here. They don't automatically put it on the table.

So when our fabulous guide asked us if we wanted an, in-room, one and a half hour massage after dinner and the cost would be $20 US. I exchanged stunned looks with my fellow dinner guests, made sure he wasn't personally offering to give said massage (he wasn't) and ordered one, offering to be the crash test dummy. AWESOME. Jack was asleep by the time he hit the pillow and Massage Girl #2, arrived shortly after that. She hardly spoke any English and after repeated attempts to find out her name, I settled on calling her "Number 2." At some point in the process, she disappeared into the bathroom and came out carrying a plastic grocery bag full of hot brewing something. She indicated that I was to place my feet into the liquid and then tied the bag around my ankles. Surreal. I ended up with a bonus foot massage! I am soooo doing this every night I am in Beijing!

Also, wanting to be prepared I traveled with several packs of toilet seat liners but we have yet to use them...

Isabelle and Jack adjusting to the culture shock.