Shoreview, MN, USA to Beijing, China

After months of preparation, weeks of packing, and days of emotional goodbyes, we are finally ready to leave.  We had two large pieces of luggage per person, plus a carry on for each of us.  This is everything we have for the next 2 months until our shipment arrives in Beijing.  It’s hard to believe, but the time has come and we are actually doing it.

It is hard to leave our house in Shoreview, especially this beautiful kitchen where we’ve spent so many hours.  We love our house and neighborhood, which is why we’re renting it out for the time we are abroad.  We know no matter where we travel to, this will always be our home.
This may have been the longest day of our lives.  We did all the final storing, cleaning, and packing with the help of Kathy and Tony Durand and Maureen Wehner.  They all helped close up our house and then get us and our massive amount of luggage to a hotel close to the airport for our last night.  The girls were able to spend the last day playing with neighborhood friends and swimming in the pool at the hotel.  It was a long exhausting, emotional day.
Our first leg of the trip was from Minneapolis, MN to Toronto, Canada and our flight left at 6:30 am.  We all had to get up and out of the hotel by 3:30 am after only about 4-5 hours of sleep.  The girls were amazing and so resilient.  They are proving to be really good travelers.
On our way to Toronto.
We had a 4 hour layover in Toronto so we played some fun new card games.  Thanks to the great friends that gave us Exploding Kittens and The Game of Poop.
Here we are at the start of our the 13-hour flight to Beijing.  We were able to meet 2 families on the flight that would be also working at our school.  It helped when we got off the flight to have even vaguely familiar faces .  The airport was very busy and a bit overwhelming, but we quickly found our way through customs and the luggage area. There were other families being picked up at the same time and we were surrounded by people helping and guiding us to an awaiting bus.  We were all a bit like walking zombies as we are thrust 13 hours into the future after the 21+ hours of traveling and barely any sleep.  I am so thankful that the school was there to pick us up and get us to our apartment because I am not sure we would have been able to function.  We skipped a dinner that was planned for all the new staff, ate a small snack and all fell asleep by 8:30.  The first few days were a blur of new people, information, sites, sounds, and smells. It was so overwhelming as we adjusted to the time and recovered from jet lag.