Organization!!

I am going back through the emails that we sent from China and re-posting them here along with more pictures. I am hoping to get through the backlog soon.



August 25th: I apologize for emailing this instead of posting, but boy is this confusing. Today was a blast but quite tiring. We went to the Great Wall-the section that we went to was about 2 hours away. Along the way we stopped at a jade factory and looked around. The Wall was as amazing as it is reputed to be. Then we came back to the hotel and met our Shi Fu's nice and husband. We had an amazing dinner, most of which we recognized. I am still in the dark at what 'towel gourd' is though. There are too many stories to tell, but there were a few lost in translation moments as well as some times when I felt quite odd about the process that we are going through as seen through a local's eyes. In the end, we had plenty of fun and shared a lot. Now for the reason that we are here. We take a train to Jinan in the morning and will meet Karwen at the hotel sometime between 1 and 4. We travel and do the 'gotcha' with two other families. One of whom we have been with throughout the Beijing stay. It is scary/exciting/unbelievable and every other kind of feeling that you can imagine. Plus a bit tired. We have spent a long time thinking about this from Karwen's perspective, except we never can since we know so little about her perspective. But we try. And we will learn so much tomorrow. Our family is about to grow and change in ways that we can't imagine. But we are still our family and are ready to take tomorrow together. Love to all! The Cogans