I have to admit, I am horrible at responding to comments and at times email! Just so much going on. But I do read them and I just wanted to say thanks for all of the kind comments and encouragement both via email and comments left for my posts. Deanna and I appreciate it all. At some point I am going to post links to all of you guys who also have blogs, just one of the many things on my list!
Thanks again
Gene
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
August and Still Waiting
Ok looks like sometime in September now we will travel. This really sucks, no other way to put it. First we were told July, then August and now September. At least our agency director has gone over and now returned and found out what the delays are. Apparently it is with the provincial police who are part of the process. They are tied up in an investigation which is unrelated to adoptions and just have not had time to finish the paperwork apparently. Basically we are waiting on signatures and everyone else is prepared to get things pushed through asap. But what can you do when dealing with another country, just wait. Hopefully soon is all we can say. Our agency director did get us more pictures and took a dvd of our waiting little girl for us. While it is not having her it helps. More when we know more.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Oh yeah A couple of websites I found for traveling
Ok in my neurotic behavior this summer caused by the wait I have learned more about several airlines than I ever imagined.
Two fun websites I found were these
www.airlinemeals.net
Gives you feedback on food served on airlines and even post pictures sent in by travelers. Some of it looks good, some not so good! But what do you expect for being on a plane.
http://www.airlinequality.com/
This site ranks airlines on a variety of factors and gives alot of good info from seat sizes and pitch to customer service. Also ranks airports around the world. Site also includes a section with customer comments on each airline so a pretty good place to get an idea of what an airline is like.
Two fun websites I found were these
www.airlinemeals.net
Gives you feedback on food served on airlines and even post pictures sent in by travelers. Some of it looks good, some not so good! But what do you expect for being on a plane.
http://www.airlinequality.com/
This site ranks airlines on a variety of factors and gives alot of good info from seat sizes and pitch to customer service. Also ranks airports around the world. Site also includes a section with customer comments on each airline so a pretty good place to get an idea of what an airline is like.
Things we have done during the wait
Well I received a few emails from folks asking what have you done during the wait to make it go by faster? Well truth be told no matter what you do it doesn't go by faster. Hopefully we are close to getting travel dates but here are some things we have done.
Big one is getting our little girls room ready. We were lucky we painted rooms in our house when we moved in a couple of years ago and decided we liked the color it was(light blue).
Lets see, my wife recently was given a shower at her work so we sorted those things and put stuff up, bought and put together a crib and in general got her room together and decorated.( Went with a butterfly theme)
Many many hours looking on the Internet at flight info, hotel things and travel guides for Vietnam. Se ms EVA and China Air have the best deals. Both fly there via Taiwan. Cathay Pacific is not much more expensive, via Hong Kong and Korean Air is about the same via Seoul. Also Thai Air seems to have good deals and that is via Bangkok. One thing I have thought about doing and may still is when traveling use this as an excuse to circumnavigate the globe! Yeah I know crazy idea but I am an avid traveler and would love to do this and it is not as crazy as it sounds.
Leave NC fly west and onto Vietnam Via San Francisco or somewhere there. When we leave we could take Vietnam Air or Singapore Air via Singapore and continue west. We would go from Asia to either Germany or France and from there back to US. ironically flight times going via Europe are about the same or in some cases shorter than flying the Pacific. So just a crazy idea I had but probably not gonna happen. If anyone has done this let me know how it went.
Hmm what else, I have ridden my motorcycle a lot(2006 Triumph,, mmmm) It is great stress relief just cruising around. Countless amounts of hanging around the house waiting for the phone to ring and it doesn't and checking email.(This is a horrible thing to do as it makes it worse, but you just cannot help it.)
Done some pre- packing and more pre -packing and making lists. Each time we either add or take away something.
Read lots on Vietnam. There are great websites out there and some really good travel guides as well. I like lonely planets best for info and fodder's for pictures and background info.
Finally if you try and learn some Vietnamese. I bought a computer course on learning Vietnamese. It is very basic but teaches you words and phrases. I have actually picked up quite a bit and seem to be doing ok. When we go to our local Vietnamese restaurant I always as about words and see if I am saying thing correct. But I am sure I will really mess up in Vietnam on some word but that is part of the experience.
Work on a life book. My wife has been doing this putting in pictures we get on our little girl and writing in it. Oh and keep a journal of some sort be it a blog or a personal diary.
Well that's it for now, maybe next post will be about travel.
Big one is getting our little girls room ready. We were lucky we painted rooms in our house when we moved in a couple of years ago and decided we liked the color it was(light blue).
Lets see, my wife recently was given a shower at her work so we sorted those things and put stuff up, bought and put together a crib and in general got her room together and decorated.( Went with a butterfly theme)
Many many hours looking on the Internet at flight info, hotel things and travel guides for Vietnam. Se ms EVA and China Air have the best deals. Both fly there via Taiwan. Cathay Pacific is not much more expensive, via Hong Kong and Korean Air is about the same via Seoul. Also Thai Air seems to have good deals and that is via Bangkok. One thing I have thought about doing and may still is when traveling use this as an excuse to circumnavigate the globe! Yeah I know crazy idea but I am an avid traveler and would love to do this and it is not as crazy as it sounds.
Leave NC fly west and onto Vietnam Via San Francisco or somewhere there. When we leave we could take Vietnam Air or Singapore Air via Singapore and continue west. We would go from Asia to either Germany or France and from there back to US. ironically flight times going via Europe are about the same or in some cases shorter than flying the Pacific. So just a crazy idea I had but probably not gonna happen. If anyone has done this let me know how it went.
Hmm what else, I have ridden my motorcycle a lot(2006 Triumph,, mmmm) It is great stress relief just cruising around. Countless amounts of hanging around the house waiting for the phone to ring and it doesn't and checking email.(This is a horrible thing to do as it makes it worse, but you just cannot help it.)
Done some pre- packing and more pre -packing and making lists. Each time we either add or take away something.
Read lots on Vietnam. There are great websites out there and some really good travel guides as well. I like lonely planets best for info and fodder's for pictures and background info.
Finally if you try and learn some Vietnamese. I bought a computer course on learning Vietnamese. It is very basic but teaches you words and phrases. I have actually picked up quite a bit and seem to be doing ok. When we go to our local Vietnamese restaurant I always as about words and see if I am saying thing correct. But I am sure I will really mess up in Vietnam on some word but that is part of the experience.
Work on a life book. My wife has been doing this putting in pictures we get on our little girl and writing in it. Oh and keep a journal of some sort be it a blog or a personal diary.
Well that's it for now, maybe next post will be about travel.
Still Waiting on Travel Dates
Well, it is early August and we are still waiting for travel dates. When we got our referral we were told more than likely Sept. looks like maybe sometime this month. The wait is hoprrific. We teach school so being out and waiting makes it worse, nothing to keep your mind off of it!. Our agency director left for Vietnam this past weekend for a visit so hopefully good news will come from that.
On a positive note our agency has been great with updates and pics of our little girl. We have essentially gotten a set of pics of her for each month so we are able to see how she has grown. In addition we were lucky enough to get a video of her. That helps with the wait but is not a substitute. We are waiting to post pics until after the trip(sort of being superstitious).
More when we go and once we are in Vietnam we will try and update throughout the trip.
We have been researching airfare as well. Loads of options and we think we may stop over in HongKong or Taipei for a couple of days prior to time to be in Vietnam. Have friends from college in both places. No idea on which airline yet but looking at Cathay Pacific, China Air and EVA. Any input would be appreciated!
More when we know more.
On a positive note our agency has been great with updates and pics of our little girl. We have essentially gotten a set of pics of her for each month so we are able to see how she has grown. In addition we were lucky enough to get a video of her. That helps with the wait but is not a substitute. We are waiting to post pics until after the trip(sort of being superstitious).
More when we go and once we are in Vietnam we will try and update throughout the trip.
We have been researching airfare as well. Loads of options and we think we may stop over in HongKong or Taipei for a couple of days prior to time to be in Vietnam. Have friends from college in both places. No idea on which airline yet but looking at Cathay Pacific, China Air and EVA. Any input would be appreciated!
More when we know more.
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