Zhengzhou Adventure

Hey Friends!

So tired from sprinting to the train

A few weeks back 12 of our kids had traveled down to Zhengzhou for camp in Henan Province. 2 days after I had arrived back in China I had the opportunity to travel via train to pick them up and escort them home. It was a big task, but we packed up bags and bags of snacks and headed out early to get our kiddos. Our train to Zhengzhou departed from one of the bullet train stations in Beijing, thus we headed for the city only to get stuck in horrendous traffic. In fear that we'd miss our train due to traffic, we decided to hop on the subway to the train terminal. I usually tend to exaggerate stories a little, but I kid you not, when I say that we were RUNNING through the subway and train station...yes, running, to be more literal we were SPRINTING! Haha As uncomfortable, intense and insane as it was, we made our train to Zhengzhou with 10 minutes to spare!

Zhengzhou!

Arriving in a new city in China is always exciting for me because all of China is so unique and I'm always anxious to see what it looks like and how it feels. From the Zhengzhou train station, we again hopped on the subway and took it into the city to find some lunch. A pitstop at Starbucks and we were on to the mall to grab some grub (I don't mean actual grubs, just to clarify) and kill a little time window shopping. All I have to say is...fried noodles! Wow, wow, wow, I had never had them since I've lived here in China, and let me just say, they're incredible! Also, Zhengzhou is a beautiful city with lots of culture!

So. Much. Food!

I loved getting a small glimpse of the city; however I was so excited to see our kids! We headed back to the train station and found a spot to sit and wait for the cuties. When their bus arrived, I couldn't help but smile, it was soon good to see them! Since I had just arrived home from the States this was the first time that I would be seeing them in 4 weeks. I was excited! The unloading process was intense but after a quick head count it was time to head in. When Lily booked our train, she made sure to give us plenty of time to get to check in and get to our gate - and boy was I grateful! We made it onto the train with a broken walker and 30 minutes to spare. Figuring out seating arrangement was comical, with kids running all over, asking to use the bathroom, and making sure everyone had a chaperone and a seat. Let me just say that, Lily is my hero! She figured everything out with elegance and ease. You'd think that after 5 full days of camp, all of the kids would be tired and pass out almost immediately, right? I don't think one of our kids feel asleep the whole 3 hour train ride. The car ride home? Now that's a completely different story, not a single pair of eyes under the age of 35 were open... for more than 10 minutes of the 2 hour drive home.
It was a long and hard day, but such a grand adventure! Take a peek.