15 Hours on a Plane. Jetlag and the 2-Year-Old.

Well, once we finally got all our luggage to the right level of LAX... you know, we took it up those extra flights of stairs for exercise before the long plane trip... the check-in process went smoothly. The Cathay Pacific representative actually walked out to meet us as we approached and introduced herself. So friendly. She had to get her supervisor to give permission for us to fly into Hong Kong with only a one-way ticket and no resident visa, but it didn't seem to be a big deal. We were not expecting our carry-on bags to get weighed and unfortunately, our roll-on bags were too heavy. But they don't weigh your computer bag, so we just transferred stuff from the roll-ons to our computer bag and then transferred it back after we went through security. I suppose we were using a loop hole, but it's a very odd rule they have, weighing certain carry-ons and not others. What if we wanted to put a super heavy computer bag in the overhead compartments?

Anyway, we got through security fine, which is always a relief because waiting in those long lines, with a 2-year-old and a stroller, never completely sure that you didn't accidentally pack something illegal, is quite stressful!

Here's the little guy, wide-eyed and excited to finally be on the airplane. No matter that it's his nap time... he won't actually fall asleep for another 8 hours.

It was super great to fly Cathay Pacific. Josiah had this nice little console complete with lots of cartoons. The remote pulled out on a string and doubled as a steering wheel at times. And look, you don't even have to have the tray table down in order to have a cup holder! Exciting stuff.

Josiah did this for good bits of the trip, though certainly not all of it. He rather hates headphones, and I don't think the screen actually tilted enough for him to see the cartoons well. So he watched movies on the iTouch as well. He also just played around on the floor and in his seat. Overall, he did great!

Our fantastic friends gave us a bag of toys for the plane, which surprisingly kept him occupied for large chunks of time whenever we gave him a new one. Here is an example:

Josiah spent the first 8 hours of the trip not sleeping. When he finally started to doze off, the lights were just coming back on for dinner. But thankfully it didn't wake him and I was able to lay him on the floor with a blanket over his tray table to block light. He slept down there for about 5 hours before waking up relatively happy.

I don't know if every airline offers a child's meal, but if yours does, you might want to get it for yourself! Josiah's meals had a different entree (spaghetti and meatballs for lunch and chicken nuggets, potato wedges, and veggies for dinner) but everything else was the same. Plus, he got a capri sun and an extra dessert (snickers and oreo cookies)!

Being on an airplane for 15 hours is a bit torturous, but we survived!

So after we got through immigration, got our luggage, rode a train for 30 minutes, a taxi for 10 minutes, a ferry for 30 minutes, and walked for 10 minutes, we were finally at Papa's (Nathan's dad's) apartment. Josiah went to bed just before midnight and slept until... 4:30 a.m.! Ahhhh! He had only had 5 hours of sleep in the 24 hours before he went to bed and he only slept for another 5???

That's pretty much how our last few days have been. Only he's moved his wake-up time to around 2:30 a.m. He thinks his nap time is night time and gets mad when we wake him up from a 4-hour nap. But I'm going nuts in the wee hours of the morning and need him to get back on a normal schedule soon! I don't know if we're doing it right, but sooner or later he'll get over jet lag.

Anyway, our first few days in Hong Kong have been good. We are now moved into our temporary housing and beginning the search for long-term housing. We feel good and are enjoying these beginnings in a new country. Being in Hong Kong does make me miss Taiwan, though. There are some similar things, but it's just not quite the same, and Taiwan is so much more familiar. But I knew things would be different and I was prepared.

More than anything, our final weeks in the States were full of God making it absolutely clear that this is where He wanted us to be and so we are thrilled to actually be here! Please pray for us as we adjust. Pray for us as we look for housing. Pray that we will be used for whatever God has planned!