The Qingdao trip that WASN'T...

Virginia and I at the train station McD's at midnight...

Have I mentioned that the key to surviving China is FLEXIBILITY!!!

A Summary of my day:
11:30 am ---Original time to meet Virginia to head over to Hankou together for lunch and train
1 pm ---Actual time that Virginia and I meet after last-minute packing and errands
1:30 ish ---Lunch at Hello Pizza (pizza place in Hankou run by expats--DELICIOUS US food)
3:30 ish ---Arrive at train station in time for our 4:58 train to Qingdao
4 ish ---Discover that our train has been delayed 8 HOURS and will now depart around 1 am
4:30 ish ---Arrive at Danielle's--Fellow Worker who lives near the train station
5-11 pm---Hang out at Danielle's--nap, talk, laugh, enjoy Danielle's FABULOUS hospitality etc...
11 ish ---Return to train station in time for our 12:58 train to Qingdao
11:30 ish ---Discover that our train has been CANCELED
11:30-12:15 ish ---Call around to find out other travel options
1 am ---Return to apartment after a long day of non-travel!

So--it seems that I'm not going to Qingdao after all. Yesterday there was a terrible train accident on the line heading to Qingdao (not the same route that we would have taken though--don't worry, mom) and we guess the wreckage had caused delays for all the other trains heading in that direction.

BUT--we're not terribly disappointed b/c while we were at Danielle's, we found out that there are now TWO spots open (hopefully) on a weekend trip to a nearby orphanage in Hunan!!! I had wanted to get in on this trip earlier this week--but at that time all the spots were filled, so Virginia and I continued to pursue a touristy trip to Qingdao. Now--it looks like the orphanage might be a possibility after all! We're just hoping that we can get some money back for the plane tickets that we booked for our return to Wuhan!

If we're able to get the spots--then we'll leave early Thursday morning to go spend a weekend loving on some of the children in Hunan! Please keep this trip in your Thoughts (even if I don't make it!) as they go to share LOVE with the sweet children. I'll try to update again when I know what I'll be doing!

Fun at the train station while we figure out what has come of our train!