Cab Ride to Hotel

I apologize in advance for this long post...but you know how wordy I can be, and this story is just a funny example of how naive and silly I can be sometimes.  So our ride from the airport to the hotel was kind of scary.  We got our bags and walked to the area for taxis.  Heidi being the brave, experienced international traveler charges right on out into the sea of people waiting for a taxi.  I really wasn't sure what we were supposed to be doing, so I was hoping it would all work out.

All of the signs were Chinese characters, and we weren't really finding a typical taxi queue.  While still trying to figure things out, a person comes up and asks us if we need a taxi.  In a large U.S. city, I'd typically say no thanks and go with what seems to be the regular taxi service or ask some questions at an information desk or something.  I guess the long journey coupled with knowing that I'd be hard pressed to get a clear answer in English from someone, I said yes and he took one of our bags and started walking quickly down this very long sidewalk where all of the taxis were coming in.

We followed quickly behind him with our other bags.  He walked for a bit and asked me if I had the address of the hotel.  We knew this would be confusing, as we had printed out the hotel reservation with the address written out in English.  We did not have the address in the Chinese character writing.  He looked at our paperwork for a bit, and after seeing the picture and some discussion, he said he knew where the place was.   A partner of his approached and told us the fare.  It was much higher than I expected, but I ran the number in my head and decided I would live with it.  Thankfully we had converted plenty of money to get us started.  At this point, I should have just said that seems too high and no thanks.  But again, I didn't really know where else to go or what the fare was supposed to be, so we paid the price and followed him some more.  And I'm not certain what I was thinking anyway, paying the guy before we had even gotten near his car.  Sometimes I guess I get so caught up with stuff, I guess I just lose good sense.  

Anyway...we kept walking and walking passed all of the standard metered taxis, but at this point he had our money.  I'm becoming increasingly annoyed and feeling like this was a really bad idea and I should have stayed in the airport until we had this figured out better.  Too late now.  I'm asking the guy how far is the car, and he just keeps pointing ahead.  We seriously ran out of taxis and the lane for them and were suddenly were in a four lane road with our bags and this guy.  Cars are coming at us and we are crossing this busy street, and I seriously thought one car was going to run Heidi over.

We safely get across the street to a parking lot where the guy says the car is parked.  Now I'm thinking, we are all the way over here and I hope the worst part of this deal is the high price and that we aren't about to be robbed or worse.  Now I've gone into super "this doesn't feel right" mode and I'm very closely watching this guy and where we are headed.  We arrive to the lot and he tells us the driver is coming.  He is on the phone calling somoene.  I'm waiting with the guy, truly praying for peace and thinking, "Lord I know you didn't bring us all this way for something stupid to happen."

Behind us a couple of people and a minivan arrive.  They shove our bags into the van and we're off with this new guy.  He speaks NO English...none.  That is to be expected, after all I am in China and that is my problem, not theirs.  The first thing I notice is a folded camouflage military type jacket, and a display of some rifle rounds on his dash.  That made me feel warm and fuzzy all over.  :)

Now the driver starts asking me where we are going.  I thought we had covered this with the previous guy, and you would hope he would convey this to the driver but he didn't.  I dig through my bag and give him the paperwork I gave the other guy.  He can't make any sense of the address, but calls the number on the hotel paperwork.  He calls the number, and that was a glimpse of hope that maybe he really is going to drive us where we wanted to go and not to the middle of nowhere to rob us and leave us stranded or something.

In any case, God is good and we arrived at the hotel safely.  I am still 90% certain we were totally taken on the fare and that these people probably prey on people that look as clueless as I do to make their living.  But, in the end, he got us safely to the hotel at a price I agreed to, so what can I say?  We were just so happy to see Holiday Inn Shifu and get out of that van.  I know I probably am overly paranoid from work or I've watched one too many movies, but this was just another reminder of how the adoption is really a test of just putting yourself out there and trusting God again and again to take care of us.