Please remind me to update this blog as I otherwise will not.
Thanks to my cousin Lara Satterfield and her family for being such gracious hosts while I stayed with them in Seattle. Congratulations to Libby & Derek Ristau on a beautiful wedding and may they have an equally beautiful marriage together.
Day 0:
Since I'll be away for so long, managing the weight of my luggage was a priority. Fortunately, when Mom and I packed everything came in under weight with a few pounds to spare. Not wanting to take any chances, I still wore my heaviest clothing; that way it wouldn't be in the bag to count against me.
When putting on this heavier clothing I noticed that my right brown dress shoe was broken. the shoe portion in the front had detached from the sole. Figuring that I'd be doing very little walking, I decided to dress as planned.
The Seattle airport was uneventful though the security line was longer than I had anticipated and I had to show my passport all the time.
Hainan Air was my carrier and it was a scheduled 12 hour flight non-stop to Beijing. It has to be one of the best airlines I have ever flown. Seats were comfy and I had an aisle seat right on the wing. the outside seating is only two seats, it's a 2-4-2 configuration. Not that it wouldn't mattered, the seats and legroom were spacious, even for a larger American. The food was surprisingly really really good, and you were served a hot towel before meals to wash up (this is standard in China). The flight was smooth with almost no turbulence. Instead of flying straight across the Pacific we flew along the coastline the entire way, up Canada, Alaska, Russia, & Mongolia before arriving in Beijing.
My row companion was a Chinese student studying her masters in biochemistry at a small University in San Francisco. She was coming home for the semester and would resume her classes in the Spring. She would prefer to live in the U.S. if she can find a job there.
Day 1:
Because I crossed the Int'l Date Line I'm going to say Beijing is Day 1.
Looked over the wing as we approached Beijing, all I see is Gobi Desert. The landing was delayed by about 30 minutes, not sure why. We circled about 20 miles outside Beijing. Peering over my fellow passenger I tried to make out Beijing. Not seeing too much, I chalked it up to a heavy fog. The dark color didn't surprise me at first because it was after 5pm and was getting dark anyway. After landing I could barely see anything beyond the airport (and not even the entire airport). That's when it hit me, this isn't fog, it's smog.
When I get off the plane I'm immediately greeted by a tall Chinese gentleman holding a sign with my name. I approach him and he informs me that Amber's flight was cancelled, I am to collect my bags, take the free bus to terminal 3 and do something with Flight CA1215. I was pretty sure he told me to take that flight and he wrote down the number CA1215 Term 3 as a reminder. I proceeded through customs with no trouble and walked into the heart of Terminal 2.
Lots and lots and lots of people. I notice a sign that says Free Bus Terminal 3 (the only thing in English so far). I head outside and see two buses to my left and lots of taxis in front of me. There is a desk with two airporty looking people in front of the buses and I ask if free bus to Terminal 3. They say 'yes'. I ask again. They say "Bus Terminal 3". I get on. Bags are placed in a special bag compartment and I find a seat across what appears to be a group of Chinese flight attendants. The bus begins moving and we arrive at Terminal 1, so far so good. at this point I'm getting a tad panicked because nothing is written in English and something tells me I'm the only person the bus who speaks English. The bus lurches forward leaving Terminal 1. Still can't see too far into the distance because of the thick brown haze, coupled with the setting sun (which has been setting for a while now). The bus moves along for a couple of minutes and it appears to be getting on a highway in a direction opposite Terminals 1 & 2. Full Panic Mode sets in.
I am now convinced the desk people didn't understand me and this is a city bus taking me into the heart of Beijing. I have no idea when my flight leaves/Amber's flight arrives; I have no working cell phone; and I don't speak even basic Mandarin. In short, I'm screwed. Maybe fives minutes go by, I've been fiddling with my cell phone (still in airplane mode) because I believe it won't work in China. I motion to the two apparent flight attendants across from me to get their attention. They do not speak English. I motion to one of their phones and then motion at mine. She doesn't understand. Fortunately for me, her friend does understand and hands me her phone. I dial Amber's number and get a message in Chinese. I try again, same message. Reality sets in. What feels like 10 minutes passes by in agony as my mind is scrambling to think of how to get to a hotel and contact Amber, family, anyone.
Then the bus gets off the highway and approaches a very very large blue colored glass building. I remember this building when I landed and had assumed it was the central train station. As we get closer I see the words "TERMINAL 3". My prayers have been answered. Now to determine about this flight CA1215. Assuming that CA stands for "China Air" I approach a helpful looking gentleman who informs me that CA does not stand for "China Air" but actually for "Air China" and there is a help desk before I reach there and can learn more about the flight. I trudge my luggage to the help desk and learn that flight CA1215 is due to arrive at 5:30pm (current time is 5:20) good for me. I head to the first floor that is actually below ground level and see the largest arrival/departure schedule I've ever seen. Sure enough CA1215 is due at 5:30, but it's a different color. I wait several minutes and then approach another help desk where the girl tells me the flight should be there soon. At 5:45 the plane landed...and I look my eyeballs out to make sure I don't miss Amber inadvertently. As 6:00pm begins to draw near I start to panic again. I decide it's at least worth a try before I beggar a phone call from the help desk, I turn my phone's cell service back on. LO AND BEHOLD it works! So I dial Amber and it takes a few tries, but she finally answers. Relief pours in as I ask where she is. A bit bewildered, she tells me that I am supposed to fly to fly to Qingdao! Queue rising panic again. The flight was not CA1215, but CA1251. I rush to the girl at the help desk and frantically ask her when CA1251 leave for Qingdao, fearful that I have missed the flight. Amber is still on the phone and talks to the help desk person over the phone. The helper informs me the flight does not leave until 8:30 and boarding passes are only granted two hours before a flight leaves. Basically, I have 30 minutes to kill.
Not wanting to tempt fate any more than I need, I park myself directly across from my line for the boarding pass and try to connect to wifi. No dice, nothing connects. After 30 minutes I get in a long line and wait an exorbitant amount of time because it seems as if every other customer wants to argue with the check-in clerk or simply walks to the front of the line takes his attention for some matter or another. The passage of time really isn't that long, but in my state of prolonged panic there was a state of permanent stress that I'm not wholly sure I've recovered from. Reaching the clerk, I load all my bags and he looks at me and says the bags are overweight. I just stare blankly at the poor guy and say "Well, nothing I can do about that." He marks my bags, prints off something and tells me I need to go to another area of the terminal and pay for my overweight bags, it is 105 (thought $, but was actually RMB when I checked my Visa). So I march to another area of the terminal and find the location he sent me. I hand the woman behind the counter the slip and credit card, sign some papers and she hands me another slip of paper. Back across the terminal I go. This time I get to be one the line breakers. Apparently satisfied, the check-in clerk loads my luggage and hands me my boarding pass. Although it felt like forever, only about 40 minutes have elapsed.
Next fun part, I get to go through China's version of the TSA. Everyone gets the full body wand and stands on a box to do it. However, you get to keep the dignity of your shoes and belt. I was stopped and the guard (in excellent English) told me there were several wires in my computer bag and if they could remove the laptop and cell phone chargers and run the bag through again. Very much unlike our own TSA, these security agents all had a very helpful demeanor and projected competence and warmth. It sounds impossible, but it's true. After that it was like any other airport and I waited my time at the gate after getting some soup and a Sprite for a dinner.
The plane ride took about 1.5 hours and my companions on the plane were Chinese, but citizens of Toronto Canada and were coming home to Qingdao to show off their first child. Amber met me at the airport and it took a while for our luggage to arrive as it changed the luggage thingy twice before they decided to give us our luggage back.
The ride back was pretty as their bridges are lit up, not with lights as we think of them, but with LEDs that allow for images and dazzling lights of all colors to be displayed in patterns. Amber drove me around the city a little, but I was honestly so tired I don't remember much of it.
I slept.
Day 2
Amber had taken off work anticipating she would be in Beijing for a few days but now we were still in Qingdao. I was still exhausted from the previous ordeal and to make matters worse, my body was still in the process of adjusting. Amber took me out to eat at Western style restaurant called Korona's that is near the beach. Her mother called and I learned we were going to meet her mother and step-father today. Her stepmother called later and told us they had gifts for her new apartment. I had expected to get a couple of days to adjust before meeting her family. Nope! I'd see them all the second day I'm here.
Amber has a great and loving family much like my own. It's hard for me to ask her to come to the States knowing she'll be leaving them behind. Amber looks like her father and dresses like her mother.
I'm tired of typing now, but I'll try to get up to date as quickly as possible.
Not wanting to tempt fate any more than I need, I park myself directly across from my line for the boarding pass and try to connect to wifi. No dice, nothing connects. After 30 minutes I get in a long line and wait an exorbitant amount of time because it seems as if every other customer wants to argue with the check-in clerk or simply walks to the front of the line takes his attention for some matter or another. The passage of time really isn't that long, but in my state of prolonged panic there was a state of permanent stress that I'm not wholly sure I've recovered from. Reaching the clerk, I load all my bags and he looks at me and says the bags are overweight. I just stare blankly at the poor guy and say "Well, nothing I can do about that." He marks my bags, prints off something and tells me I need to go to another area of the terminal and pay for my overweight bags, it is 105 (thought $, but was actually RMB when I checked my Visa). So I march to another area of the terminal and find the location he sent me. I hand the woman behind the counter the slip and credit card, sign some papers and she hands me another slip of paper. Back across the terminal I go. This time I get to be one the line breakers. Apparently satisfied, the check-in clerk loads my luggage and hands me my boarding pass. Although it felt like forever, only about 40 minutes have elapsed.
Next fun part, I get to go through China's version of the TSA. Everyone gets the full body wand and stands on a box to do it. However, you get to keep the dignity of your shoes and belt. I was stopped and the guard (in excellent English) told me there were several wires in my computer bag and if they could remove the laptop and cell phone chargers and run the bag through again. Very much unlike our own TSA, these security agents all had a very helpful demeanor and projected competence and warmth. It sounds impossible, but it's true. After that it was like any other airport and I waited my time at the gate after getting some soup and a Sprite for a dinner.
The plane ride took about 1.5 hours and my companions on the plane were Chinese, but citizens of Toronto Canada and were coming home to Qingdao to show off their first child. Amber met me at the airport and it took a while for our luggage to arrive as it changed the luggage thingy twice before they decided to give us our luggage back.
The ride back was pretty as their bridges are lit up, not with lights as we think of them, but with LEDs that allow for images and dazzling lights of all colors to be displayed in patterns. Amber drove me around the city a little, but I was honestly so tired I don't remember much of it.
I slept.
Day 2
Amber had taken off work anticipating she would be in Beijing for a few days but now we were still in Qingdao. I was still exhausted from the previous ordeal and to make matters worse, my body was still in the process of adjusting. Amber took me out to eat at Western style restaurant called Korona's that is near the beach. Her mother called and I learned we were going to meet her mother and step-father today. Her stepmother called later and told us they had gifts for her new apartment. I had expected to get a couple of days to adjust before meeting her family. Nope! I'd see them all the second day I'm here.
Amber has a great and loving family much like my own. It's hard for me to ask her to come to the States knowing she'll be leaving them behind. Amber looks like her father and dresses like her mother.
I'm tired of typing now, but I'll try to get up to date as quickly as possible.
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