Just updated the blog going back to May 18th, and because I’m OCD about this sort of thing, I changed the timestamps so they reflect when I actually wrote the entries. Been up early because of jetlag. Will probably rest a lot this weekend, catch up on Bleach and Naruto, and hopefully get in some tennis and soccer before work starts next week.
flying
Departure
I can’t believe my stay in China has already reached its end. I’m usually here for at least six weeks or more every time I visit, so this year has been an exception. Added to the fact that I spent a portion of it in Shanghai (I’m usually only in Beijing), and staying at both my uncle’s and grandma’s place, and my visit this year seems especially truncated. Luckily, I was able to meet up with Ben again before leaving China, as he just arrived in Beijing yesterday. I’m quite grateful because he has also offered to drive me to the airport tomorrow, which means good company in the car and a lot of money saved on a taxi. It’s certainly good to have friends who can look out for you even when you’re not in your home country.
I really wish I had someone traveling with me on the way back, because I’m really not looking forward to the trip. I have to make two transfers, one in Tokyo and one in Minneapolis (with two-hour layovers in between), before I’m back in New Jersey. I miss the no-hassle service of direct flights, especially my experience from last year, where I managed to purchase a relatively cheap business class return ticket with my “frequent flyer” miles—needless to say, it was hands down the best flying experience of my life. But then Delta merged with Northwest and the latter’s partnership with Continental ended, along with any chance of my using my miles to purchase a direct ticket to and from Beijing. All in all, it’s going to take me around 24 hours to get home, though with the time difference, it’ll still be Thursday, when I get back, which is weird when I think about it. Anyway, I still have to finish packing and take a shower before going to bed early; I have to be up at 5:30AM tomorrow, and I prefer to do so with a full night’s rest.
Worst Flying Experience of my Life
What was supposed to be a fairly routine two-hour trip from Shanghai to Beijing turned out to be an 8-hour nightmare. First, the flight got delayed by one hour from noon to 1 PM. Then, the flight was delayed again after everyone had boarded the plane. Apparently, for various weather and security reasons, Beijing International Airport was not allowing any new flights to land. Another hour later, and we were finally in the air. However, when we were about 30 minutes away from Beijing, we received word that due to inclement weather, we would not be allowed to land in Beijing, and were landing in the nearby city of Shi Jia Zhuang instead. This threw many of the passengers into a panicked frenzy, and things only got worse after we landed in Shi Jia Zhuang and discovered that the situation in Beijing was still “unclear.” No one seemed to know how long it would be until we would be in the air again, and the flight attendants were scrambling to satisfy passengers’ needs for food and water. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we received the clearance to depart and landed in Beijing about 45 minutes later…and approximately 6 hours behind schedule. Needless to say, this was the single worst travel experience that I have ever had, but on the bright side, I guess I have a good story to tell in the future. (However, I am seriously considering taking the train next time. I hear the new high-speed train makes the trip in about 5 hours.)
Last minute packing and other thoughts
After a month of waiting, the big day is finally here! I will be flying out of the Garden State at around noon tomorrow and arriving in Beijing the next day in the early afternoon, local time (can you say jet lag?). As usual, I will not be sleeping a wink on the 12 hour plane ride…I’ve found that watching movies non-stop is a much more entertaining way of spending one’s time. As for how I’m going to spend my free time in China, I’ve decided to bring the following items:
- Jack Kerouac’s On the Road – an appropriate title indeed
- Jim Collin’s Built to Last – finally, I can finish this book
- Two issues of Discover magazine – plus I can do the puzzles in the back
- My laptop – how else will I be able to blog while I’m in China? 😉
- My iPod Touch – I just downloaded the solitaire app, so it’s all good.
- Math textbook – this is for when I’m bored. Nothing burns time like doing differential equations…(nerd alert!)
- Rubik’s Cube – this is for when I’m really bored…or when I feel like showing off, though I suspect all the kids in the China can probably do it faster than I can.
- My GUITAR! – you have no idea how excited I am to travel with my guitar :D. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Continental will let me bring it as a carry-on. Hey, there’s nothing that a smile and a friendly attitude can’t solve.
- Clothes – self-explanatory.
- Money – also self-explanatory.
- Other junk (i.e. gifts) – this is all the stuff that I’m bringing for other people, and can be divided roughly into two categories: consumable junk (e.g. fish oil, chocolate covered raisins, multivitamins) and non-consumable junk (e.g. sponges (wtf!?!?), wedding presents :)). Why my grandparents won’t buy their sponges in China is still a mystery to me…maybe the quality is bad?
Phew! That certainly is a lot. What’s sad is that the majority of the stuff I’m carrying, both by weight and by volume, does not belong to me. Like I said before, it’s all junk. Thus is my curse for being Chinese and traveling alone to China during the summer.
One last thing: according to my e-ticket, there will be no meals served during the flight. I hope this is some egregious typo, because as much as I detest airplane food, I hate starving even more.