Ni Hao China!

December 7, 2008

I arrived in Beijing a little after 7:00 pm-I think. The flight from McGee Tyson was great. I actually slept the entire way so the two hour plane ride only felt like about 15 minutes. Arriving in Newark, I found out that the flight to Beijing had been delayed from 12:15pm to 3:00pm. I disappointed but decided to just get a cup of coffee, read some magazines, and walk around the airport a little before having to sit in the plane for so long. At about 1:30, however, the flight was delayed again until 4:00. The woman that made the announcement then told us that “they” were still in the process of fixing the problem with the plane-a mechanical problem. I was really frustrated at this point-and incredibly tired. I had been not only counting down the hours to see Danny, but also to when I could sleep. I had been studying, taking exams, and moving out of my apartment for the last days prior to leaving and hadn't slept in about 40 hours. At 3:45 the 4:00 was delayed to 4:30. Then at 4:10 it was delayed to 5:00. (I would like to mention here that all the flights in my terminal were “on time”-I know because I walked past each one while waiting.)
Finally, after making friends with an Alabama fan, who was pretty upset about not being able to watch the SEC Championship, and a very short guy with an incredibly gross and scraggly go tee, I boarded the plane. We took off a little after 5:30!!!
The 12 hour and 44 minute plane ride was actually not bad. I took Dramamine within the firs 30 minutes of the flight. This, combined with sleep deprivation, was a great combination for the ride! The two people sitting on either side of me were very nice. Ian, a junior at a small liberal arts college in Minnesota, was really nice. He even saved me an ice cream while I was asleep to have when I woke up :) The woman on my left was also really nice. I can't remember her name (it was Chinese-that's not why I don't remember, actually maybe it is). She was going back home after spending a month in the States-mostly visiting friends in New York.
I arrived in Beijing at about 7:30 pm local time!!!! The lady that sat next to me offered her phone to me to call Danny. He was there waiting! I went to claim my bag and then “go through customs”. Even though I had to stand in line for about 15 minutes, all the guy did was look at my visa, and look at the card I gave him saying what flight I arrived on. They didn't look at anything. -not that I had anything illegal to bring in...but my experience in Chile of nearly not being allowed through because I had an open bag of trail mix made me expect at least a little concern.
I left customs and wheeled my 43 pound bag through the next door. There was Danny!!!-- on the other side of a gate/fence but...oh my goodness, I was so happy!!!! We walked/kind of ran to the end of the divider to see each other. He had the most beautiful bouquet of roses and lilies! We (I did not carry it) took my incredibly heavy bag downstairs to the subway. I didn't actually get to see Beijing in the daylight until the next day, but I got to experience a little of Beijing transportation in the motorcycle-driven cart after we left the subway station. I also ate some quar (pronounced “chuar”-anything cooked on a stick-this was chicken) and permison (a fruit similar to a tomato) that Danny had gotten when we arrived at his apartment.