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After a quick 12 hour, 30 minute flight, we stepped foot in Beijing, China. Beautiful airport. Modern, clean, lots or workers, and easy to navigate. We arrived in the early evening and could not help but notice the thick smoke from an obviously close fire...err, smog. Thick! Heard lots about it, but it was sight to behold.
We easily passed through customs. Each "police officer" who manned the stations looked like high school students. In fact, just about every worker in the Airport seemed to look 19-21 yrs. old. Anyway I digress...Went to the baggage claim. Everyone picked up their bag...except me. My bag was hiding. After waiting patiently for a few minutes and watched the same few bags go by, I came to grips with it....my bag was vacationing in SanFran.
After a brief visit to the "Baggage Issues" office, I walked away with a really nice piece of yellow paper and an opportunity to exercise patience. Made the choice to be happy about the fact that when Kylie and I packed my bags, we intentionally put the toiletries, a change of underwear and some socks in my carry-on. :) Growth Mindset!
After forcing a smile and a good attitude, we proceeded through customs again and onto our gate, to fly Air China to Shi'an (pronounced She-on), a 2.5 hour flight to where we would spend our first three days in China. Once arrived in Shi'an, at 11:00pm local time, we met our kind tour guide and driver, got on the van and began the hour drive to our hotel. Maggie, our guide's American name, is a really kind, well-spoken individual. She works at the University that is hosting us on our trip. Our program is being sponsored by the Chinese Gov't. Shaanix Normal University, is the executor of the exchange program for the Ministry of Education.
Once at the Hotel, I asked the Concierge if they could help me call United and find my bag to see if it still, in fact, existed. Through some very broken communication lines, they said the manager would check in the morning. Too tired to advocate, I thanked them and prayed for the best.
I had read that on long air trips, you should stay up until bedtime of the locals, so as to help your body adjust to the new time zone. I worked hard not to nap on the flights, with success. As my head hit the pillow, at 1am local time, I realized I had been up for 29 straight hours. Goodness...we made it! We were in China. Un-freakin-believable. :)
More tomorrow. Let the misadventures continue.... Where's my bag???
- comments
Jan Anderson I hope your bag has arrived! Thank God you had clean underwear! I am looking forward to following your blog. They are going to LOVE you, Lee. Because you are one awesome dude! Have a great time!
Jan Anderson Have you seen Michelle Obama? She is there now with her daughters.