9:22am
I have survived the journey! Not without a few minor bumps in the road, but nonetheless, I am safe and at my hotel in Beijing.
The storms Sunday morning in the Dallas area made my departure look pretty bleak, however, my flight to Tokyo was only delayed an hour. Upon learning of my hour delay, I decided to hit up a travel store in DFW and pick up one of these to make my journey a little more comfortable:
I’ve never really used one, but they look pretty simple and a lot of people around me had them. So after purchasing this contraption, I decided to try it out while waiting to be called to board the plane. Apparently, these contraptions work a little too well. Perhaps 45 minutes after dozing off I suddenly awake to an empty lobby. They had already started the boarding process! Luckily, there were a lot of people in line and I wasn’t the last person on the plane.
I get to my seat and turns out I’m sitting next to an Indian businessman. He made me hesitant at first with his talk of just coming from Dubai and moving between the US and China every few months. Then he revealed to me that the second he saw me he thought I was either in the CIA or was a US Air Marshal. I was taken aback, but in order to secure my position, I neither confirmed nor denied his assumption.
Boy, they fed us well on the plane! 3 meals on the first flight (including Sushi and other wonderfulness) and one meal on my second 3-hour flight to Beijing. The in-flight entertainment would have made my mom and dad proud. Now I may say that I have officially watched “Wild Hogs,” and I don’t think my life will ever be the same!
Needless to say, I slept the vast majority of the 13-hour flight and ended up not getting up from my seat once! I was quite astonished at my tenacity. Although, I can’t give myself all of the credit, that neck tube thing really does work wonders!
I switched planes without a hitch (the Indian businessman walked me to my gate) and got to Beijing airport. I prayed and prayed to see my bag on that conveyor belt thing and eventually did! Yay! The most stressful part of my day was trying to convert my US$ to kuai. My flight landed at 8:30pm and by the time I got through customs and retrieved my luggage, it was a little after 9:00. The banks in the airport close at 7 and 9. I eventually found an ATM and was able to pocket a small amount of kuai for my taxi ride.
Taxi driver got lost, and a 30 minute drive turned into an hour. However, I got to see a lot of Beijing and I felt pretty safe and he wasn’t a crazy driver.
First impression of Beijing: The pollution is incredible! Even at night you can see a thick smog envelope everything! A view from my hotel window:
T Sq:
It's not overcast! It's just smog. I guess that’s the reason for all of their flashy Vegas-y lights. Also, I am having a hard time being able to grasp the enormity of the city. NYC x 10. It is huge and I don’t know where to begin.
Today I will be spending time in my room attempting to refresh my memory of the Chinese I learned of what felt like ions ago. I’m sure I’ll venture out for some dinner and lunch, but I need to get my bearings first.
Thanks to EVERYONE who sent me their well-wishes. I really appreciate all of your concern and love!
And by request from Benjamin, here are some Engrish signs I found in my room
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