landings

December 30, 2008 at 15:13 (China) (Beijing)

FINALLY IN BEIJING. FINALLY GOT A PROXY TO WORK. HURRAH HURRAH.

Recap of the last day (two days? I don’t know anymore). Written at various times offline–

December 28th-30th:

So I got to JFK airport at the designated time of 8 pm. Check-in didn’t start until 9 pm, which was a drag. Grace came a little later with her family and her boyfriend, and together with my mom, they proceeded to scare us with every horror story about the Motherland they had in their collective repertoire (there were a lot of them). We finally got rid of our baggage and were whisked (very briskly) through security. That was a hassle. I had forgotten that we had to take off our shoes, so I was hopping around on one foot, trying to unlace my boots. Of course, belts also had to go, so I had to walk through with one hand holding up my pants. I promise you I was the picture of dignified.

We got to the gate at around 9:30, and proceeded to sit for three hours. One of those three hours was spent listening to Grace flirt with her boyfriend on the phone. Scintillating stuff. Another half hour was spent trying to find “the girl with the white top and purple pants.” We found her in the end. Also, a bottle of Coke was $2.70.

Anyway, am writing this on the plane now. It is 1:35 am, December 29th. They just turned off the seat-belt sign, and put on a movie (50 First Dates—gag). If I were wittier, I’d make some clever commentary about the airline safety video and stuff, but I am not. I do have to say that I love plane take-offs. NYC was a glittering expanse beneath us, neat rows of lights and everything so tiny, and as we moved away from the metropolitan areas, everything got formless and dark. But my ears didn’t pop, which is a major plus.
In about 15 minutes they are going to serve us dinner/breakfast. Good thing too, because I am starving, and my head kind of hurts. I probably won’t be able to post this until we get to the hotel in Beijing. That’s about 20 hours from now. There’s nothing to see outside the window now. O sadness.

[+]

6:38 am now. Haven’t slept at all, can’t get comfortable. The food was good though, but maybe only because I was really hungry. They had this apple pie/cake thing and it was strangely satisfying. But I am so exhausted. Nine more hours to go. Eyes are too tired to read or to do anything. WHAT NOW.

So far, the lady in the row in front of us got dizzy and was on the verge of fainting, and another lady two rows in front of us threw up. Is it something about my presence, or Grace’s, I wonder? Very intriguing. I met Grace’s friend, Gary. At one point, we were trying to teach him how to pick up stewardesses in Mandarin. “你要不要？ Do you want it?” Unf, baby.

I have been able to pass for a Mandarin speaker so far! But it is only a matter of time before they find me out to be a sham. O the disgrace.

So tired, want to sleep…….

[+]

Well. It is now 1:34 pm and I am in Beijing! Currently trying to get proxies to work for me, but alas alas, no such luck.

The rest of the flight from NYC to Shanghai was spent in sleepless agony. We landed around 5:30 am in Shanghai, and I got kind of homesick when the plane was descending and I looked out the window and it was nowhere near as impressive as NYC. Anyway, baggage claim and re-checking in took forever, but we still had three hours to kill before our transfer flight to Beijing. Most of the group sat down and got something to eat, which made most of us to be late for boarding. Grace, Fiona and I barely made it past the gate and onto the shuttle bus, and as the doors closed, we saw one of the girls standing at the gate with this look of absolute panic on her face. Then the bus started to pull away and everyone let out a collective, “Oooohhh.” But we got her in the end, and the two hour flight to Beijing was relatively eventless. Claimed our luggage, got picked up, and was shuttled off to our hotel. But let me tell you, dragging around 60+ pounds of luggage with you = not fun at all. My arms will be so sore in the morning.

Oh, but I HAVE A SINGLE ROOM. They didn’t have enough doubles SO THEY GAVE US SUITES.  Oh my God, it’s so nice. It has a view of the courtyard and everything. I’m on the eighth floor. I will post pictures when I can, but SO. NICE. The bed looks amazing. I will sleep like a babe tonight. And the television and the bathroom and the alarm clock with a port for your ipod—just trust me, everything is spectacular. Except the internet. ARGH FIREWALL.

So. Now (3:10 pm, December 30th), in about three hours we are meeting for dinner and then going to a Peking opera show. I suspect that everyone will sleep through that, but. That’s jetlag for you.

Fiona just called, and we are going out to explore the city once Grace is done showering. Honestly, I am about to keel over and sleep forever, but you know. It’s not everyday you’re in Beijing. Unless you live here. Shut up.

Long post is long.

北京歡迎你!