Flying Back to the U.S.

We got up this morning at 8:30am. We wanted to sleep in a little bit since we knew that we had a long day ahead of us. Also the Cavs played at 9am our time and we were hoping that it would be on TV so we could tape it. If we could tape it, we could watch it on the plane. That would be perfect!

At 9am we went through all the TV channels in the hotel. We were disappointed to find out it was not on. We did not get ESPN. Then we started looking online to see if we could somehow get it. Brian found a way to watch the game live using ChannelSurfing.net. The next challenge was to figure out how to record it so we could see and hear it later during our flight. The original plan was to point the webcam at the television. Since the webcam is built into the laptop screen, it can’t be pointed at itself. Once again, Brian found a way though by using a mirror. It required him to take apart the bathroom mirror so he could bring it to the laptop (the internet cable was not very long). He had it all set up by the second quarter.

With the game taping, we went to breakfast at our hotel. It was included since we were in a suite and had a very nice view from the 30th floor. The breakfast had Asian and American food like all of our previous hotels. It was a buffet, but we could also order off the menu. We both ordered crepes. We also had egg rolls and noodles.

After breakfast we returned to our room to check on the game and pack. The game was playing live while we were there. To ensure that we did not hear it, we both wore our headphones with music playing. To communicate with each other, we used our own type of sign language. Occasionally we would also run into the bathroom and close the door and then talk. Since we were going through so much effort to tape the game, we did not want to know how it was going until we watched it.

After we packed, we went out and walked the streets. It was still cold, but it seemed a little warmer than yesterday. We went into stores but did not buy anything. I was worried about our weight on our luggage. The last thing I needed was to spend more on luggage from the airlines. We went into a store that sold bulk candies, dried fruits, and preserved meats by weight. They had numerous island counters throughout the store. It was about the size of a typical drug store back home, but just arranged differently. Each counter had several people working it. We counted at least 60 employees working in this one store! Apparently there really is a surplus of labor in China! A store that size would not have 60 people on the payroll back home.

Outside of the stores, people trying to sell us things constantly approached us. “Fake watches, shoes, t-shirts” they would run up to us and say. “Lady, lady! Please come look!” We stand out, so we attract a lot of attention from these people.



When we got back to our hotel, the game was over. We finished up packing and checked out around 12:30pm. We got a cab from our hotel. The hotel told the taxi driver where to go for us. There was a lot of construction on the way to the airport. We thought traffic would not be too bad since it was Saturday, but there still was a lot. They were doing a lot of construction in Shanghai which meant some of the roads were tore up. The construction they do is mostly hand labor. We saw many brooms, shovels, and hammers and not many machines except for big ones. It took an hour to get to the airport and cost 196 RMB (about $30 USD).

Once we arrived we had to wait for the Continental ticket counter to open. It is not like at home where the ticket counter is always open. The international airlines have an assigned location and they only open 2 hours before the flight and close one hour before the flight. At check in our checked luggage was weighed. One bag was 50 pounds and the other large one was 45 pounds. That meant we were not over the limit and did not have to repack. I was excited! Also we have seats next to each so that made me happy. They manually went through one of our bags though. We had to go into a special room for that. The shaving cream can and the canned hair moose roused their suspicion.

We had some money left in RMB, so we bought a few snacks at the airport. We have learned that it is cheaper to buy things outside of security. There is also more selection. Next we had to go through China’s Security and Quarantine (security and immigration). Once we finished, we felt like we were one step closer to coming home. Bye bye China!

Our flight was delayed leaving the gate due to air traffic control for some reason. It was about 30 minutes late. Of course that did not make us too happy since our flight was going to be 13 hours 40 minutes from take off to landing without the delay! Finally we took off.

We hear there is suppose to be snow in New Jersey (6-10 inches forecast is what other passengers are telling us). We are hoping we can land and get our connecting flight to Cleveland tonight. I really want to sleep in my own bed tonight. I’m writing this on the airplane right now. Our flight has electrical plugs so our laptop can be plugged in. We first watched the Cavs game. We were excited to see they won! It was really nice to be able to watch it. It was a good two-hour distraction for us.

When we flew to Beijing, we flew east. We thought we would fly west, but we did not. We flew East eventually passing over northern Europe and Mongolia on our way to China. Today we are also flying east passing over Japan and Montana and other northern U.S. states. The fact that we flew East and returned from the West means that we officially flew around the world on this trip!

Continental’s entertainment system is really nice. Everyone has their own small screen that you can watch movies, listen to music, or watch flight status. For example, we are going 688 miles per hour right now and flying over Montana.

In China and most of the countries we have visited, we could not drink the water. In fact we could not use the water to brush our teeth. It was difficult to remember that since we did have running water, but were not allowed to use it. All of our hotels gave us complimentary water. Try brushing your teeth with a bottle of water; it is a unique experience in itself.

This trip was amazing. There were so many things that we witnessed first hand that is difficult to put into words. We tried to describe our experiences in this blog but we know we left out some too. We did a lot everyday. In the end we took over 3,500 pictures! I will have my work cut out for me with my scrapbook. We did so much sometimes that I would sometimes forget about things when I would write the blog. The Asian culture is fascinating. We hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures. I will write final thoughts about this trip however it may be in a week or so since we will be busy with the holidays.