Travelouge: Shanghai

Greetings from Shanghai! I made it safely through airport security, a 6-hour layover and a 12-hour flight to arrive in one of the most beautiful and well-known cities in the world. No pictures for you this time, but I can share what I saw through my 24+ adventure through words! How exciting!

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Unless you have to get up at 3:30 A.M. Which I did yesterday. My flight left at 7;00 A.M., and I was staying about an hour’s drive from the airport. Considering security and being at the gate on time, I had to leave about 4:30. Which meant getting up an hour earlier to make sure everything was packed and put together.

Mom and I had a tearful farewell at the security gate. It really hit me then that I was going away for a long time, and wouldn’t get to see her until I returned to the states.

Sadly, any such poignancy and dramatic start to my adventure was quickly ruined by having to stand in line at security after about 10 feet. But security was relatively light, and I made it through with no issues.

I slept the entire way through the first flight. I’d gotten about 4 hours of sleep the night before, plagued by dreams of a TSA robot that detected a TINY amount of metal on me and wouldn’t leave me alone. (In a spot that would, were it human, get it quickly labeled a pervert.)

San Francisco was where things got interesting. My connecting flight to Shanghai didn’t have a listed gate when I checked in, so I was at a loss about where to go when I arrived in San Francisco. I decided to at least find the international terminal and a place to park my butt until I could figure it out. Thankfully, I got an alert that my flight had been delayed (which I already knew) and it gave me a gate number. There were these adorable little booths for travelers to charge phones and work, and I quickly took one over for my own personal use.

After about 4 hours, I checked my mail and discovered that not only was my flight delayed by another hour, but it had been moved to a different gate. As I packed up and changed locations, I bought myself a Sandwich-I hadn’t had a lot to eat for breakfast and I was getting hungry.

Boarding for my Shanghai flight went smoothly as well. I had a window seat, so I could spend the entire flight looking at the Pacific Ocean. (Yay!) 2 meals were served on the flight, but I only had 1 because I had the sandwich and I wasn’t that hungry. There were also movies playing, which was nice because my laptop had died when I wasn’t looking so I couldn’t use it. I have to say that The Lego Movie sounds just as funny, if not funnier, in Chinese. (This was before I realized that there were three different translations on three different audio channels, including English.)

So I slept. And read a book. And slept through Zootopia, which I had actually wanted to watch so I was a bit bummed out.

12 hours later I made it to shanghai. We were running late and the place was congested, so we were put in a standing terminal and everyone had to take a bus to the main building. I’d put my sweater back on because night had fallen and I thought it would be a bit chilly and I finally got out of the plane an-OH THE HUMIDITY.

It’s hot. And humid. I grew up in hot and dry.

I got through customs and met with the person who was supposed to meet me. We got to the hotel (and I fell asleep on the way again.) and I was able to get checked in with no issue. Thing is I think they charge for Wi-Fi in the rooms so I’m not going to be on any longer than necessary. (Sorry Mom!)

And that was Day 1 of my adventure in China! Tomorrow I board my ship and begin two weeks of training and safety courses. I’m not sure what my internet situation is going to be like so you’ll just have to stay tuned.

Until next time, Travelers!

(Ok, obviously posted a couple of days late. Turns out some sites are restricted in Shanghai. Oops.)