I'm currently sitting in Chicago airport waiting for my final flight home : ) It's been quite the day, it started with my 5am pick-up in China. I dragged my bags to the curb outside of my apt where I awaited foe the rented car. I heard my car before I saw it...why? Perhaps because the driver was driving without headlights in the dark hours of the morning. Oh China, I thought to myself! The driver was so nice and helped me get my bags onto a cart so I could check in. The flight from KMG to Shanghai was uneventful, the only obnoxious part was that they made me pick up my checked bags in Shanghai and re-check them which ended up adding a long, annoying step to an already long day. One of the other families living in China (not the city that I am in) was also flying through Shanghai on the same day at about the same time as me... we hung out during our layover which was really nice. I've had a tough time thinking about leaving China and I think that it was good to have the company during the long layover to avoid being the crazy, crying foreigner, a role I have played far too often duing my time here : ). The airline wouldn't let me check my bags in until 12:30 (I arrived around 10:45) and I was standing in line as soon as it opened. When they opened check-in, it was like letting the horses out of the gates at Preakness! Everyone was anxious to get their bags checked and head through security. The first wave of travelors went up to the counter and then stood there.... FOR OVER AN HOUR! The computer system for all of United Airlines in Shanghai was down and they didn't know when they were going to get it fixed. They just kept making announcements saying that they are unable to check anyone in. I started to panic... I've been away from my fiance for eight months and enough is enough, I was ready to board that plane. What I didn't know is that boarding the plane was only half of my long day of airline travels... The plane from Shanghai to Chicago had all sorts of crazy going on. First it was late, then we boarded and sat at the gate for almost two and a half hours! The story of why we were sitting there changed with every apologetic but nonetheless annoying, announcement. First it was traffic controls fault, then we were waiting for maintenance. At one point the had to shut the plane down to fix something which cut the AC off. It was so hot I thought people were going to have heat strokes... Luckily I have seen the Chinese remedy for heat strokes so I was ready to jump to the rescue with Eastern medicine! Well by the time we got on our way I knew that I wasn't going to make my connecting flight in Chicago, the question was whether there was room on the final flight that night o whether I would have to spend the night at the airport which would have been terrible. The flight went shockingly fast considering that we were on there much longer than we should have been and there weren't personal tv screens which make the time go faster. The airport in Chicago was a little stressful because so many people either missed their flights and were mad or were close to missing their flights so they were frantic. I no longer like O'Hare... We really need a better system for incoming international flights... This getting your bags, re-checking them and going through security again is bananas. It took a really long time, but I got my favorite moment... When the customs officer says "welcome home" I LOVE that! Everytime leave, I remember home much I love my home : ). I also wanted to belt out patriotic songs at the site of the American flag : ). My mood dampened a little bit when I boarded my last flight and they announced that we were running late because they didn't have the pilot... Unreal United Airlines, unreal! We only ended up leaving half an hour late which is an improvement over my earlier flight. Right now I'm skimming through Skymall wondering if you can register for wedding gifts from them... I love their inventions they truely are genius! Really I'm just distracting myself as I await our descent into Pittsburgh where my Bill will meet me and we'll be with each other forever ; ). I'm still processing through my experience in China, but regardless of what I'll be up to next, I know that I want to be there with my Bill. I love China and always will, but right now it's good to be home : )
My skymall registery: 1. can you imagine being next to the guy inflating that massive pillow! I really got a neck ache from laying on the tray table today and I could have used that... 2. Who says attaching a hot beverage to your laptop is a bad idea? Not when you have this Skymall original! 3. Jumping the gun a little here but i think our kids should be strapped onto bills shoulders by their legs that way we can't lose them : ). 4. Last but not least, voice activated r2d2 robot!!! I love it! If I included the amazing pet inventions I could have gone on and on, but, Bill says "no cats" and I'm not encouraging the dog conversation so it ends here... If we ever have a pet, it won't ever get anything from Skymall because that's a terrible use of resources, but there are some fun contraptions for the k9 crowd to dream of!
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