journey east

I finally made it to Qingdao. I am incredibly thankful for the seamless trip. Although it was a long one, all of my flights were on time, I easily made all of my connections, and I had absolutely no problems getting through customs. And when I came out of customs, there was my babe with a huge bouquet of gerber daisies. The perfect ending to a great trip. I am safe and sound with Bo (at last) and now we begin this crazy adventure together.

I have some photos of my first day in Qingdao, but I’ll have to post those in the next couple of days.

For now…Do Not Disturb…

Let me start by saying that I feel really sorry for the people who sat near me on that first flight. After a very tearful good-bye with my family, I pulled myself together, picked up a Starbucks white mocha, and boarded the plane. But about 5 minutes after take-off, the floodgates opened and I cried (the ugly kind) for almost the whole hour. It was pitiful. I’m sure everyone assumed I was afraid of flying. I felt really bad, too, because there was a little kid across the aisle from me who was obviously really scared, and I am pretty sure that my hysterics freaked him out even more. Anyway, I’ve dried it up, and I am doing much better now. I am so excited about seeing Bo tomorrow, but saying good-bye to my family was SO hard. I am going to miss them so much. *sniff, sniff* 

I made it to ATL about an hour ago. I was starving, so I hit Atlanta Bread Co. (appropriate, huh?) and parked myself in a cozy booth where I will be sitting for the next 3 hours. My next stop is LAX. I should arrive there at about 11:00 p.m CST, and that is when this day is really going to get interesting.

Since I have never been on an international fight before, I wanted to be sure I chose my airline carefully. And since Bo had such a fabulous experience flying to China on Cathay Pacific, I booked my flight with them as well. However, I was also somewhat choosy about the domestic flight, but more because of price than luxury, so I ended up having to purchase 2 separate tickets, one ticket from Mphs to LA and one from LA to China.

All this to say that once I arrive in LA, I have to go and claim my massive pile of luggage (with no help), take it to the international terminal (which is in a separate building), check my bags in (again), and then take another spin through security. Fun times!!

Once I get the baggage situation under control in LA, I will settle in for a LONG night. I need to get my days and nights reversed during this trip, so I plan to sleep on the way to LA (with a little help from Tylenol PM), and then stay up ALL night. My flight to China leaves at about 4 a.m. CST, so I am thinking I will need to prop my eyelids open for about 3 hours after take-off. Then, lights out for the remaining 11 hours until Hong Kong.

But for now, I am going to read the newspaper. I missed the debate last night (I had a good excuse, okay?), and I feel like I don’t know what is going on in the world.

More later…

I have to type fast because they just announced that we will be boarding the plane soon. I am at the Memphis airport, and I plan on live-blogging this trip for the next 36 hours.

As for the packing, I pulled it off…

NEXT STOP…ATLANTA…

Yes, it is almost 4 a.m. and I’m still packing. As you know, the airlines allow you to take two 50 pound bags (even though you have to pay for the second one), a carry-on and a “personal item.” Even under normal circumstances, I have trouble constraining myself to these limits, but considering that I am packing for years, not weeks, this is a huge challenge for me.

My carry-on will contain everything I need for the 36 hour journey to China: Change of clothes, toiletries, slippers, etc. And my “personal item” is my laptop that I am strategically packing into a rolling case with plenty of storage space for my books, iPod, camera, phone, etc. Then I am taking a large suitcase and a rolling duffel, which both reached the fifty pound mark a couple of hours ago. Yikes!

I admit it. I am a spoiled American, and I am likely going to experience a huge reality check in the next few months. But tonight, I am struggling to cope. I am leaving behind a ton of stuff, and with each item that I reluctantly add to the “leave” pile, I have to remind myself that my 2 bags will probably contain way more than many of the people in China will own in their lifetime. But it is still hard. I mean, I know I can survive without my Huggable Hangers, but I don’t want to!

Here is a peek at my progress. Notice that my suitcase is already overflowing and my duffel is getting close to max capacity. Everything on the floor still needs to be packed, not to mention the two-and-a-half loads of laundry that you can’t see. This is like putting 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag. But I’m determined, and I’ll let you know how it turns out… in the morning.

One-way plane ticket to China… $1200

FedEx 8 a.m. next day delivery for visa documents… $64 

“Priority-Super-Duper-Express-Plus” Rush service for passport stamp… $300

Seeing him on Monday instead of Tuesday… Priceless.

Good News: My visa paperwork has been processed and my work permit has been issued! Yay! I can finally book my flight and make my travel plans. But wait…

Bad News: When Bo went to pick up my paperwork from my employer so that he could Express Mail it to me from China, he discovered that there was one important document missing. Grrrrrrrr. Now he has to go through more red tape to locate the missing document.

Good News: The missing document has been located and although it will take an extra 3 days to get here, the paperwork should be on its way. The work permit was the really time-consuming part, so at least that wasn’t missing.

Bad- well, Good News: With those extra days of waiting, my projected flight date falls smack-dab in the middle of a vacation trip that my entire family has been planning for over a year. Thinking I’d be long gone by now, they had no clue that they would all be in Texas during my big send-off. Well, considering that I may not see my family for over a year, I have decided to postpone my travels for yet another week so that I don’t have to tell myself good-bye at the airport. And as an extra treat, I am tagging along on the family trip to Grandma’s house in TX (that’s the good news). I’ll probably be heading to China around the 23rd.

I’ll keep you posted…

About 2 weeks ago, I started getting this strange rash. It started out really small, in one tiny, itchy spot. But when it appeared to be spreading, I thought to myself, “it must be an allergic reaction…I mean, I did just recently touch a cat, (which I never do because I am totally a dog person) and I do have crazy sensitive skin, so maybe I’ll just cover myself in Hydro Cortisone cream and call it a day…

…and then I got word from the Foreign Affairs office in China that they want me to provide proof of overall good health before entering their country (in addition to the FULL medical exam that I must undergo once I actually get there…sheesh).

Just fabulous.

I am covered in red spots and band-aids (which ended up causing even more itchy redness due to my apparent allergy to the adhesive on those particular ones) and I need to convince the Chinese govt that I am a picture of good health so they’ll let me journey east to finally see my husband after eighty-some-odd days apart. What’s a girl to do?

Well, I decided to schedule a dermatologist appointment, sans health insurance, to get a professional diagnosis, and also to be sure that my speckled condition wouldn’t be cause for more visa delay.

So, here’s the scoop: I have Pityriasis Rosea, which I discovered (after reading a lengthy pamphlet) is fancy doctor speak for, “we don’t know what it is, or how you got it, or how to avoid it in the future, but here is some cream that MIGHT help clear it up.

That will be $135.

…PLUS the cost of the cream.”

Western medicine and capitalism at their best. Gotta love it.

I have a new found respect for those in the military. For months, or even years, at a time they’ll be away from their families. I’m sure there are some who will be voting for Obama since that means they’ll be coming home sooner. I never really had to think about how they must feel until now. I have my good days and my bad days…but my good days are still never nearly as good as if Rebecca were here with me. It’s now been 74 days since I’ve seen her.

This morning, I woke up empty and frustrated. Yesterday, the Chinese Embassy asked for more information, which meant that Rebecca’s visa approval is still pending and might even be delayed. I used to think that it was going to be great that I was going to be here during the Olympics, but I would much rather have been here either last year or next year if it meant me having my wife with me by now. I have a strong feeling that they’re just biding their time until after the Olympics to approve her. I’m just praying hard that it’ll be this month that they give her the green light. If we knew what we know now about how long we’d be away, who knows what decision we would have made at first. But I guarantee you, whatever decision we would have made would not have included being away from each other for over three months!

(originally posted on August 9, 2008)

(originally posted on August 6, 2008)

I’m stuck.

For 62 days, I have been not-so-patiently waiting to board a plane and spend 31 fun-filled hours traveling so that I can finally reunite with my husband (if you know what I mean). Yet, here I am with no Chinese Visa and no clue as to when I will actually be boarding aforementioned plane.

The Visa troubles have everything to do with the upcoming Olympics and all of the tightened security, so worst case scenario keeps me here for about 3 more weeks. Someone recently told me that “in China, patience isn’t a virtue, it’s a necessity.” Too bad this life-lesson couldn’t wait until I actually arrived in China.

I hadn’t really planned on starting this blog until I arrived in Qingdao, but since so many people are wondering why I’m still hangin’ around, I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and start it. Every day there are crazy new developments in our “plan” and this just seems to be the easiest way to keep you all updated on the insanity that is (as it turns out) China.

Please keep your fingers crossed that my Visa will come through quickly. I promise, I’ll work on the whole patience thing later.