TRAVEL DAY!!!
This morning started with a relaxing sleep in, where even Lucas slept in until about 9!! We had to get everything ready to go and left the house just shy of our target of 1:30 to head to the airport. The drive over was not too bad, though I did find my eyes “sweating” (a term later to be coined by my Dad) a few times during the drive. I have been preparing for this for months, and though there was this knowledge of what it was that I was preparing for, it hadn’t really felt real until we got closer and closer to the actual day. As we were driving to the airport, my main thought was that we were moving halfway around the world and would not be able to see my parents again for another almost 5 months…the LONGEST I have ever gone without seeing them. This left quite a sad spot in my heart. We are very close and it will be difficult to not see them for this long of a time. When we got to the airport, there was the bustle of getting the 8 tubs and suitcases onto the cart to check them inside. Thought the process went very smoothly and there was no time we had to wait in line, there was still a bit of stress with getting through this process. But finally, everything was checked and on its way down the conveyer belt to the plane. Paul met us there too, so after getting checked (it was only about 4:30) we all sat at the Seattle’s Best Coffee shop and had some snacks and just hung out. I soaked in as much as I could, because this would be the last time we spent together in almost half a year. Over the years, it has come that the 5 of us spend EVERY holiday together. I am reaaaaaallllllly going to have a heavy heart over missing this.
Around 5:45, we made our way to security, though a little part of me really wanted to just stay sitting there because I knew once we got into line, that was that…but on we went. Then I was faced with probably the hardest time in my adult life, saying goodbye. We tried to keep it not sad, but how in the world do you do this when you are saying goodbye to the biggest part of your life? We said our goodbyes, and I forced myself to leave, Lucas saying, “Come on Mom, let”s go to the playground.” (An example of a 4 year olds Big Picture) All the way through security, I was like a water faucet, and with one last glimpse of my parents and my big brother waving to us, we waved back and passed the point of no return. I was leaking for about another 45minutes after that, all through the corridors and during much of Lucas’ play time at the playground. He got some good running around time, jumping and playing tag with many other children. I let him play for about an hour before we went to get something to eat and headed to the gate. We took the tram and walked to our gate, S6, where we saw some ‘friends’ from the play area, a boy and a little girl with their mother. The little girl had taken much time to show me all the cool tricks she could do while on the play toys. The kids played for a while, laughing and jumping cars until they had to board their flight to Anchorage. This was when I noticed the time, 7:50, and the fact that there were only about 5 other people next to this gate. When I got out our tickets, it said boarding began at 7:35, so I knew something was wrong… We gathered up our things and headed to the ‘big board’ to check…sure enough, we should have been at gate S9!!!!! Whoops!! I guess looking through the water in my eyes, I missed flipped the number…we rushed over to S9 to find that at that exact moment they were calling our names to board. It was a bit of a frenzy, but we finally made it on the plane. Lucas carrying baby, and me carrying everything else onto the plane, bumping into everything along the way. What a mess…
So, FINALLY, we are on the plane and seated, waiting to take off. Now, this is a big plane and we were one of the first to board, so I didn’t really think much of the amount of time it was taking to take-off, until an announcement came on over the speaker, “Ladies and gentlemen, we just wanted to inform you that we have completed some maintenance on the left engine and will be starting it up and shutting it off to test it out.” (!!!!!!!!!!!) My thoughts are we are flying on this plane halfway around the world, and there is ENGINE maintenance happening now!!!!! You can only imagine the thoughts that were going through my head at this point. So they started it up and shut it off, then we sat there for a bit longer (my thoughts festering and multiplying into ‘bigger’ and ‘better’ scenarios). Then it was time to take off. We made it down the runway and into the air in a very smooth takeoff (thank you Captain). About ten minutes into the flight, with my mind still mulling over this whole “left engine” thing, there was a loud POP and something flew past my head and bounced around the cabin. OH …..(insert choice word)!! I about threw up!!!! We are almost up to cruising altitude and now a BOLT has popped off the cabin of the plane, I’m imagining part of the plane breaking apart and now, we’re going down….UGH! That left engine, I knew taking this plane was a bad idea!! So, with my eyes as big as the moon, looking around the cabin, the girl in front of my said something and looked really embarrassed. She held up a small champagne bottle, from which the cork had popped as our altitude increased. It was slightly humorous once I got past the whole I’m-going-to-throw-up-because-the-plane-is-going-down thing. The rest of the flight was uneventful, we chased the sunset for many hours, so mostly what I saw was beautiful sunsets amidst beautiful clouds. The plane had small tv sets on the back of the seats so everyone could watch their own choice of TV, movie, etc. This was perfect, because they had Cars 1 and 2 so Lucas could watch these without me having to get out my computer. He fell asleep about two hours into the flight and slept most of the time. I tried to doze here and there, but this was difficult in this confined space, while also trying to keep Lucas asleep.
We arrived at the airport just about 11:40pm (Beijing Time)
on the night of July 25th. So, not only were we on a plane for 12
hours, but then we lost another 12. After finally getting off the plane with
all of our things, much more gracefully than the trip onto the plane, thank goodness. The moment we stepped off the
plane, there was the overwhelming rush of HOT, MUGGY air, hello Beijing….Next
step was to follow the masses to the baggage claim. We grabbed one, then two of
the big, bell-hop style carts and waited for our boxes and bags. They all came
out in one rush, so it was a mad frenzy to grab them all off of the turnstile,
with Lucas at my heels pointing them out. Finally I got them all off and onto
the cart, then with Lucas ‘helping’ to
push, we got these two large carts through the “nothing to claim” aisle. One of
the security men came up to help us push one through the big gate to where the
‘non-flight’ folks wait. We saw the “BISS” sign almost immediately. Phew!! Once
we met Joyce, we went to the van, loaded everything and headed to the
apartment. A half hour from the airport, we were finally at our apartment!
YAY!! After making it through the maze
of the parking garage, we were at the garage door, leading to the elevator.
Joyce took us up to the apartment and we looked around. It was 30 degrees
Celcius (and muggy) in the apartment, so I knew my first task was going to be
how to figure out how to cool it off. We put the bags we brought up with us
into one of the rooms and went down to get more. Joyce and the driver helped to
get everything up the elevator and into the apartment, then after leaving us
with the emergency numbers, settling in allowance, and copies of the lease, she
left. Now it was 2am Beijing time and we were hot, tired, and alone in Beijing.
Our apartment is a two bedroom, with large beds, there is a small kitchen,
spacious living/dining room, and bathroom with a shower. We have a washing
machine but no dryer, and a fridge in the living/dining room. There is a
microwave, but no oven. We have a large window overlooking the city, and a
window/sitting area in my room. First thing I did was look around the place,
which was not “furnished” to the extent I imagined. I had expected the basics:
sheets, pillows, dishes, silverware, etc. What I found was an apartment that
was not cleaned fully, the floors were dirty, dusty under the furniture and in
the corners, the fridge had clearly had something go rotten in it, there were
no towels, the bedding that was left had stains, there were only a couple dishes
(not clean), the microwave was dirty, and the pans that were left were scraped
and yucky looking. Clearly I had a LOT of work to do to get this place up to my
standards of living. Luckily one of the mattresses was brand new, still in the
plastic, and since I did not bring any bedsheets, I tore off the plastic and
that was where we slept on night #1, when we went to bed at 3am.
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