Arrived

After a 14 hour flight and a 2-hour bus ride into Shanghai and full nights rest, I finally arrived!

Aside from being very long, the trip was relatively smooth. I arrived at JFK airport with all my paperwork, all of my things, feeling ready to take on this new adventure and feeling prepared for anything, and then I reach the Shanghai checking counter and to my utter surprise everyone standing in line is Chinese. Dugh! Of course they are. But for some reason, being surrounded by loud, hacking, Chinese speaking, black-haired, short men and woman each with a small child, was my first reality check that I was actually going back to China. The second check came when my friendly and vivacious neighbor in 46B (I got the window seat heheh) would every so often lean right in front of me to look out the window, crossing every layer of personal space I had. Another Chinese cultural ism.

After tossing and turning in a seat too small and dozing in and out of sleep, I finally looked out the dark window and small speckled lights began to emerge below. Yes I think, we are nearing the city! But when I look closely, I notice that all of these dotted lights are actually ships! Cargo ships. Huge Cargo ships spread out all across the Eastern China Sea. Then the plane veers off to the right and wow! We are hit with a zillion sparkling lights of all colors outlining the parameters of the city and it’s architectural landmarks. Again, wow! I can’t believe I am here.

My friend Kara was waiting for me at the airport when I arrived with all my luggage. We were then hustled into a bus packed to maximum capacity and driven off for the heart of the city. I then went to bed and slept 7 hours straight. So now I am up and awake and about to head out the door to explore the city!