My trip
started in Bangor, as my sponsors were so kind to book my flights from the most
local airport. I woke up at 0445am EST and had a standard morning with no
issue, a curiosity for me, not known as an earlier riser. I owe this to the
excitement of starting such a trip. The days previous, as seems to always be
the case, were not very productive, as it is so very easy to look ahead.
Jocelyn dropped me off without any trouble, we said our temporary goodbyes and I
then immediately boarded the plane. Bangor is great. I flipped in some tunes
(which I would not take out until I passed through customs) and landed in
Detroit a couple albums later.
Knowing
I had a 7 hour layover in Detroit-Wayne County Metro Airport, I decided to
wonder around terminal A in search of my gate (which was not displayed, that’s
how long a layover I had). I Walked the entirety (1 hour jaunt), before asking
a very frustrated-with-computers helpdesk person for assistance. Satisfied with
my exercise for the next couple days, I sat down, ate some snacks and started
to work. Airport gates are ideal places to work while traveling alone. Rarely
does someone truly seek to distract you and there is very little else to do. I
was able to wade through some pretty thick editing. With an hour to go before
boarding, I made a few calls, including the one to suspend my cell service for
my time away. Then I stood up and stretched for about 30 minutes while waiting
to board. The boarding process has become a chaotic process. At least I think
so, perhaps it was always like this and I was either too young or too
unobservant to realize it. All boarding zones stand up at the same time and
just block all foot traffic to other gates in the process. It is a natural
outcome for a situation that has no penalty. If patrons were forced to give up
a preferred seat when boarding out of order, that would be something, I think.
 |
| Our flight route |
I found
out later that the plane I boarded was a Boeing 747-400, apparently the largest
Boeing-made plane. I would guess there were at least 449 passengers on the
plane with me. Most rows contained 10 seats (3-4-3), with the taper of the
plane cutting the two end seats for the last 7 rows or so. I was in row 65,
with 3 more behind me, so I think 450 is a pretty safe bet. However many people
there were, I am pretty sure I sat next to the only Tae Chi sensei aboard the
plane. If there was another, I am sure that my neighbor was the most
enthusiastic. I don’t know the motivation for doing so, but Zhichang Ling of
Ling Oriental Martial Arts proceeded to bury me in Tae Chi talk. Formerly of
Kokomo, IN (for which I had initially assumed was Kokomo of the Caribbean), his
practice had moved to the Indianapolis area. I lauded him on his business
acumen to move a niche business to a place where there are enough people to
fill it. He teaches around 100 students. That seems like a lot to me. All ages,
up to 80! There was a lot of personal bragging happening, which I entertained,
but only because I was bored out of my mind and there is really no escape on a
plane anyway. He hosted an Eli Lilly event, a convention of martial arts I
guess, recently with 70+ instructors. He made sure to tell me how he took down
some bragging Brazilian Ju Jitsu person. Multiple times. So I bet that is
impressive. I was shown every photo on his phone, many of the Tae Chi, but some
of his house. Also, many 15 min videos of him throwing his students to the
floor. He claims they are learning a lot, but it looks more like he is beating up
senior citizens (by far his dominant demographic). The reason he was flying was
to return to his hometown in China with the hope of also attending some high
school reunion type thing. Last thing about Ling – I thought he was going to go
the whole 14hr flight without using the restroom. He didn’t sleep the whole
time (I know because I didn’t get a minute of honest sleep, either. Being tall and on an overnight flight is an
awful thing to endure) and lasted the first 10 hours before caving in. I
explained it in my head as some Tae Chi mental fortitude until he broke.
Anyway, as far as seatmates go, he was pretty good, even if my retinas were
fried from looking at his phone.
Aside
from Master Ling, not sleeping and terrrrrible airplane food – I should just give
it up. Stuffed broccoli chicken/pesto pasta + really odd sides like bean sauce
and corn…I didn’t get sick, but I didn’t feel great, either – the flight was
smooth. We really did fly over the North Pole (along with Lake Baikal and the
Gobi Desert) without ever seeing the sun set, but I didn’t see anything other
than Matagami and Hudson Bay, full of sea ice that was just beginning to break
up. This is because all the shades were drawn to simulate a sleeping
environment, I assume. There were no defectors to this policy and Ling had the
window seat, so perhaps on the flight back.
As we
descended into Shanghai-Pudong Airport, I recalled my last breath of fresh
American air was in Detroit, and then I saw the sun finally disappear behind
some clouds, but mostly smog. In fact, I could not tell if Shanghai was more
than one terminal and two runways – and at the writing of this, still can’t. 30
minutes after stopping, I finally disembarked, hopped on the first bus ferry to
the terminal and waited in line for customs for another 40 minutes. Turns out
450+ people on a plane means a lot of lines, even with 10+ agents processing
visas. When I finally got to the customs agent, she was certainly thrown by the
difference in my current appearance – summer, shaven – and the one depicted by
my passport photo – winter, fur. Sextuple take. I remarked about the difference
and she acknowledged the remark before stamping my visa. I was officially in
China. (Quick note: My previous customs experience saw my checked bag searched or
at least subject to search. In China, visitors claimed their baggage
post-customs agent, a strategy I think is better). I walked to the baggage
claim area (2 were dedicated to just our flight) spotted my bag, unopened (the
bread tie was in place) and hauled it off to the exit.
As I
exited the baggage claim area, you must understand, again, the amount of people
on the plane. The exiting ‘channel’ was surrounded by 4 rows of people waiting
for arrivals to whisk away. I spotted one of my receiving party immediately and
made the walk through about 300 feet of crowd. I felt like a bit of a
celebrity. It was pretty funny. At the end of the channel, both Bilin (BEElin)
(professor at SHOU) and Bai (UMaine student also on exchange, who was
previously exchanged…it’s complicated) were there to greet me. After some
trouble finding the car (as it normal across all major airports, it seems), we
were on our way to my hotel.
It was
about 2000 China Time, but we were the only car on a 4 lane highway to Linggang
New City (where SHOU actually is located). This highway was also broken up by
signaled intersections that looked very confusing to me. If you turned left,
you were met by another signal before you could complete your turn, very odd.
Furthermore, there were many obstacles to dodge. Cars without lights on,
scooters without lights on (and some going the opposite way on the near-empty
highway), bikes without lights on, people spraying the roads with a leaky hose with no reflective clothing! China, get some lights on your
transportation! There were also numerous traffic cones and barricades to signal
potholes and prevent you from hitting them. Ironically, these were not marked
with any signage or reflective tape, so the situation became more dangerous.
Lots of these, always startling and nerve-wracking. Aside from those
characteristics, the highways to me looked very much like Florida highways at
night. Flat. Straight. Well-lit. Green vegetation surrounding it.
30
minutes after leaving the airport, we arrived at the hotel. People were in the
waiting room smoking cigarettes. That will take some getting used to, I think.
Maybe I’ll wear the facemasks inside vs. outside. Bilin filled out my paperwork
(it was in Chinese, of course) and I went up to the 5th floor. Bai
is my neighbor, which should be very helpful. I have plenty of space and a
mini-fridge. The shower I definitely tall enough. A big plus. The water heater
is exposed, but VERY effective. I think you could melt hard plastic with it.
The mattress is a slab of marble I think. Bringing the inflatable groundpad was
a VERY WISE DECISION. Bai recommended not flushing toilet paper, so into the
trash it goes (in case you were wondering about sensitivity to epidemics around
here and other SE Asian countries) and I have been warned often not to drink
tap water. Right. There are some English speaking TV channels, but mostly not,
which is fine. I don’t plan on watching TV much. I went to sleep feeling very
energetic, even in the face of sleep deprivation, without any delusion. A very
odd thing.
Great read :)
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