Alexia and I tried to exchange some of our yuan back to USD, but the hotel only exchanges one way. I decided I'd have to spend it all at the airport then because the fee to convert it back was just about as much as I had in the first place.
Breakfast this morning was delicious. It was the same buffet, but this time I tried some walnut bread, which was so good. It's just bread with walnuts in it, so maybe I can find some at home. Lil Mao got his hands on a streamed grain bun, but decided it was a better hat than breakfast item.
Cathy met us at 9 am to take us to the airport. Dr. Orkwis and his sons had left earlier this morning, so we didn't see them at all.
I looked outside and was kind of frightened by how much smog was outside. Cathy told us that the schools shut down today due to the smog, which had never happened before. I'm skeptical that this is the first time they've closed schools due to smog, but it's definitely awful and I understand why things would shut down. Even inside of the van, the air was making my throat sore and eyes/nose sting a little. The outside looks so post apocalyptic with all of the high rise apartments and the smog.
The smog outside was so bad that I even got Lil Mao a facemask to wear.
Cathy says she hopes that all of this smog will be a real wake-up call that the air pollution needs fixed ASAP. She was asking us if we had ever had a smog problem. I wasn't sure about the smog, but I did tell her about the Ohio River and how it caught fire once because it was so polluted. She was so shocked that that could happen at all.
To help combat the air pollution, on certain days in Xi'an, only certain cars are allowed to drive. That means that you'll have to use the bus or carpool to get the work since you won't be able to drive every day. Usually there are only one or two groups (I think out of 10) that can't drive, but now only half of the cars are allowed to drive at a time. This limit is supposed to help with the air pollution, and I think it also helps reduce traffic jams.
I also asked her about what she thinks about North Korea, and she said that the media makes it sound like China and North Korea are super close governments, but the reality is that North Korea sometimes causes big trouble for China and so many Chinese people don't like North Korea. It's very mysterious, she says. They're much more familiar with South Korea. Since her opinion was the only one on North Korea that I was able to find out, I cannot really say if her view is reflective of the entire population or even it's majority. I would be super interested to find out.
She also asked us about Donald Trump. She thought that becsuse he won the election, everyone liked him. We were trying to explain the electoral college to her, and how Trump got less votes but still won overall, so there is still a super big divide in voters for this election.
We got to the airport and Cathy helped us check in. It took a while because we weren't sure where to check in. First we tried the domestic flights since we were flying to Beijing, but we had to go find the international check-in since the first flight was only a transfer. Luckily Cathy was able to help us get to the right spot and get checked in.
Going through security always seems to be an adventure for me. This time I remembered to take my battery pack out of my bag. I realized later that I forgot the voltage converter but I got lucky and that didn't set off the scanners. I did, however, set off the security wand a significant amount of times, which resulted in an extra thorough pat down from the security guard. I was feeling a little jumpy this morning, so it took a lot of focus to stay calm and not be super twitchy during the security screening.
I think one thing I'll miss the most in China is all of the milk tea. Liz and I decided to get as much milk tea as we could before we left, so we stopped by a convenience store to get some before the flight.
As we sat at the terminal, we kept hearing announcements for flights being delayed due to the weather, presumably the smog. Every time another flight was delayed, I got more and more nervous. Our flight wasn't delayed at all, and we left for Beijing no problem.
I guess Liz and I ruined Matt's plans for some nice discussion on the flight because we fell asleep before the plane even reached cruising altitude, and I only woke up because Matt woke me up to tell me there was food. Then after we ate, I was going to stay awake, but then the plane was pulling up to the gate before I knew it. I was told I slept through a lot of turbulence and also the landing, which I thought was fine but I guess it's not expected. Maybe I should add "expert at sleeping" to my resume...
We made it to Beijing and had to go through customs to get on our flight to Detroit. The first set was super weird. It looked unsupervised but we had to run our bags through two different scanners anyway. Then we walked through baggage claim and checked in with Delta for our next two flights. They reprinted our boarding passes, then we made our way to the terminal for our connecting flight.
We had more customs to go through, but these were more legit. Someone supervised the line as we scanned our bags. Then we had the passport control people. This line moved super quickly even though it was really long.
After that we had regular airport security again and we're done. Surprise surprise, they pulled my suitcase aside for a manual search. This time, the voltage converter is what got me. It's strange that this time it set off the alarm but didn't before. I shouldn't really be too surprised, though, because I think if I had to pick a word for Chinese security, it would be 'inconsistent'.
Once we were in the terminal, we went to spend the rest of our money. We also got some Starbucks to try. I got a mango soy frappe, which ended up tasting like a mango milkshake. It was very refreshing before a long flight.
Liz and I also got a few bottled drinks because they're better than the ones on the plane and it cost just the same amount as the rest of my money. I got some canned coffee and a bottle of milk tea.
I think they wanted to hand search my bag one last time in China, because by the time we got back from the vending machine, the security team had set up another screening station just before the plane. This was just like the other security check point, including the rule with the liquids. So much for a nice stockpile of drinks for the long flight....
They even gave us another pat down search and manually searched suitcases and bags. When I asked the flight attendant on the plane why there was so much new security, she had no idea and thought it was just as strange as I did. At least I was able to have my phone on during this flight.
Thankfully we didn't have to sit on the plane for two hours before we took off like the last time. We still ended up 10 minutes late, which makes me nervous for our connecting flight that takes off 90 minutes after this one lands. I think we'll be fine, but it would be nice to not miss the connecting flight.
I tried not to sleep too much on the plane because it was daytime in Ohio, but they kept all of the lights off and windows down. I wish everyone had their windows up so that we could get some natural sunlight to help combat the jetlag.
I did end up falling asleep for probably four or five hours, which was probably an excellent idea since we still had another connecting flight after this one.
Lil Mao had some fun watching movies and eating all of the good airplane snacks.
We also got an incredible view of the sunrise from the sky.
Matt freaked us all out just before we landed because he didn't change his watch back to the right time, so it looked like it was an hour later. We all thought we would miss our connecting flight until the flight attendant straightened us out.
When we landed in Detroit, we had to go through US border control. The very first thing is passport check. It was so confusing because I thought we just went straight to the line for US citizens, but they made everyone go wait in one line, then sent us to either the US or Visitor lines depending on our passport. Seemed very inefficient to me. We got sent to another line for some kiosks. I had to scan my passport and take a photo and answer those reentry questions. Then there was yet another line to wait to talk to an actual border control agent. It took about eight or ten people to coordinate all of these lines and kiosks, and I think it was maybe just more confusing to us than anything else.
After passport control, we had to go through customs. I thought we'd have to wait in a line and talk to someone or scan our bags, but we just walked right on through since we had nothing to declare. We did pass one guy with some weird looking boxes, and he was being pulled over by security.
Then we had yet another security check point. This was a US checkpoint, so I actually had to take off my shoes and coat and necklace. I also remembered to remove all of my electronics and liquid bag. I made it through the scanner just fine, and since it's the US I didn't automatically get a pat down.
I don't know what I've done to deserve all of this hassle, but they had to pull my bag aside yet again for another manual search. I could tell the TSA lady felt bad for messing up all of my packing, but it's her job to check the bag so I can't really be mad at her. One of my souvineers set off the scanners, so she had to look through everything. I was afraid she would take my jasmine tea, but she didn't even give it a second look. Then she tells me I'm all clear, and something along the lines of "Good luck getting your stuff packed back up. Take as much time as you need." Why I even bother to pack my suitcase nicely at this point is beyond me; it looks nothing like it did when I packed it up this morning, and this is the third time in 24 hours it's been searched, each time for a different reason.
Our flight to Cincinnati got delayed for a little over an hour, which was probably a good thing because I took so long at security.. although we might have made it just in time. We just sat at the terminal for the extra time. It would have been nice to get home sooner, but I guess if any flight had to be delayed, this is the best option. Better to be stuck in Detroit than China.
The plane to Cincinnati was super tiny, but it was only a short flight so it was okay. Liz and I were determined to stay awake, but again it was dark so it was a struggle. This time, we were successful. I asked the flight attendant for some of those cookies I got on the very first flight, and this time the flight attendant gave them to me without any sass. The view from the plane was absolutely spectacular, so we spent a lot of time admiring the cities below us, trying to guess which ones they might be.
We landed in Cincinnati, and it was such a relief to be back. It was such a good trip; even though I'm sad it's over, it's also good to be back home.
Alexia said goodbye, since her parents came to pick her up. Liz's boyfriend came to pick her up, but she still had to come back to my apartment to get a few things. My parents came to get me. We also gave Matt a ride to my apartment so that he could pick up the few things he left there. Then Liz and Matt left, and our travels together were officially over.
I still have to make it back to Gahanna, but Cincinnati is my second home so I feel like it's safe to say that I'm glad to be home.
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