The Plane Ride

 

I got to the Minneapolis airport about two hours early. My luggage bag weighed in at 49 pounds (50 was the limit!), and all my carry-ons passed through security. I had a gate number misprint on my ticket, but I was able to find Josh at the right place after calling him. Our passports were checked with our tickets, and we met another person traveling to China. The first plane was delayed 50 minutes for mechanical problems.

 

My flight from Detroit to Beijing went smoothly, and we took off right on time. The meals on this plane were spectacular, and lots of drinks were served. I got pretzels and peanuts for a first snack; chicken with noodles, salad, ranch dressing, buttered bread, cheese with crackers, and a triple chocolate brownie for lunch; a banana and bread for a second snack; and a pork rice dish, salad, fruit, and another buttered bun for a very late supper. Drinks were served at every meal and snack, and I usually ordered apple juice or water. 

 

LUNCH

 

SUPPER

Both of my planes had personal entertainment screens, but I mostly used the one on my long second flight. I watched a movie called Lost in Thailand, and really enjoyed it. The screen also played music, and I listened to Green Day, Fun, and Florence + the Machine at different parts of the flight. The windows on the second flight were usually all shut. Many people were trying to sleep. I tried but I couldn’t snooze, even with the help of my complimentary pillow.

My first view of China was over the northern desert part, which seemed mostly uninhabited. I didn’t really think much about being on the other side of the world yet. 

 

I saw a few cities closer to Beijing, and noticed some square, strangely colored patches of land nearby the city. The landing went very smoothly, and I kept trying to connect to a ‘just-a-little-too-out-of-range-no-matter-what-I-did’ Wi-Fi signal called HNA Group. My cell phone was out of service for good, but I was trying use Wi-Fi to email my family.

                Once through security, we met our Beijing travel agent, Phil. Phil took Josh and me out of the airport to a parking garage, where we loaded our luggage into his car. He drove us to our hotel and made sure we checked in. Luke came in at around 11 pm, and we all fell asleep fast.