En Route

Today is Saturday January 9, 2010. I am currently sitting on a plane flying to Shanghai, China. I have awaited this trip from the beginning of October, and honestly, can’t believe the day has come.


I have technically been awake since 11:00 Friday January 8, 2010. Throughout the day I attended class and finished packing. I went to dinner with John and his parents at Olive Garden. It was the perfect last American meal for 3 weeks. After dinner, John and I headed back to Wofford where I continued to pack. I needed to wash a pair of jeans for the trip, and decided to venture over to his dorm, because the dryers in my dorm are broken. I was enjoying our unusual Friday night “in”, not going to The Row and socializing with friends. I was watching a Forensic Files episode on Court TV when I began to drift off into sleep. This was around 1:00 AM. I asked John to set his alarm, while I took a little nap, so I would not oversleep for the 3:45 AM bus meeting time. I drifted off to sleep on the nice blue couch (which has two ends that recline, might I add!) I guess John was tired too and fell asleep in the reclining chair right next to me.


The next thing I know. There was banging on the door as my roommate Emma and two of John’s fraternity brothers came into the room. It was 3:35 AM; the 2:20 alarm had not gone off. Frantically I rushed out the dorm and we all headed back to our side of campus to retrieve our luggage. Halfway there I realized I had left my jeans in the dryer in John’s dorm. Emma frantically told John to, “GO GET HER JEANS, RUN, MEET US AT THE BUS.” She then explained that I wouldn’t have asked, and so she did it for me. I scrambled around in my room throwing last minute supplies like my straightner and makeup into my bag. John showed up out of breath with my jeans. Trying to zip my carry on suitcase was an ordeal. The zipper somehow popped, and I thought it was the end of the world. Amazingly John used his patient nature and fixed it. We all practically ran to the bus because it was 3:55 AM. I was glad to find out I was not the only one who had drifted off to sleep.


By 4:15 we were en route to the Greenville / Spartanburg airport. Once we arrived, we had to wait for the United Airlines personnel to check us all in. Many student’s suitcases were overweight. I am pleased to say mine weighed a whopping 40 pounds even!

We waited to board our flight. Upon walking on the plane I was surprised at how small it was. I have traveled quite a bit, and seeing a 3-seat row plane only was quite a shock. I endured the 2-hour flight, cramped, tired, but still excited.


Upon arriving in Chicago we attempted to take the bus to our terminal. However, they only had one bus running, therefore it would take forever to get all the students to the terminal. We opted to walk to 15-minute walk. It was neat “people watching”. As we arrived in the terminal Emma, Victoria and I decided to go down 18 concourses to get Starbucks. After that, Emma and I exchanged a little bit of American currency, and had our passports and visas Okayed.


Our layover passed quickly, I felt like I only sat down for 10 minutes before it was time to board the plane again. The plane I sit on right now is one of the bigger planes I’ve been on. It has a 2-5-2 layout. I am in row 34. All the seatbacks have personal TV’s.

I have enjoyed tracking our progress from Chicago – our final destination, Shanghai. We are currently flying across the Arctic Sea. We will fly over the North Pole shortly, a child’s dream. Don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word with Santa for everyone. I have slept about 2.5 hours on the trip so far. It has been 7 hours on the plane, with 7-8 more to go. Currently the temperature outside is -88 F. We started going north of Chicago, flying directly through Canada. Then hanging a left and flying over Alaska.


Right now it is 7:40 AM in Shanghai. I can’t believe there is only 8 more hours left until I am in a completely different continent, country and culture. Which while I’m thinking about it, I would like to add that over ½ - ¾ of the flight is made up of Chinese people. I have to fill out a “health form” before I arrive in China. Quarantine officials will enter the plane and take the temperature of each passenger to make sure they are not sick, and record it on our health sheet. America is definitely not like that!


We were served a meal on the plane already. The flight attendants (which are a mix of Chinese and American) asked each passenger if they would like “chicken or beef”. Upon hearing this, I asked if they had any vegetarian trays, and was told, “I had to order those 48 hours in advanced.” I had a salad the size of a hamburger, and a roll. I saved the brownie for later, just incase I got hungry before the next meal was served.


I began reading Nicholas Sparks’ newest book, “The Last Song”, before I left The States. I had 269 pages left to read. I am happy to say I have already finished the book, typical. It is probably one of my most favorite Nicholas Sparks books. It is definitely a tearjerker, however I shed no tears, typical as well. I will admit, I came close, but didn’t shed any.


I’d like to share my favorite quotes from the book.


“Instead of answering, Will took a step toward her, and all at once, everything happened too quickly to even make sense of it. One second he was standing three feet away from her, and in the next he had a hand on her hip and was pulling her close. Leaning in he kissed her. His lips were soft, and he was surprisingly gentle. Maybe that it was simply that he’d caught her by surprise, but even so, she found herself kissing him back. The kiss didn’t last long, and it wasn’t the kind of earthshaking, soul-destroying kiss common in movies these days; but even so, she was glad it happened, and for whatever reason, she realized it was exactly what she had wanted him to do.”


“When he asked why she seemed unable to settle down, her answer had been straightforward: “There are guys who grow up thinking they’ll settle down some distant time in the future, and there are guys who are ready for marriage as soon as they meet the right person. The former bore me mainly because they’re pathetic; and the later, quite frankly are hard to find. But it’s the serious ones I’m interested in, and it takes time to find a guy like that whom I’m equally interested in. I mean, if the relationship can’t survive the long term, why on earth would it be worth my time and energy for the short term?”


“She wasn’t like anyone he had met before. He was sure he wanted never to let go of her hand; their fingers seemed to fit together in just the right way – effortlessly clasped, like perfect compliments.”


“Instead, he raised her hand and slipped his other arm around her back. He stared at her, knowing with certainty that he was falling in love. He pulled her close and kissed her beneath a blanket of stars, wondering how on earth he’d been lucky enough to find her.”


“She reminded herself that they’d known each other for only a few days, and yet … he was kind and smart and she already knew he loved her. As if sensing her thoughts, he sat up and scooted closer. Leaning in, he kissed her softly on the lips, and she was suddenly certain that she wanted nothing more than to spend hours and hours wrapped in his arms, just like this.”


“Yet loosing him seemed unbearable. He was the one she loved, the one she would always love, and as he leaned in to kiss her, she gave herself over to him. He knew he’d wanted more in their relationship than she’d been willing to offer, but here and now, she suddenly knew she had no other choice. There was only this moment and it was theirs.”


“Ronnie frowned in consternation, and Megan laughed. “I’ve been around. I’ve seen that look before. Like this morning when I looked in the mirror. I feel the same way about Daniel, but I have to say it’s a little odd to see that look on you. When I was seventeen, I don’t think I even knew what love was. But when it’s right, it’s right, and you just know it.”


“She wondered whether there could be anything greater in life. And despite all that had happened, maybe because of it, she knew she would never forget the summer they’d spent together, no matter what the future might bring.”


“As she stood beside the boy she loved, she knew she’d never shared anything more magical with anyone.”


“Today, there was only this: her walk on the beach with her dad, the ceaseless sound of the ocean waves, the smell of winter approaching. And the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.


“Life he realized was much like a song. In the beginning there is mystery, in the end there is confirmation, but it’s in the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile.”


“She buried her face in his shoulder as he held her. All that she could think was that she needed him. She needed his arms around her, needed him to hold her and whisper that they’d find a way to be together.”


“And with that, she slipped her arms around him, feeling his body fit perfectly against her own, knowing that nothing could ever be better than this moment, right now.”


“Leaning in, he kissed her gently, first on her cheek and then on her lips. When he met her eyes, she saw the young man she’d loved last summer and the young man she still loved now. “I never stopped loving you, and I never stopped thinking about you. Even if summers do come to an end.” She smiled, knowing he was telling the truth.”


Alright, call me a hopeless romantic. Of course I pick out the mushy, gushy quotes.


A few minutes ago the flight attendants served a snack. We either had the choice of noodles or half a sandwich. They had a vegetarian sandwich and I opted for that. It consisted of bread, cucumbers, cheese and onions. I would have never picked that out to eat, but it was good.