1/12/2012
Journal Entry 1
On January 8th 2011 I went to Richmond Volleyball Club West facility to play for a team we put together. There was only 6 of us and if you know the game, then you know that you will get worn out in an instant playing with only 6 people. We played 4 matches totaling 12 games. Needless to say after I walked out of the building I was ready to plop down and call it a year, because my butt was worn out. Being the procrastinator I am, I waited until the last minute to pack for my 10 day China trip that I leave for on January 9th.
I left RVC and went out to dinner with my family to say our last "see you laters" and went on my merry way back to my house to pack. I started to pack at 7pm and was completely done by 9pm. By completely done I mean, all of the clothes in the house washed, dishes washed and put away, dogs bathed, house cleaned and vacuumed, and the sheets changed. I was running around my house like a chicken with its head cut off and no one was stopping me. I went to bed around 11:30 pm and then turned around and woke up at 1:15 am.
When I woke up I had to put everything in the car, go wake my roommate up(she is traveling with me), and take the dogs out. We had to meet with our other travel partner at her dorm to pick her up because all of us are riding to the airport(washington national) together. I picked her up at 1:50 am and then left there to go to the bank for her to get cash. Then we proceeded to the gas station where we split the bill 3 ways to fill up the gas tank for our hour and a half drive to Reagan National Airport. By the time we left the GPS said we were going to get there at 3:30 am and we had to meet up with our professor at 4:15 am.
When we arrived early without hitting any traffic, I mentioned that we should probably get something to eat since we are so early. We searched and searched for a waffle house, but we had passed it a long time ago. So we had to settle for the McDonalds right by the airport. When we went inside the McDonalds, it was by far the best McDonalds I had ever been in. We finished up eating around 4 am and loaded back up in the trail blazer and drove right around the corner to the airport.
We pulled up to the airport, got out, and started unloading our luggage. Here comes the hard part, I had to say by to my boyfriend. He was nice enough to ride up to the airport with us and then drive my truck home so we didn't have to pay for 10 days of keeping my truck at the airport. Saved us a lot of money so we can spend it in China, guess I'd better get him something nice. We then walked to our terminal and went to check our luggage in. That by far was the longest thing I think I will ever have to do in my life. The people showed up to work 45 minutes late. So we already were 45 minutes into the 2 hours we had until we loaded up to go to Toronto, not to mention there was a mile long line. When we finally got up to check our bags in, there was a problem with one of the girls and her Visa. She had to have a Visa to Canada because she is from another country other than the United States. Long story short, she should get her Visa the next day and come to China separate from us.
Finally, after a hour and a half wait, we arrive to customs. Again, another long line. So far this trip has not worked out like I planned for it to. We arrived to our gate at 6 am and then they started to call us to board the plane. Fortunately the plane ride to Toronto was not bad at all. Once we got in the air, it took about an hour and 10 minutes. We unloaded and all I could think about it getting a drink and sitting down and relaxing. There were a few places to eat so we just picked on and sat down. I got eggs with toast and potatoes(best ever). I got what I asked for(relaxation) thats for sure, we had almost a 5 hour layover.
Once the time passed, we started to make our way over to the gate for loading. I have never seen so many people waiting in line for one plane before. The people were very rude and didn't want to listen to the lady that was telling them to line up accordingly. My roommate and I had seat number 41 so we were one of the first ones to get on the plane. This plane is huge, but not as big as I thought it was going to be. The plane took forever to take off because they were waiting for another plane to come in. It took right at an hour to get going. once we were in the air for awhile, my roommate got sick and threw up everywhere. So thank god I had sweat pants in my bag so she could change into something comfortable. So I had to play mommy and help her out. Then as I was helping her out, we got called sisters many times. So as I write this, I am sitting on the plane to Shanghai. We still have about 9 hours left. It stinks because I can't get my homework done because there is no internet. They said we should be able to get it later on in the flight though, so hopefully we do.
Journal Entry 2
We have experienced our first day in Shanghai, China. We arrived to the Minya hotel from the airport around 7pm, which was late because out flight was delayed. We went out to dinner with a girl, Laura, that professor Wu knew. She was very educated about the area and knew where we would like to eat. We had a lot to choose from to eat. After we got done eating, we went back to the hotel to go to sleep. Surprisingly I slept all through the night. I had troubles because I thought I over slept my alarm, but I didn't. We got up around 8am and got ready to go to breakfast. We Ate breakfast at the hotel and it was great. We had to meet our driver and our tour guide at 10am to go into the city and sight see.
The driver, Jo, drove us to the huang pu river which splits Shanghai into east and west. We were able to walk around to see all the different shops and buildings. A lot of the buildings had significant meaning to Shanghai and its history. We left there and went to the Garden of Shanghai. Where a lot of flowers and and water were inside walls that separated the people from the garden. You had to pay to get in. At the garden I used the bathroom and it was just a hole in the ground.
After the garden, we went to lunch in the shopping area. The food there wasn't so great but the important thing is that we tried it all. Then after lunch we went back to the hotel. I came up to my and went right to sleep. I slept for 3 hours! Then I got up and went downstairs in the lobby because that is the only place you can get internet. I worked on getting my homework done and talked with my roommate a bit. Our professor came down to help us order take out and my roommate ended up getting on the phone and speaking english because it seemed easier. After 30 minutes our pizza arrived, we paid him and went up to our room and ate the whole pizza by ourselves. Now we are just sitting in our room and watching tv and getting ready to go to bed. Tomorrow we have plans to travel 2 hours away to another city, where we will explore and then stay the night there.
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