August 25th 2009 Beijing China

The last night in America was also my first night ever experiencing Las Vegas (since I had been 21). It was definitely interesting and a good time. I got to hang out with my brother and some of my friends from Boise. I gambled a bit and drank a beer with my Dad. I didn't get into bed at our hotel till some time after 4 am. This plus the fact that my Dad didn't think we needed to be at the airport 2 hours before my flight made me miss my 7:01 am flight to San Francisco. Not to worry though right? I was booked for the next flight at 8:30 which would land in San Fran at 10:30 giving me a half hour to catch my international one. WRONG. This flight was delayed by an hour and a half which put me into San Fran at 11:30.
Needless to say I was a bit frazzled. I had to go back out through security and figure out how and when I was going to get to China and meet my group. The airline had automatically set me up on a flight the next day, which would have meant me staying in San Francisco airport for a night. I was not stoked on this one bit. The united guy however, decided to be amazing and found a round about way of getting me to my destination. I would fly out of San Fran in about an hour and a half and into Shanghai and then connect to Beijing. I was happy but still a little concerned as I wouldn't be getting to Beijing until midnight and have to find my own way to the hotel.
The flight was long and I watched God knows how many movies that I would never have watched in real life. Ha. I couldn't ever really sleep. So when I arrived in Shanghai I had no idea what to do for a while. I finally found an attendant pointed at the gate on my ticket and uttered "zai nar" (where at?). I had to go out through the whole customs thing and to another terminal which felt like an hour away walking distance. By the time I was at my gate I hadn't slept in I don't have any idea how many hours and was really starting to wonder why the hell I decided this trip was a good idea in the first place.
Excerpt from a email I sent to my friend Trista "So now I'm in the shanghai airport...super tired and in lots of pain(as I'm sure you understand) and actually feeling a bit...like...WTF am I doing here? I'm sure it'll be okay...I'm just...this isn't how this trip was supposed to start. I feel...very alone...maybe I don't know. I think I'm just really tired..."

Well I made it into Beijing and found my way out of the airport and into a taxi. I pointed to the address of the hotel and said "Wo yao chu" (I want to go to). Ahh home stretch or so I thought. The taxi driver got lost so it took longer to get to my hotel. On the way there I noted that even though there were lanes it didn't seem that anyone really abided by them. When I got to the hotel the front desk people didn't get that I was with a group and looked for my name alone. It was taking forever and I was at the point of just getting a room by myself when one of them finally found a list with my name on it. Yah!!! I got into my room which was inhabited by a roommate. I felt bad about waking her up but she knew I was coming. I pretty much passed out the moment I hit the bed.
August 26th. The group heads to Tian'anmen Sq and the Forbidden City. It was surreal to finally be in China. I was really tired too so I don't think I could really take it all in. In the forbidden city is where I met my now good friend Vivian. She got separated from Erica (another of my now good friends) and so we "pal"ed around for the rest of that day. This day we also went to the Temple of Heaven and to the Pearl Market where everyone wanted you to buy there items and you had to bargain with them. (not my favorite thing). By the end of this day the girls I now hang out with here in Chengdu and I were pretty much a group.
August 27th. We went to the Great Wall. Rad. We saw an old lady peeing in one of the towers. We also went to the Ming Tomb and that night an Acrobatic show (which is probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen).
August 28th We went to the Summer Palace where the Marble Boat is also located. This was my favorite place we visited in Beijing. It was absolutely beautiful. We went to the silk market that evening. (another bartering place). We also got to go see where the olympics were held.
The time in Beijing blends in together quite a bit so I'm not certain exactly on what days I did somethings. I know one night a group of us took the subway system and ate at a pretty good dinner place downtown. Twice Erica, Amritha, Vivian and I ate at this cute little restaurant down from our hotel. The waitresses loved us and we exchanged how to say different words in our languages. We also had the best broccoli garlic dish ever! One night a huge group of us went to a Night Club down town. We also had a free day but I can't remember exactly what we did with that. I do remember we went back to the Pearl market to get some items we wanted/needed. On Sunday August 30th we flew out of Beijing. Some of us went to Shanghai and the rest to Chengdu.