Next Stop China

So today began a long time ago in a land far far away. The driver arrived to take Gordon, Baby George, and I to the airport at 11:00 am in New Jersey. The driver was a really nice guy from Istanbul, Turkey. When we got to the airport we really knew that our trip had begun because the number of white people dramatically decreased with the closer we got to the China Eastern Airlines check-in desk. The airport was surprisingly smooth. We found our gate with plenty of time and even had time to eat lunch. The plane was then delayed and our flight ended up being about 2 hours later than we expected. Other than the delay our flight was very smooth. Baby George's bladder managed to shrink to 1/4 the normal size as soon as he stepped foot on the plane and of course he had an inside seat so Gordon had to get up every one of the 9 times george had to use the bathroom during the flight. The plane itself was an airbus and the seating was 2 by 4 by 2 in each row of the plane. Gordon then George then I were all in the inside column of 4 with a very friendly Chinese man from Shanghai to my right. He told me his name when we first sat down, but for the sake of not butchering his name I'll just refer to him as the guy I sat next to on the plane. Like I said he was very friendly and provided many tips for our trip as he told us that Nanjing was one of the hottest cities in all of China and was sympathetic when we told him we would be there for the next 3 weeks. He also laughed in my face when I asked him to teach me Chinese because he didnt think the 15 hour plane ride was enough time to learn the language. So with my enthusiasm for learning a new language crushed we decided to listen to music and sleep and for Baby George, read and pee. The flight was smooth, the landing was great, and the on flight food was actually pretty good. Completely surrounded by people speaking in what sounds like gibberish the flight was quite peaceful. Long, but peaceful.


When we arrived in Shanghai everyone didnt exit the plane in an orderly fashion like typical US flights, or that of a Hill School Chapel service. On this flight it was every man for himself when it came to getting off that plane. It was like all the peacefulness while in the air was just rage being stored for when we landed because as soon as the fasten seatbelt sign came off that bell was more like the starting gun at a track meet. While Gordon, George, and I packed our in flight entertainment back into our carry on bags, the 10 rows of people behind us were already waiting in the isles in front of us to get off. Luckily we managed to get off the plane without being trampled and followed the crowd through customs and to baggage claim, but if it werent for the crowd there was no telling where we might have ended up. Officially in China there was very little english and no other white people to be found.

So we picked up our bags and walked through the last gate only to see the bright and shining smile of our dear friend Max. As soon as Max spotted us his face light up and his hands flew in the air like he had just won the lottery, and while Max became so excited to see us his Dad grew just as excited and they took off to meet us at the end of the roped area. Max's Dad and Max could be identical twins if they werent seperated by a few years of age. They have the exact same manerisms only differing by ones ability to understand anything we say and the other understanding none of it.


We then took off on a 3 hour car ride in the government buick mini-van back to Max's apartment. Max lives in the middle of Nanjing which is the equivalent to the city of Philladelphia to the US. Nanjing has really tall buildings and dispite it being at night still looked really nice. We settled in and Max's mom made us some REAL spring rolls and this really good dessert dish that doesnt have an english name. She also cut us a really cool Yellow Watermelon which is a really rare fruit but taste much better than a normal watermelon like in the US. His apartment is a really nice 3 bedroom 1 bath place with a nice living room and a balcony right in the middle of the city on the 3rd floor of a big apartment building. We settled in and decided to go try and find the USA vs Ghana soccer game at a sports bar so we could cheer on the USA but the bars we went to were closed because it was 2 in the morning here when the games started. Instead we just drove around the city for a bit and ended up watching the game at his apartment. After a long day of travel and a very exciting arrival we are dead tired and halfway around the world. We dont really know what to expect for the rest of the trip but are very excited to get started tomorrow. For now its time to try and adjust to the time difference so goodnight.

Marty