Prior to leaving, everyone asked me constantly about how I felt… are you scared? Nervous? Anxious? Excited? Sad? Happy? In all honesty, it was surreal until the day I was leaving. It was like something that I talked about for so long, but when it came down to it, I really did not know how I would feel until I was actually leaving – boarding a plane, heading for no-man’s land. I think the first time it hit me, I was sitting in my room packing the night before I left (my 4 attempting at trying to pack). All of the sudden, I looked around and realized that my life as I had known it was about to change forever, and a whole rush on emotions Chuck Norris round-house kicked me in the face.
The second time was that night when I tucked Benjamin and Alex into bed. I had to tell them goodbye to let them know that I wasn’t going to see them for a while, but hold myself together enough so that they couldn’t see me upset. Needless to say, I didn’t make it out of their bedroom before I was balling like a baby! Benjamin will be nearly double his age when I moved back home, and Alex will be half way to her teenage years L I loved that night. My favorite people came over to spend the night with me and attempt to keep me awake and my mind off of the inevitable life changing adventure ahead.
By 5:00 am, all of my stuff was packed. I had my passport and boarding passes along with my Instant Chinese handbook & Culture Shock (survival guides). I made my goodbyes as short as possible, fearing that if I attempting to convey any emotions, I would lose it and chicken out of moving across the world. Secretly, I was calculating how many people I could shove into my luggage without being detected by security or customs – the answer – not enough! The drive to the airport was looooong and silent.
Once I arrived at the airport, I nearly changed my mind. My luggage was too heavy (as expected) and I had to do some rearranging, my flight was messed up (or rather the airport clerk did not know how to use the computer system) and there was a chance that my luggage would not make it all the way to Shanghai (again, per the stupid clerk). Once I made it through security, there was no going back. For the record, the airport security is not all that it is hyped up to be. Absolutely it was a pain in the butt to have to take all the electronics and liquids out of my carry on, take off all my layers of clothing and my shoes, but the invasive body screening was nothing. I stood in a glass box while someone behind a computer screen looked at the gray outline of my body (oh, no). However, I did see several people opt out of the body screening. Those people had to walk through a metal detector then receive a comprehensive groping from a security guard. You tell me which is more invading.
The first flight from Detroit to Chicago was fine. The flight was nearly empty, so I had the entire bench to stretch out on. It was pretty bumpy, but it was short. The layover in Chicago was brief, and before I knew it, I was boarding a plane for Seoul, Korea. The plane was HUGE and packed with at least 800 people, but really nice. It was the only plane that I have ever been on that actually had three sections of seats – three seats on each side by the windows, then a whole middle section of seats. Unfortunately, I got stuck sitting in a middle seat, on one of the side sections near a window in between an old Asian man that snored, and a young American girl. I had my own personal entertainment system on the back of the seat in front of me with a ton of games, movies and a travel thing which allowed me to follow our flight across the globe and track the weather, distance, speed, etc.
The last time that it hit me was after boarding that flight. We were pulling away from the terminal, and the Korean flight attendants began giving us direction in Korean. I laughed to myself and realized that this is what my life was becoming – crowded, alone and a minority. When the English translation told me to turn off my cell phone, it was like I was severing the tie I had to the US and I began to cry just a little bit. The last text message I received was a smiley face and then I turned it off. The next 14 hours were the longest of my life! More than half the time, the lights in the plane were turned off so I did nothing but watch movie after movie. I was so cramped in the tiny chair that I maybe slept for an hour the entire flight in 5 minute spurts. I kept wishing that I could turn on my phone and text to make the time go by a little faster. I believe that I checked the time, and the distance we had traveled every 20 minutes which made the 7,000 mile journey that much longer! Overall, the flight was good – no bad weather or turbulence, just really long.
It was such a relief when we touched down in Korea. The Korean airport was so confusing but I was thankful for all of the English speakers I found to help me. I had to go through security and customs once again which was a cake walk compared to the screening in the US. Then checked in, got my boarding pass and found my terminal. There was an internet café right next to my terminal so I was able to make some contact to let everyone know that I made it safely because my phone was no longer working. Then an hour later I was boarding my last flight into Shanghai, China.
The whole way to China I had such a knot in my stomach as I kept questioning what if they lost my baggage? What if they don’t accept my visa? What if my director forgets to pick me up? When I landed, I followed the crowd down to customs where I had to fill out a bunch of paperwork and provide them with all of my address and my employer. Then they did a facial recognition test before they released me into the world. I ran straight to baggage claim, praying that it had made it. You cannot even imagine my relief when I saw them on the belt! I grabbed my stuff and headed for the exit, still hoping that my director had remembered to pick me up at the right time. I walked out of the door and saw a big sign, “Melissa Breiter MRA.” I sighed as I realized that I had made it… all the way to Shanghai, China!
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