And ... holy smokes I'm in China!
Like I said, I had a short layover in Seattle. This airport is a huge center for Asian-American flights and almost all the signs there were written in English and Chinese.
(Note the two languages on an Estee Lauder ad.)
My terminal was almost completely Chinese. The Duty Free shop nearby was one of the more extravagant ones that I have seen. It basically had a wine cellar, a huge high-end liquor collection and a luxury purse and accessories hall. It also had many things in Costco-style oversized glamour, such as these enormous Chupa Chups:
I dressed very comfortably for the long flight and found myself to be one among many Asian passengers wearing Mickey Mouse apparel. I also saw that I'm not the only clever one who opted for a blue suitcase. I avoid confusing my luggage with all the other generic black and red suitcases, I chose a blue one. Well, half of the suitcases on the baggage claim carousel were the exact same hue of blue as mine.
Although I had only just arrived at Cece's place two hours ago, I have already gotten a small taste of Beijing. One thing I've picked up on: there may be many strict rules here, but many of them are selectively unobserved.
To begin with the obvious, pedestrians are secondary to cars and traffic is pretty stressful at street crossings.
I've gotten my checked luggage inspected before, but I always got a notice about this inside of my suitcase. This was in the USA. When checking in my suitcase at LAX, I asked or a special plastic strip to tie the main zippers together. I was afraid they would slide apart and the suitcase would open. The only way to undo the strip is it either cut it or press a button to loosen it. Otherwise, it is a very secure bond.
When I got my suitcase, I saw this:
This was clearly done by a person who knew how these strips work. There was no search notice inside my suitcase but nothing was missing (at least I don't think so). I think the only reason my bag got searched was because the strip made it look suspicious, but I was very worried about it opening up on its own.
When exchanging currency, I was lucky to have counted my bills myself before handing them through the window. The employee behind the window recorded $20 less than what I had given him. Even though I hadn't slept on the flight, I was alert enough to catch him and make him recount the bills. So, when he handed me yuans, I sagely counted all of them too.
The first thing I saw coming out of the secure airport zone was a Chinese KFC. I wonder if they make orange chicken wings ...
Cece's father picked me up and we finally arrived on the 21st floor of the downtown building in which Cece's parents live. This is really something quite new. The highest I've ever lived was in a second floor loft bed in my college dorm.
I'm quite tired now, as I did not sleep on the flight. Instead, I did some serious catching up on on movies. It is kind of strange but also kind of cool to watch Top Gun while on a plane. But it is probably not as bad as watching Airplane on a plane. I don't think that movie is available on any planes, and there would good reason why ...
The plane was quite comfy. I went all out and wore yoga pants, a hoodie and running shoes. I didn't really care how I looked, as long as I was warm and cozy. Feet tend to swell up in planes because of lower outside pressure, so I like to bring thick wool socks to wear instead of shoes. And if you're tired enough, you'll have no trouble sleeping, no matter what position you're in.
The Beijing airport ("PEK") was also very quick: I got out of there much faster than I expected and there were no super long lines. I'll see what tomorrow holds for me! Maybe the city itself is very different.
On that note, cheers and good night!
--Nina
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