Beijing Bound

I received so many well wishes before leaving home, but want to really thank my Dad and sister who pulled out every stop during this, my final, weekend in order to get me ready. My house has never looked better; and they even took me to the PHL airport this morning, and waited while my 150+ pounds of luggage were rearranged to avoid extraordinary overage fees. Without doing so, one bag alone would have carried a $390 charge!

The flight to Dulles was uneventful, but in typical Philly fashion it took about 45 minutes to take off. I had to book it from Terminal A to Terminal C to make the Beijing flight on time, which was doable even with our delay. Having made the 14-hour trip before made the flight a little easier this time, because at least I knew what to expect. Some good things about the trip were my aisle seat (yikes-53G), quiet neighbor and ample overhead space. Some of the not so great things were the lack of individual TVs, food selections and economy seat. But in the grand scheme of things (my newest saying), all was good. For most of the time, I listened to the Devil Wears Prada on my iPod, and watched 27 Dresses and Charlie Wilson’s War between cat naps.

When I arrived in China, we landed at Terminal 3, which is now the single largest airport terminal in the world. I made my way through Customs and Baggage Claim before seeing my name displayed. A colleague named Eve was waiting to walk me to the car, and she accompanied me to the apartment building where I will be staying for the next 5+ months. As we were walking to the car, another colleague called to say the entire office had been evacuated due to an earthquake. Thankfully, no one was injured in the office, but apparently the office was swaying a bit, due to the location on the 22nd floor.

Once in the car, I was given lots of helpful information via a thorough Welcome Packet, and my new Chinese cell phone. Eve and I chatted the entire way and I almost cried when I saw how nice the apartment is. Unfortunately, I can not share any pictures just yet, because I broke my digital camera about three hours ago… It makes sense I would start the trip here in the same fashion the last several months at home have been getting ready – clumsy, awkward and at times downright unbelievable. Oh well, there is not much I can do about it now, other than go and buy a new one.

Finally, there is the possibility of another earthquake tonight, or possibly after shocks from the earlier one. Please do not worry about me though, I have been on the phone with my boss, and I am aware of the plan if one were to happen again. There are currently two Risk Management professionals from Philadelphia in my building. I am going to keep in contact with my Dad regularly until the earthquake situation is completely over. We just spoke, so he has the latest and greatest update - all is well!