I’m writing this on the plane now over the Pacific Ocean, umpteen hours into my flight. Everything’s gone very smoothly so far, and the plane is incredibly nice with personal screens and plenty of leg room. There are no fewer than 60 children under 4 on this flight though, which has made it very noisy at times. I’ve slept great, watched two movies so far (Taken and Bolt). Haven’t busted out the Pokémon yet though. The picture above was from the Toronto Airport—a nice benefit to my delayed departure date. I had never been to Canada before, and while I know that the airport doesn’t technically count, they did stamp my passport! Though the fog was thick, we boarded and left without a hitch, and I think things should be just as smooth when we land.
They’ve fed us really well too—three full meals and a snack. None of it gourmet, of course, but not bad—Ramen, grilled chicken, turkey sandwiches. First class passengers get entire beds to sleep on though, I have to say I’m a little jealous. Air Canada does it with style, all around.
I’m incredibly excited and anxious to land. I’m nervous that getting a taxi to take me where I need to go might be more than I can handle, but I’m sure I’ll be able to make it. Here’s hoping that I can find everyone once I get there!
I only made it through unit 1 of my Mandarin Rosetta Stone before coming, but so far I like the language and hope to be able to pick it up. The plane is 90% Chinese people, but the only thing I can understand anyone saying is xíexie (thank you)– which gets said a lot. I don’t really have many goals for this maymester program other than to get my Mandarin feet wet and see some new things. I really look forward to getting to know the other 9 students and Professor Liu, and just hope she doesn’t hang me out to dry for coming late! We have the Great Wall of China tomorrow (Sunday), and classes start on Monday I believe.
Last but not least, I forgot to mention earlier that I did fix my computer’s camera, so I’ll probably be hitting up anyone hanging out on Skype or Google Chat.
