I went to China - this was day 1

So I spent 10 days in China for Free Wheelchair Mission visiting our manufacturers and doing wheelchair distributions.  I had planned on blogging each day.  Well in China you can't access blogger, along with many other websites, facebook included.  So I wrote blogs to keep a journal of my days and so I will post them now. 1 a day for the next 11 days.   Sorry if they bore you, but this was my journey.

Day 1

If the food in China is anything like I just had on the lovely China Eastern Airlines flight, I am doomed.
This trip has already been hard and I have only been in the air 2 hours. 12 more to go.
I am always diligent about checking flight status before I make the trek to LAX. This morning 30 minutes before I was to leave for the airport, I did so. Alright, we’re good to go. 12:30 pm departure puts me in China at 5:35 pm the next day, 10 minutes behind my bosses flight. Perfect.
I decided 2 hours at the airport should be enough time to get checked in for the flight and through security and we arrived at exactly 10:30 am, perfect again. When I saw the line to check in for the flight my heart skipped a beat. It was wrapped around the corner way beyond any stanchions they had set up. Uh Oh. Will 2 hours be enough? Gulp, gulp. The line was moving slow, I had been standing still for 15 minutes. Tick, tick, tick. I don’t do well in airports to begin with. Finally I rounded the corner and reached the actual line for the checkin. Phew. It will be ok. Then I glanced up at the departures board, scroll down and see. On Time, On Time, On Time, New Time. I follow the New Time  to the flight number, and what do you know. It’s my flight. Rescheduled for a 5:30 pm departure. So, needless to say I made it through the line and security with plenty of time to spare. And don’t you think it’s so nice that China Eastern even game me $10 for lunch. Wow, 5 hours of my time, and a $10 airport lunch. I’m so lucky! I did however take advantage, or so I thought, of the fact that they have a Pink’s Hot Dogs at LAX. I’ve never had one before. So I endulged, and was NOT impressed. Maybe it was what I ordered, the New York Hot Dog, with spicy onions, but it was really nothing special, I actually didn’t even eat it all, I didn’t care for it at all.
Our flight left at 6:30 pm, so they lied again when they said it would be 5:30. LIARS!!!

Here’s hoping I actually get picked up tonight.
(Several Hours later – 3:30 am )
I am thankful for the kind businessman who could see I was sort of out of place as a lone young American woman in the Shanghai airport. He was very kind and helped me grab a luggage cart on the way to baggage claim. He asked me where I was from and told me this was his 31st time to China. Since we were making small talk I asked him if he happened to have a cell phone that worked here. Mine doesn’t yet, I needed to buy a SIM card. Of course, he did and gladly let me borrow it to call Echo, our quality control enginer in China and my ride. Sure enough Don and Echo had been waiting all this time at the airport for me. I am lucky to have a boss who is as selfless as they come and who I knew wouldn’t leave me stranded to check into a hotel near the airport.

So it’s 12:30am now and I have my bags, and Don and Echo and I are on our way Wujian, another 90 minute car ride from the airport. More sitting, yeah. I was just glad to be there. Ever so carefully Echo navigates the slick roads of Shanghai when we hear a terrible noise. Oh, boy, this is just the kind of day we’re having. It’s 1 am and we have a flat tire. Thankfully Don has fixed a few flat tires in his life and Echo has a full sized spare, so in 15 minutes we were on our way.
We arrived at the Dyna Sun Hotel at 3:00am. Th I got a decent 4 hours of sleep and am on my way down to breakfast before we head to the factory. Wish me luck!