Failed attempts

I titled this one failed attempts because I tried to use the free WiFi at the airport but it requires me to put my phone number in to get the password.  Since I don’t have service here yet, I can’t do that.  Sad.  I guess I just have to wait until I get to Jinan and get my own Internet up and running. Regardless, here’s my next post.

I’m currently sitting in the Shanghai airport for my… wait for it… 10 HOUR LAYOVER. Yea. My flight went nonstop from Honolulu to Shanghai.  I thought it was an 11 and a half hour flight because that’s what it said on my eticket.  But it’s not. It’s only 9 and a half hours.  Which is nice when you consider that’s less time sitting on the plane.  But when you consider my situation, it sucks. What is my situation you ask? Well I have to collect my bags from the baggage claim because my bags aren’t booked all the way to Jinan.  I didn’t have one flight with a long layover, I had two separate flights booked for me. So fml.  I was supposed to land at 3:30pm Shanghai time and my next flight isn’t until 10pm. I thought at first, “Great, I have plenty of time to find my way through the airport.  I’ll need it since I’ll be somewhere where I will probably find no one that speaks English and no English signs directing me where to go.”  But now that I know that I have to go out to baggage claim and re-check-in, I’m thinking, “Oh boy.  This should be fun.” *sarcasm alert* Turns out I was wrong about the signs.  There are English signs with the Chinese characters everywhere.  So that was helpful.  Unfortunately, I was right about the fact that almost no one speaks English.  Lucky for me I found someone.  He was a security guard so he was very helpful in translating and directing me to where I needed to go.  I checked in early and admittedly really clumsily.  The woman checking me in looked at me like I was incompetent.  Then I went through security (the Chinese equivalent to TSA).  It’s amazing how many people they have helping you go through security. You have one guy who hands you a bin for your small stuff like boarding pass, passport, hoodie, and in my case snacks (not shoes though! You get to keep those on. I even kept my sunglasses on my head).  Then as you approach the conveyor belt there’s another man who points to everything that needs to go on the conveyor belt in case you forgot to take anything off. Then you have the woman or man (depending on your gender) who calls you through the metal detector.  You stand on a platform and he/she waves the metal detecting wand and pats down any spots that may be suspicious.  Then you have someone at the end of the conveyor belt handing you your stuff.  FINALLY, you have the guy who takes the bins from you and re-stacks them.  Like hello personal service! I could get used to that! Anyway, after going through security, I made the ridiculously long trek to my gate… of course my gate would be the one on the very far end of the terminal.  Did I mention that it is HOT here?! The walls are all glass.  Only the ceiling and floor isn’t glass. So you can imagine the green house effect in this giant building with what feels like no air conditioning.  If you’re traveling to Shanghai’s Pudong Airport in summer, I recommend two things: 1. Wear shorts; and 2. Don’t carry chocolate in your carry on.  My Milanos melted :( Otherwise, it’s a pretty neat place here. The workers are very friendly and helpful once you can figure out a way to communicate and understand each other. Something that is different here in Shanghai is the seating.  Sometimes in America we put out bags on the empty seat next to us and if seating is full at the gate, people sit on the floor or stand. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone ask me to move their bag so they could sit, let alone do what I’m about to describe next. In Shanghai, if there’s a bag on an empty seat, they’ll sit on the seat and push your bag closer to you.  They won’t ask you to move your bag they’ll just move it themselves.  But they won’t put it on the floor so that they have the whole seat, they’ll just squish it closer to you and sit on the part of the seat they can see.  It’s kinda funny. Just don’t be surprised if that happens to you.

I have about 5 and a half hours to kill and what better way to do that than explore the airport.  Even though I’m dying from the heat right now, I can’t help but see what kind of stuff they sell in their stores! I’ll update you on my life in Jinan once I get Internet.  Until then… Laters!