After dinner, they dropped me off at my hotel. That was when
it hit me: this is really happening! I’m going to be surrounded by people I
can’t communicate with, who do things I don’t understand, and there are going
to be a billion of them. It’s exciting, but for the first time I realize it’s
going to be hard.
There was a line to check in at the hotel, and the one
person working the counter was very slow. I had to go to the bathroom really
bad and I started getting impatient. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I
recalled that this was part of the fun. I have a chance to live in the moment
and not worry about being in a rush to get anywhere.
After a while, a man who I would guess was the manager came
out and opened up a second computer. He helped me get checked in.
“With a enjoy your stay with us, sir,” he handed me my key
to room 331.
I road the elevator up to the third floor. My room had two
queen sized beds so I used one to unpack and rearrange some of my stuff. After
uploading my blog post, I brushed my teeth and got into bed. I thumbed through
the cable channels for a bit and started watching an episode of Friends. Before the entire theme song
had played, however, I was asleep.
My alarm was set for 6:00am, but I woke up about a half hour
before it went off. I showered and then repacked my stuff into my suitcase.
Looking through the room once more to make sure I didn’t forget any charging
cables or miscellaneous socks, I went back down to the lobby and checked out.
After I turned in my key, the lady at the front desk
directed me outside to the complimentary airport shuttle. “What airline are you
on today sir?” the kid who was driving the shuttle asked.
“Air Canada,” I said.
“Great!” he said. “If you want to leave the big bag there,
I’ll get it loaded and we’ll be leaving in about five minutes.”
I got on board and took a seat towards the back. A father
and daughter got on board and sat across from me. They kept each other occupied
taking selfies until their mother joined them. Another older couple also got on
the shuttle, and shortly after they were seated we left.
The shuttle stopped first to drop off the family for an
Alaska airlines flight. I was the next stop. The kid unloaded my bags and said,
“You’re going to take the escalator right over there, cross over the sky
bridge, and Air Canada will be on your left.”
“Thank you,” I said, handing him a tip.
I followed his directions and got in line for Air Canada.
There were a number of large, Asian families in line. There was also a young
Asian couple—in their late teens/early twenties—the boy travelling in a bro
tank and cargo shorts, while the girl wore a floral dress and pink shall. A
teenage boy in a green shirt was also in line with his mother (she smiled at me
so I assumed she was American.) A Caucasian family—all wearing Seahawks
jerseys—was travelling with three little kids were a few people ahead of me.
Another woman carrying a violin case rounded out the ensemble.
This had to be the slowest check-in line I’ve encountered in
air travel. With probably five or six families/groups ahead of me, I stood in
line for well over forty minutes. The family travelling with kids burst into an
outrage when they found out they were too late to check their bags. The violin
lady had missed her flight due to the slow line was in need of being
re-ticketed. The young couple had two oversized bags to check and immediately
began unpacking their laundry and trying to shove it into their backpacks.
By the time I got up to check my bag, I was afraid they
would refuse it due to the fact my flight left in 30 minutes. They took it and
told me it would be checked through to Shanghai.
I checked the monitor and saw my flight was out of gate A6A.
Making my way through security—which again seemed unusually slow—I got to my
gate and saw that my flight was on time but boarding would start 20 minutes
late. With the extra time, I went to Starbucks to get a quick breakfast.
Resorting back to my traditional meal from Prague Ruzyne Airport, I got a
blueberry muffin. I also snagged a cup of yogurt and granola and a vanilla
steamer.
I took my food back to my gate and ate the yogurt. The gate
agent made an announcement that “this flight does not have any overhead
compartments. If your bag will not fit under the seat in front of you, you will
have to check it plane side. It will be available for you to pick up plane side
again when you reach Vancouver.”
I set down my food and started rearranging my bag. Pulling
out my laptop, I shoved my jacket in to the bag and re-zipped and locked it.
A male gate agent came on and made another announcement.
“For all passengers today travelling with a US passport, we do have an
information form we need you to fill out. Please come to the gate to complete
your form.”
I went up and got a copy of the form. It just asked for my
name, passport number, and an emergency contact in the US. I filled it out and
then finished it eating my breakfast.
When boarding started it, I again had an overwhelming sense
of Wow! I’m actually leaving the country!
I’ve been back for so long that some of my European memories have started to
feel like something out of a dream. But
now it’s happening again!
I handed in my information form along with my passport and
boarding pass. The gate agent scanned my pass and handed it back to me, along
with my passport. Walking down the ramp, I became a little nostalgic as I
breathed my last few breaths of American air. At the bottom, I put my back pack
on the plane side check cart and walked up the stairs and onto the plane.
The whole experience seemed to be hitting me harder and
harder with each second. It was this odd
blend of pure joy and jittery nervousness. This
is going to be awesome and difficult, I kept thinking. But at the same
time, I know that I can do it.
As we boarded, the flight attendant gave us immigration
forms for China. I sat down and immediately started filling mine out. There was
a Chinese girl that sat down next to me and she borrowed my pen to fill out
her’s. She too was travelling to Shanghai, but I didn’t understand the name of
the town she was actually from.
Once everyone was on board, the cabin doors were shut and we
taxied for what felt like hours (I started thinking maybe we are just going to drive from Seattle to Vancouver.) But
when the plane was in the air, it was instantly fun! The jitters subsided. In
that moment, I was proud of myself. I’ve grown up a lot since leaving for
Europe. I’m sure this trip will be just as transformative.
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