Traveling to China

“By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.”

– Christopher Columbus, explorer.

Apologize fellow adventurers, I have been without internet and free time for days so this entry is a bit delayed. Anyways, my arrival to both China and Bengbu is the beginning to my adventures for the year. For my plane and car rides, I followed Denis Waitley’s advice by expecting the best, planning for the worst and preparing to be surprised. 

FIRST FLIGHT: I first flew from Newark Airport in NJ to Washingtion Dulles in DC. My flight was at 10:15 and my connecting flight in Dulles was leaving at 12:20. While my flight was labelled as “On Time”, it did not take off until 20 minutes after the scheduled departure. Although the flight was only 48 minutes, I had to rush from Terminal A to C. I made my flight with time to spare and it turned out, there were others on connecting flights trying to make the same flight. 

Advice:

1. Always expect the flight to be delayed.

2.  When on a delayed flight connecting to another flight, tell the flight attendants immediately, even requesting that an airport car come take you to the next gate. Even try making them call to your connecting flight so they know you’re on the way. 

3.  Washington Dulles requires much walking. Even with the shuttle, you have to walk a bit to get there and even after you are taken to the right terminal. 

4. Always prepare to walk or run in airports. Wear sneakers so not only are you ready to race between gates but you remove extra weight from your suitcase(s). 

5. Usually airport staff for international travel know that people are late from previous flights so they won’t close the gate right away. However, I believe that since I, along with a significant amount of people were nearly late for the flight, it was enough of a reason to keep the gate open. While you might be okay, do your best to make sure your connecting flight waits for your arrival. 

SECOND FLIGHT: Washington Dulles to Beijing. I admit that this was the best part of my trip. Because my mother has mileage, she used it to upgrade me to Business class for this 15 hour flight. I spent this time watching movies, walking around and of course sleeping. 

Advice:

6. If you can get upgraded, do it. You get a nice seat, delicious food and you can have two suitcases that weigh up to 70 pounds. 

7. Bring stuff to do. It’s a long flight. Be ready to kill time. That can be through video games, drawing, and more. You can also watch movies, however, sometimes certain airlines don’t provide tv’s to the economy class or even headphones so prepare to bring your own stuff to watch movies.

8. Walk and stretch. Again, long flight, also you don’t want to have your feet clot with blood and swell up, walk around. Another good way to kill time.

9. Sleep as much as possible. Bring sleeping medicine if you have to. Sleeping on the long flight gives you the energy for what you have to do when you arrive in another country. Also helps you adjust to the time difference. 

10. Fill out the immigration form on the plane. It’s a pain to try filling it out when you arrive. It’s better to wait in line and prepare to give the form to the immigration checker people.

Arrival to China: I had a 5 hour and 50 minute layover here. In China, I had to go through immigration, get my suitcases, put them on my flight to Nanjing and go through Customs and airport security so this layover was not a bad one to have. The wait for immigration was about an hour and getting my bags was quick and easy. I only had to submit one bag through customs and it only took me a few minutes to put my bags onto the next flight. 

Advice:

11. The lines for immigration are long in China. Get into the foreigner line and stay in that line. Also, lines are not that strict in China. Be prepared for line jumpers and assert your spot in line.

12. Get your bags right away and go to the domestic departures. Once you get to domestic departures, that way you go through customs and afterwards, you can get your bags onto your next flight. BTW, customs is not so terrible (unless you have anything suspicious obviously). 

13. Find your gate early and sit and relax, you’ve had a long journey. 

THIRD FLIGHT: Beijing to Nanjing Airport. This flight was not entirely eventful but there is some interesting stuff to mention.

14. When boarding, get into your seat asap. Chinese flight attendants are very strict and orderly. When boarding, I saw them yell at many people who spent more than 20 seconds storing their carry-on’s in the cabinets. It’s nothing personal, people in this culture tend to be in a hurry.

15. Don’t expect to get out of your seat for the flight. My flight was 2 1/2 hours long and due to turbulence, they did not allow anyone to leave their seats. Even if there isn’t turbulence, just be prepared to sit until you reach your destination.

MEETING THE STAFF: The staff agreed to meet and pick me up at the airport. In Beijing, I dressed in a low-key but nice business outfit to impress the people I was meeting. I rushed to fetch my bags at baggage claim and met the staff members. I walked to the arrival gate to meet them with my head held high and a smile on my face.

16. When meeting members of your school, make a good impression through appearance. You may be tired but it only takes 5 seconds and it will be more than they expect.

Nanjing to Hefei: I rode in a car for 2 1/2 hours from Nanjing to Hefei. As a new teacher, the first thing I had to do upon arrival was to get my physical exam in China in order to obtain a residence permit. This physical exam consisted of an EKG, HIV/AIDS test, height measurement, ultrasound, blood pressure measurement and urine test. It all happened very quickly thanks to the Hefei Health Center. I had a female translator with me to help communicate. In order to have an accurate reading of my blood, I could not eat or drink until afterwards. However, because I could not eat or drink, I had no ability to give a sample for the urine test. That is why the hardest part of this for me was the urine test. 

ADVICE:

17. Be calm and speak up. The whole process of getting your residence permit was stressful for me just because I moved so quickly. Also ask for water so you can prepare a sample for the urine test. Drink lots of water.

ARRIVAL TO BENGBU: It took another 2 hours to arrive to Bengbu. I moved into the foreigner building on campus into a nice apartment. More on the arrival in my next entry.

I hope this advice is helpful to you. If you followers have any more questions on traveling, just post it in the comments. To be continued!