But it wasn’t a day to forget when I left China that day. I had been up until midnight the night before. I think it took a couple of hours to get to sleep because of it being my last day, excited to go home and worrying about getting up in time. Also leaving my Chinese friends after two years. One of those times of mixed emotions.
I think we went to the airport at 9:00 a.m. Celia and her parents came to my apartment to say goodbye, Wang Yao who was one of my students, another friend, Xiao Dan, and of course some people from school went along like Jigang, Guoqin, Cao Junli and it seems like there were a couple of others. We took the school’s small bus. I hugged everybody bye at the airport. Got on the plane and in a little bit we taxied down the runway.
It was one of those bitter sweet times that we have in our lives. I was ready to go home but I thought about all of my friends that I had made and my life there for two years and all the things that happened and it was emotional to leave. I didn't know if I would ever go back to China and get to see them again.
I got back to La Crosse Monday night on July 5th. Yes, that is right. I left Luoyang the morning of my birthday, went to Beijing, flew to Chicago and then to La Crosse that night flying from one side of the world to the other all on my birthday. A few of my relatives met me at the airport. We went back to my cousin Marilyn’s and there was a party for me for my birthday and returning. Maybe thirty relatives were there. By the time I went to bed at midnight, I had been up for forty hours.
This is where the problem begins. When I was at the school, Jigang had given me two booklets, one was a Foreign Expert Permit. I don't remember what the other one was for or what it was called. When I had left the school that morning, I asked Jigang if I needed both of them or if I needed to leave one at the school. He told me to take one of them and I could leave the other.
Well, of course the one that I left there was the one that I actually needed. I could not go through Customs or anything until I showed them that I had been at the school. I was very anxious now because I was told that if I didn't get it in time to get on the plane, I would have to go to the American Embassy.
Yep, let the excitement begin. If I didn't get this taken care of, I would miss my flights and have to reschedule them. The lady at the counter told me that I could have the school fax certain pages from the booklet to the security people in the office. She was very nice and helpful.
Being my cellphone had been stolen with my computer ten days before, I didn't have any way to call Jigang. I took my suitcases to a place down the hall where I could buy a phone card. I was able to buy a card and figure out how to use the phone.
I told him what had happened. He faxed the info that they needed.
Well, then there was another problem. The men in the Security Office were not there. Now it was just over two hours before my flight would leave. By this time, there was another lady in the area that was helping as people came. Every now and then, she would check that office to see if the security men had returned. As more time went by, I was getting more and more anxious.
Those men finally came. I was taken into the office with them. I can't remember but I don't think either one of them spoke English so I think one of the ladies translated. It all turned out fine. I got through Customs and was able to give Jigang a call to tell him everything was ok. I got on the plane fifteen minutes before it was scheduled to take off. I could relax and go home.
I flew thirteen hours to Chicago, had a layover of up to three hours and then flew to La Crosse. Marilyn and Herb and Mae came to greet me. They took me to Marilyn’s and there was a party with maybe thirty relatives there for a homecoming and birthday party for me. It was very nice but I was tired. By the time I went to bed at midnight, I had been up for forty hours.
Like I said before, my flight home was on my 54th birthday. I left China and flew to the other side of the world on my birthday. I left China on my birthday and came home the evening of my birthday. Yes, the same day from one side of the world to the other. When you fly from the East to the West, that is how it works. When you fly from the West to the East, you lose a day.
In my journal, I wrote so much about life there. Like anywhere in life, there are good things and bad things that happen. That is how life is. It can’t be all good and hopefully it isn’t all bad. I do not regret going to China. I would do it all over again. (Little did I know at this time that I would go back again.)
Flying within your own country can have an effect on you but nothing like when you travel internationally. To fly from the US to China usually involved a 24-hour, or more, time period. It can be longer depending upon your flights and layovers in airports.
I have taken flights that went from La Crosse to Chicago to Beijing and then to Luoyang. I have gone from La Crosse to Minneapolis to Beijing to Luoyang. One time I went from La Crosse to Minneapolis to Seattle and then to Beijing. Another time I went from La Crosse to Minneapolis to New York City and then went north to Canada and then back west across Canada to Beijing and Zhengzhou and then friends from the school drove two hours in the middle of the night to pick me up from Zhengzhou and drove back to Luoyang.
I could never figure out that last flight. Why did the flight go from NYC to Canada and all the way back west over Canada and then to Beijing? Why didn’t the flight go from Minneapolis and over the top of the world to Beijing? I have also stopped in the Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan.
On the different flights to and from China, I have gone over the top of the world close to the North Pole, over Alaska, Siberia and Russia. I have flown on American Airlines, Delta and Air China.
Jetlag can really have an effect on a person. For me, and for most people that I talked to, both American and Chinese, flying from the west (US) to the east (China) is easier and the effects don’t last as long and wear off quicker than flying from China to the US. I am talking about flying internationally not domestically.
The flights both ways from the US to China are usually thirteen hours and it gets very tiring especially when the seats are close together and someone in front of you puts their seat back. Once I flew on a Boeing 747 and that was fine, more room. But most of the planes that I was on were Boeing 777’s and they are cramped. For people that have never flown a long way, it is hard to imagine what it is like sitting for thirteen hours and only getting up to go to the bathroom.
For me, going from the US to China, it only took a couple of days to get over jetlag but going from China to the US it would take a week. One of the biggest adjustments is the time difference. When it is daytime in the US, it is nighttime in China. The last time I came back from China, I had gotten up at 6:00 on a Friday morning, had four classes, left Luoyang in the afternoon and flew to Beijing, stayed in the airport overnight (15 hours), left the next morning and then got back here on Saturday night. From the time that I got up that Friday morning and got back here to La Crosse, it had been fifty hours of being awake. Talk about tired.
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