On my way

I have a flight that leaves tonight at 5:40 p.m. from Atlanta. From Atlanta I'll fly to Amsterdam and have a 12 hour layover until I fly to Chengdu. I checked the Amsterdam Airport Website and it seems they have places where you can shower and even sleep for a couple of hours. I will definitely be looking into that once I get there :) My dad will be seeing me off since I sent Shawn off to see his Granny for the weekend :) My friends who left for Chengdu yesterday were stuck in Chicago until 10:00 p.m. (9 hours) last night so I'm not sure when they will get into Chengdu. Seems like everyone is having travel troubles. I am sad to leave but know I am in God's hands and everything will work out accordingly. I'm ready to go :)

We plan and God laughs

Around 12 a.m. last night, we realized I wasn't going to be able to get to Chengdu on time. We finally got into bed and slept till around 6 a.m. I woke up hoping it had all been a bad dream but it wasn't. Even though we are probably going to end up loosing money on my plane ticket inside of China, I am more upset that I will not be with the group at the introduction meeting, able to meet and spend time with my host family on Sunday and will also miss the first day at the school. I was very upset this morning (and still am) that everything has gone from perfectly planned to incredibly messed up. Please pray God opens a window when it seems like He has shut a door. I am anxious about other flight options I have been given and what to expect when I arrive in Chengdu. Thankfully, I have a mom and husband who won't let me back out and are always good for a pep-talk :)

Flight to Beijing canceled

At 9:00 p.m. tonight I checked my voicemail on my cell phone. Good thing I did - my flight from Newark to Beijing has been canceled. No word yet on what will happen ... Shawn is on the phone and on hold ...

Weight Restrictions in China

I made my first call to China but not for a good reason. I happened to be looking on a website with tips about traveling in China and saw a mention about luggage weight restrictions on some airlines. Turns out a passenger in economy class (that's me) are only allowed to have 20kg (44lbs) of luggage ... carry-on AND CHECKED. The problem is that I was counting on US limits which are 2 checked bags being 50lbs. each not including carry-on. I had 1 suitcase and 1 duffelbag weighing almost 75lbs! I know what you're thinking, I'm high-maintenance. Well, shame on you if you think that ;) The reason all of our bags will weigh a lot is because we are taking a ton of school supplies with us that they don't have in China. 400 sheets of construction paper weighs a lot! Anyways, I called the Airline I'm flying on in China and found out they do enforce these weight restrictions so I'm working on making lighter bag ... so far I'm down to 50 lbs.

13 days and counting

Last night we had a meeting at my supervisor's house about our trip to China. We had 3 girls come and talk to us about their experiences from the previous year when they went. Sounds like it will be an adventure to say the least. We will be staying with a host family (1 student-teacher per host family) and teaching at the middle school (we think ;).

In the picture: Our GSU Supervisor and adult on the trip is in the middle with the short, gray hair: Mrs. Robertson (she's so much fun). To the left of her is Joni, one of my best friends ... SO glad she's going. You can see Shawn one person over from me on the right. He went to the meeting too since he'll be spending some time in China :)