A group of people offered to help us with our luggage on the way from the airport to the parking lot. Some people let them take their luggage and were then promptly bombarded with demands for “a dolla”. I myself had to physically push a woman away who tried to take my bag.
The pollution is so horrendous in Beijing that my respiratory system will surely take a hit. It is worse than L.A.! I know we had to sleep with the window open b/c of the heat, but it cost us in the long run.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Sunday 14 May
My grandmother dropped me off at Hartsfield this morning about 5:00. That is pretty dang early. I thought that I was giving myself more than enough time by getting there that early, but I was wrong. Almost 200 Redcoats were already there and United Airlines was totally not prepared for such a rush. The line was long, but once the nice people at United saw the crowd, they called in reserves to man other posts behind the desk and the line began to move. The highlight of the airport was running into Renee and getting to give her the hug that I didn’t get to give her yesterday after the funeral. She is so strong! I am so proud of both Renee and Keith and how they’ve handled this unexpected tragedy.
After I got checked in and through security, Bob and I took the nifty “Hartsfield Transit System” out to ‘E’ Concourse to exchange a little money. Dang the exchange rate!
We made it back to our concourse (‘T’) with 15 minutes to spare before boarding. I love it when a plan comes together.
The flight to Chicago was smooth and uneventful. I’ve been to Chicago four times previously, yet had never flown into or out of O’Hare, so that was a new and cool experience. The approach to the runway is the best part, you come in over lake Michigan and then over the heart of downtown.
After killing three hours in O’Hare waiting for our flight, we boarded a HUGE jet (747) for Beijing. Most of the Redcoats were not lucky enough to get into business class, first class, or economy plus. Instead we were all back in economy or as we came to call it; “Steerage”. Each row had ten seats and two walkways. I am having a hard time relaxing b/c a flight attendant stops by every ten minutes to stuff some more stinky airplane food down my throat. But, hey! I should be happy to get it. We are currently somewhere over the Artic Ocean near the North Pole. It is about 8:30 am China time, which means it is 8:30 pm Atlanta time. I hope my body doesn’t freak out due to the terrible time change. I have managed about two hours of sleep in flight.
Our arrival at Beijing International was close to on-time despite out flight being delayed for 45 minutes on the tarmac at O’Hare. The experience with customs and immigration in china is slack compared to the U.S. I was able to walk right through. All my luggage made it to china. Yay! Tom had a pack of peanut crackers in his bag that was enjoyed by someone working to move our baggage from the plane to the luggage belt in the airport. Welcome to a communist nation! I am using my Camel Pak, minus the water bladder, as my man-purse while in China. I have to keep my money and my passport on me all the time. If I lose everything but my passport, then at least I can still get home.
We got checked into our hotel and put our stuff down and then met in the lobby to board a bus to go to our first dinner in China.
We left the hotel around 6:00. Bob may have offended one of the waitresses when he exclaimed she-she after the lady brought out a dish. We found out later the shey-shey = “thank you” and she-she = “dragon lady” or the Chinese equivalent of bitch. Ooops! They thought his curly blond hair was cute, so they giggled and all was well. One international incident averted... for now. I can understand how people in china are skinnier than Americans. It’s b/c food actually tastes good in America, so we eat more of it. Sure, I will survive this trip, but I will most likely lose significant weight while I’m here.
I got to bed around 9:30. Our a/c didn’t work, so we had to open the window while we slept. This would turn out to be costly to my health.
After I got checked in and through security, Bob and I took the nifty “Hartsfield Transit System” out to ‘E’ Concourse to exchange a little money. Dang the exchange rate!
We made it back to our concourse (‘T’) with 15 minutes to spare before boarding. I love it when a plan comes together.
The flight to Chicago was smooth and uneventful. I’ve been to Chicago four times previously, yet had never flown into or out of O’Hare, so that was a new and cool experience. The approach to the runway is the best part, you come in over lake Michigan and then over the heart of downtown.
After killing three hours in O’Hare waiting for our flight, we boarded a HUGE jet (747) for Beijing. Most of the Redcoats were not lucky enough to get into business class, first class, or economy plus. Instead we were all back in economy or as we came to call it; “Steerage”. Each row had ten seats and two walkways. I am having a hard time relaxing b/c a flight attendant stops by every ten minutes to stuff some more stinky airplane food down my throat. But, hey! I should be happy to get it. We are currently somewhere over the Artic Ocean near the North Pole. It is about 8:30 am China time, which means it is 8:30 pm Atlanta time. I hope my body doesn’t freak out due to the terrible time change. I have managed about two hours of sleep in flight.
Our arrival at Beijing International was close to on-time despite out flight being delayed for 45 minutes on the tarmac at O’Hare. The experience with customs and immigration in china is slack compared to the U.S. I was able to walk right through. All my luggage made it to china. Yay! Tom had a pack of peanut crackers in his bag that was enjoyed by someone working to move our baggage from the plane to the luggage belt in the airport. Welcome to a communist nation! I am using my Camel Pak, minus the water bladder, as my man-purse while in China. I have to keep my money and my passport on me all the time. If I lose everything but my passport, then at least I can still get home.
We got checked into our hotel and put our stuff down and then met in the lobby to board a bus to go to our first dinner in China.
We left the hotel around 6:00. Bob may have offended one of the waitresses when he exclaimed she-she after the lady brought out a dish. We found out later the shey-shey = “thank you” and she-she = “dragon lady” or the Chinese equivalent of bitch. Ooops! They thought his curly blond hair was cute, so they giggled and all was well. One international incident averted... for now. I can understand how people in china are skinnier than Americans. It’s b/c food actually tastes good in America, so we eat more of it. Sure, I will survive this trip, but I will most likely lose significant weight while I’m here.
I got to bed around 9:30. Our a/c didn’t work, so we had to open the window while we slept. This would turn out to be costly to my health.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
The Great Wall Tour 2006
At a Thursday evening rehearsal in October of 2005, Dr. Romines introduced the masses of the Redcoat Band to the opportunity of performing in the People’s Republic of China during a two week tour. This announcement was met with cheers and much excitement. Details were not known, so we had little insight into logistically how this would come to pass. However, people were excited about Redcoats, and for one night, that was enough.
As weeks passed, we learned more information regarding when, where and how much this was going to cost. It turns out that a group known as the US/China Cultural Foundation was sponsoring this trip and would completely fund the trip once the band landed in China. This meant that all we had to do was fund our trip to get there, and any souvenirs that we purchased along the way. Still, the cost of flying to China came out to be around $1500. No small feat for college students on a very fixed income. But I saw this as an amazing, once0-in-a-lifetime sort of deal. I knew that I had to make this work financially.
As the calendar changed over to 2006, details became more numerous and we got a better idea of just what we were getting ourselves into. As the lone sousaphone section leader making the trip, I had many responsibilities behind the scenes that were very hard to undertake while maintaining my status as a student in the spring semester. I learned that 18 Sousaphone players would be joining the ensemble. That number swelled to 21 before departure and the band grew to nearly 300. This was great news, but meant that those “in charge” would have to undertake even more logistically to make this thing happen.
We had two cultural meetings where we were briefed about Chinese culture and the major differences that we could expect. Along with that, there was paperwork to be completed by each participant. It was lengthy. Some needed to procure passports, some had to be approved to “study abroad” with UGA. We also had to be inoculated against several infections for which we, as Americans, had no immunity to. I love shots.
By the time spring arrived in Athens, Georgia, most of the individual responsibilities had been taken care of and it was time for the group responsibilities to begin. For starters, what the heck were we going to perform for a larger group of Chinese people? This and other questions would eventually be answered as rehearsals approached…
Stay tuned for more posts...
As weeks passed, we learned more information regarding when, where and how much this was going to cost. It turns out that a group known as the US/China Cultural Foundation was sponsoring this trip and would completely fund the trip once the band landed in China. This meant that all we had to do was fund our trip to get there, and any souvenirs that we purchased along the way. Still, the cost of flying to China came out to be around $1500. No small feat for college students on a very fixed income. But I saw this as an amazing, once0-in-a-lifetime sort of deal. I knew that I had to make this work financially.
As the calendar changed over to 2006, details became more numerous and we got a better idea of just what we were getting ourselves into. As the lone sousaphone section leader making the trip, I had many responsibilities behind the scenes that were very hard to undertake while maintaining my status as a student in the spring semester. I learned that 18 Sousaphone players would be joining the ensemble. That number swelled to 21 before departure and the band grew to nearly 300. This was great news, but meant that those “in charge” would have to undertake even more logistically to make this thing happen.
We had two cultural meetings where we were briefed about Chinese culture and the major differences that we could expect. Along with that, there was paperwork to be completed by each participant. It was lengthy. Some needed to procure passports, some had to be approved to “study abroad” with UGA. We also had to be inoculated against several infections for which we, as Americans, had no immunity to. I love shots
By the time spring arrived in Athens, Georgia, most of the individual responsibilities had been taken care of and it was time for the group responsibilities to begin. For starters, what the heck were we going to perform for a larger group of Chinese people? This and other questions would eventually be answered as rehearsals approached…
Stay tuned for more posts...
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