Step 1: Getting to China

In case you were worried, I am alive!!!! J I made it to China!! Despite the many delays at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago due to all the snow, my flight managed to make it out of Chicago somewhat on time! Woohoo! My flight itinerary was to fly 13.5 hours from Chicago to Seoul, South Korea and then fly 2 hours to land in Beijing, China.

While the 13.5 hours may sound daunting, I was blessed with an AWESOME flight crew and flight buddies! I flew on Korean Air, which I am completely willing to advertise for because they have by far the most impressive and best service I’ve ever experienced! I was SO SO thankful to have a friend before I even stepped foot on the flight! Among the 16 students chosen nationwide for this program, it just so happened that there was another student flying out from Chicago! Cynthia and I met up at the airport and amazingly got seats just one row away from one another! I don’t think I could have maneuvered through the airport or had such a great time flying without her!

Another awesome thing was who I got to sit next to on my 13.5 hour flight! When I found my seat, I was so excited to see that I was sitting next to a Korean mom and baby! As you all already know, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE KIDS! So I was extremely excited!! The more I thought about it, the more I realized how hard this flight was gonna be for the mom! THIRTEEN AND A HALF HOURS WITH A FIVE-MONTH OLD BABY, imagine that! I offered to help in whatever way possible and she was so receptive and grateful for it! Throughout the flight, I got to know Hyun Ji (mom) and Paige (baby) more and more. It was definitely not an accident that I got placed in the seat that I did.

Hyunji let me hold Paige a couple times and it was so much fun to play with her. But having spent 13.5 hours straight with Hyunji, I was reminded of how great a mother’s love is. Hyunji showed such great love for her daughter Paige. She would do everything she could to make sure that Paige felt comfortable, safe and loved. If I had to guess, I would say she kissed her daughter about 250 times and held her for more than 8 hours during the course of the flight. By hour number 6 of the flight, you can tell Hyunji was already exhausted but she never stopped caring for Paige, putting her baby’s interest before her own. Having witnessed this tremendous act of love, I couldn’t help but imagine the many times that my mom held me as I cried or complained to be fed, diaper to be changed or just to be held. Thank you, Mommy. And thank you to all the mothers around the world!

Cynthia and I arrived at Seoul about an hour late, leaving only one hour to make it to our connecting flight. This may sound like a lot of time but the Incheon Airport was HUGE and it took us about 30 minutes to get through security and find our gate. With the remaining 30 minutes until our flight left, Cynthia and I managed to find a restaurant and enjoy a delicious bowl of Bimbimbap in Korea. We ordered and ate our food in 15 minutes and headed back towards our gate!

We landed in Beijing, China at about 9pm on Monday, January 6^th. Feeling completely exhausted for the day’s travel and also jetlagged, Cynthia and I were welcomed by our Fulbright escort as we stepped into the polluted Beijing air. It was especially polluted when we landed that night. We were so tired that we fell asleep on the way to the hotel but managed to settle into our beautiful hotel room. We were so grateful to be sleeping in a bed and were asleep by midnight!


FUN FACT ABOUT CHINA:
They really don't like the numbers 4 and 13, so the hotel we're staying at only has floors 1-3 and 5-12! 4 in Chinese sounds like "death" and 13 is just unlucky! Interesting, right?!?!