That paragraph was the start of my blog draft over three weeks ago, and I am now finally caught up enough on my schoolwork and my life to get back to blogging. The trip went fine, and my family survived without me, but, as always, there was some excitement along the way.
I started the trip by reveling in my solo travel status and taking airport pictures, both of the pretty
and the amusing.
I left Bangkok early Friday morning and flew through Beijing to get to DC. Beijing is possibly the most intense airport I have ever been to, and they are not set up for people who are using them as a transfer point. First, I had to walk through an infrared sensor to prove I didn't have a fever and could enter the airport. They show you this scary video right before you land saying you will be quarantined if you don't pass this test. Luckily, I passed, but then I had to wait in line for about an hour, because they had one person doing passport check for everyone with an international transfer. It didn't matter that we weren't entering the country, we had to have all the paperwork filled out, and they sent people back who didn't have all the boxes checked.
It was a good thing I had a two and half hour layover, because I still had to go through security and passport check again to get to the departure gates At the end, I had about twenty minutes left before boarding. I foolishly bought a bottle of water, not knowing that they had yet another check point set up after you showed your boarding pass and started walking towards the plane. They went through everyone's bags again and took away water. It didn't matter that I had just purchased it twenty feet away.
It was all worth it once I got on the plane though. I had paid extra for an economy plus seat, and I was in a two seat section next to the window. No one showed up to sit in the aisle seat, and I didn't have any seats in front of me, just the cloth covered section divider, so I had my own little alcove for the trip. It was wonderful, and I got a good bit of sleep. I had no problem getting through Dulles airport, and my mom and sister were there to meet me with big hugs.
I got over jet lag pretty well. I just faded early in the evening. The residency was great. I learned a lot and really started to zero in on my dissertation topic and methodology. I loved the time with my family, and I got to hang out without at least one friend each day. I spent the last day shopping and bought Vivi almost a whole new wardrobe. She's grow so much in the past few months!
It was hard being apart from Jeff and the girls, but we talked on Skype at least once a day, and I knew they had Young to take care of them too. I had left pretty detailed plans for what Vivi should do each day after school, and I had several friends helping out with pick up and play dates. Of course there were a couple snafus, but nothing critical. I know Jeff was stressed about working and being the only parent on duty, but overall things went smoothly. We definitely couldn't have done it without Young, who took extra special care of Elena and slept up in Vivian's room to keep her company at night.
After seven days in the States, I packed up all my purchases in a humongous suitcase which I figured would weigh more than 50 pounds, and got in the car with my parents to drive back to Dulles. The first sign that something was wrong was when both lanes of 66 came to a complete stop, but we couldn't have predicted that it would take two hours to get to the next exit, and that by that point I would have missed every flight to Asia for the day. The traffic was the result of an eight car pile up, so I tried to keep things in perspective and remind myself that missing my flight wasn't that bad, but I was really upset. I had bought the ticket with points, which gave me a bit more flexibility than a straight itinerary purchase, and after a couple calls to United, we came up with a new plan. Even though I had missed all the flights going west for the day, I hadn't missed the ones going east, so I could fly through Dubai to get back to Bangkok. I decided to focus on the fact that I would now be able to say that I had flown all the way around the planet.
The new plan got me home Monday morning instead of Sunday night, so it wasn't too big an adjustment. I got lucky again on the long flight, and I was the only person in a row of three, so I could lay down across all the seats. I got plenty of sleep on the flight, and the Dubai airport was a breeze compared to Beijing. No passport check and just one quick security check with no line. There was no one next to me for the second part of the flight either, so it was a comfortable and easy trip.
Our favorite taxi driver met me at the airport and brought me home to my family who all had the day off for Chakri Day. Chakri Day celebrates the establishing of the Chakri dynasty in 1782 with king Rama I (who I know as a road). It is also the dynasty that moved the capital to Bangkok, so there are lots of Rama roads. I take the Rama IV road to get to the embassy sometimes. It was nice to have a family day together, even if I did have a hard time staying awake. The whole trip was a bit more of an adventure than I had bargained for, but it was great to see family and friends, and it was really helpful academically.
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