SLC - Seattle.
Seattle - Seoul, Korea
Seoul, Korea - Shanghai, China
I cried when I said goodbye to Dave and the kids. In fact, I wondered if I was the stupidest person on the planet for leaving them to go to China for 13 days. But once I was at the airport, I transformed into "Wanderlust Jody" and was 100% pumped for the adventure!
The flight fro SLC to Seattle was uneventful. I met the nicest guy from SLC living in England and enjoyed a nice visit.
I had a 90 minute layover in Seattle before boarding my 9 hour flight to Seoul. I called the family and ate a little lunch.
On the plane, I sat between the most lovely young people: a Korean-American young man and a Christian missionary. We talked, we slept, we stretched, and I enjoyed my flight to South Korea.
In Seoul, I found my airline to China and had to do a special check-in. Then I called Alyssa, who was still up in the night back home, missing her momma. We facetimed until I was ready to board my final flight from Seoul to Shanghai. I told her to come onboard with me. So as I entered the Eastern China Airline, we were facetiming. Alyssa told me later that about 3 steps into the plane, our connection was cut. Unbeknownst to me, I kept talking to her as I searched for row 32 for my seat. As I sat down, a beautiful porcelain-faced flight attendant came over and aggressively said, "You can't film here. Stop filming." I told her I was facetiming my daughter but when I looked at the face of my phone, Alyssa wasn't there. She continued, "Show me your pictures." I showed her that I hadn't taken any pictures or video. Before she left, we reminded me again, "You can't film here." I sent Alyssa a text that I had gotten in trouble.
Then I wasn't able to contact Alyssa again.
Suddenly, I became a little anxious. Is this something people go to prison for? It was obvious to me that the human rights I had known my entire life had changed and I didn't know what the next 13 days were going to look like.
When I landed in China, it look about 45 minutes to get out of the airport. I had to have my finger and thumb prints taken, show my passport about 3-4 times, fill out specific documentation about where I would be staying, and have my body and luggage checked several times. I also called Alyssa. Although it was nearly 5am, she hadn't been able to sleep and was so worried about me. I calmed her and told her that Heidi and her driver were waiting for me.
When I saw Heidi and her driver, I almost cried! I knew I would be in great hands. Let my adventure begin!
