Hello all!
I know it's been a long time, but things have been crazy at work. I can't wait to come home!
News...
The giant 50 day trip to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia has been postponed indefinitely. But I am still saving up!
I got a JOB at Princess Cruise Lines as a FULL TIME youth staff! I am so excited! I embark near the end of October if all goes as planned.
I am coming HOME!!!! Around the 15th of September and I'm going to try to see everyone! But family first!
I got a NEW camera! YAY! I really needed one, my old one has been falling apart for years!
And in Final news and the reason I am posting this edition of my Blog is to document my little big trip! I am currently in the airport waiting for my flight which leaves in 30 minutes to go to China!!
So about the trip
I am spending 2 and a half days in Beijing. For the first day, I have hired my own personal tour guide (only 30 dollars for the whole day!) Her name is Jenny and she speaks nearly perfect English. Together we are going to see the Forbidden City, and Tienanmen Square, and the Temple of Heaven. Then we are heading to a silk factory to get a custom made evening gown. I am very excited about that! I have always wanted a gown that actually FITS! And I am going to need one for the cruise ship. I am thinking royal blue, asymmetrical design, with a lighter blue sheath over it. But we will see.
On day two I am taking a group tour to THE GREAT WALL! My tour goes to a portion of the wall that is supposed to be less crowded called Mutianyu. We will see how it goes! I will take lots of pictures!!
Then day three I am going to Shanghai around 2:00 ish. I'll arrive in Shanghai around 8:00.
ALL FOUR DAYS in Shanghai are going to be devoted to the WORLD EXPO!
This is something I am super excited about!
It's supposed to be amazing!!
Here are some links to sites and videos about the EXPO.
http://en.expo.cn/#&c=home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX_Wsh3MUpk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t02giLzaj4w&feature=related
Anyway, I am going to attempt to update this blog with pics and news about my trip each day.
So here goes!
DAY 1
I originally planned to fly out at around 7:00 pm on Saturday the 24th because I wasn't going to get out of the scheduled Kindergarten overnight camping trip till 2 in the afternoon on Saturday. However, it POURED all day on Friday so the Kindy camping trip was cancelled. Giving me lots of extra time to possibly go to China early. I thought about it and called China Southern to see if there were any earlier flights available. I found out that YES there were. They told me to arrive at the airport at 9:30 and I'd be able to transfer to an earlier flight. So I got up at 5:30 and got on a bus to the airport. Arrived at said time. Went to the China Southern Desk. They said, "is impossible due to codeshare with Korean Air. You must go to the Korean air desk." (this was after waiting in line for 15 minutes) Then went to the Korean Air Desk and the representative, (who spoke much better English) said, "You were misinformed, we can't help you at this desk, it's a China Southern Flight!" But she was very nice so she called China Southern for me and talked to someone. Then told me to go back over there and They would put me on the standby list for the earlier flight, which was already full. She also warned me that my chances of getting on did not look good. I told her no problem, that I was used to getting bumped because my mom worked for Delta Airlines and I have flown Standby my whole life. But I was resolved to try because if you don't try you certainly won't get on!
