The Longest Day(s) Ever!!

Thursday July 17th 2014

Phew! I am finally safe and sound at my apartment here in Zhongshan, China!! It has been a long day..or days I guess. I left the SLC airport around 6:30pm on Tuesday the 15th. I have kind of lost all sense of time since I went from SLC, to LA, to Seoul, to China. Seriously at the airport this morning in Korea..(wait that was THIS morning??) when I looked at the clock that said 8:00 I honestly for a moment couldn't tell if it was 8 in the morning or 8 in the evening.

Right now it is about 6pm China time which means it is about 4am Utah time (and 6am for my friends in GA). We got to our apartment probably around 3pm but this is the first time I can sit down and talk about my trip. So here we go from the beginning:

I got to the SLC airport and met up with my group. There were 4 of us in my group, and 5 girls in another group for a total of 9. Some of us got to sit together on the plane going to LA from SLC. That was a pretty short flight, about 1.5 hours. Nothing too exciting. When we got to  LA we were supposed to meet up with 2 other girls who are the head teachers for each of our groups. (both of our groups are going to Zhongshan- the other group was actually supposed to be going somewhere else but their school is brand new and not quite ready so they are going to be at our school until theirs is finished). The LAX airport is HUGE! And I thought the Atlanta airport was pretty big - I mean you have to take a train from terminal to terminal. But also I am used to that airport. The LAX airport is pretty confusing and some of the terminals are on "islands" where you actually have to go outside and take a bus to get to the main area. We finally found our international terminal with about 3 hours to spare until our flight to Korea. I think the layovers were the worst part. It was fun walking around the airport since it was Tuesday we saw a TON of missionaries everywhere who were all calling their parents before leaving to go to their designated countries. Unfortunately I didn't get to see any famous people at the LAX airport- or get to go explore LA. That would have been fun since I have never been to LA before. Our layover was that awkward amount of time where it's not enough to leave and go do something but too long to sit in an airport. Finally it was time to board the Korean Air!

Korean Air is so nice! First of all the flight attendants are so adorable! They all wear matching clothes and neckties and chopsticks in their hair and their hair and makeup is so professional looking. I didn't get a picture of them but I will have to on the way back! The plane was very big, and also TWO stories. Yeah my life is complete. We were not able to go on the second floor though I think that was the fancy first class. They gave us blankets and headphones (not to keep though) and toothbrush and toothpaste. We also got a dinner and breakfast meal.  The seats were nice, lots of space, and had their own little TVs where you could watch movies play games or even watch the airplane take off and land. And they have a spot to charge your phone! Unfortunately I didn't really use much of any of these things because I had a major headache the whole flight and just wanted to sleep. It was nice to get some sleep though. The 12 hour flight actually wasn't bad at all. I think not being able to move around a lot and the headaches/dizzyness was the worst. I forgot to pack medicine in my carry on, I didn't really think about it though. I actually still feel a little dizzy from all the traveling, I think it will take a while to wear off.

Individual TV sets on each seat

Korean dinner - on the right is seaweed soup 

                                                        

Yum! Korean Dinner at 1 am (LA time)

Our flight from LA to Korea- crossing the International Date Line!

Korean breakfast at 8am (LA time) omlette, yogurt, pinapple, pastry

                                                                                

Then we had another 4 hour layover in South Korea. It was about 4am by the time we got their so most of the stores were closed so we sat at our gate for a while. When it was about 7am we went to explore the airport more as shops opened (and get food)!. Let me tell you the Korean airport is way cool as well! They have a hotel on the second floor so you can rent a room and sleep/shower/etc. Also they had a playground area for kids in the airport. The korean airport also has LOTS of fancy stores- a lot of big name companies like Coach and Louis Vitton and Tiffany Co. Also lots of makeup stores. There was also a hello kitty store the was so cute :)

At the Korean airport!

Hello Kitty store at the Seoul Airport

Tiffany store at the airport!

The flight from Korea to China was about 3 hours, in which I attempted to watch the Lego Movie but fell asleep during most of it. FINALLY we were in China! We had to go through immigration and then customs. We got very lucky! They were going to make us get in line to have them check all our bags at customs but then the lady decided to wave us over to just go through so we did not have to get any of our bags checked. So we didn't really have to do anything at customs. Oh also everyone got their bags which was nice- I know a lot of people were worried they would have lost bags. And to top it off they have these carts where you can put all your suitcases on so you don't have to carry all your bags because I was wondering how in the world I would be able to carry 3 suitcases and my backpack....

All my stuff! Three suitcases and a backpack

Beautiful view outside the airport in Guangzhou China

At the airport we met up with our Native Coordinator- basically someone who lives in China who speaks English and coordinates things between us teachers and the school. She got us a really nice bus where we put all our luggage underneath. Since there were 11 of us total we all spread out on the bus and each got a window seat. It was another 2 hour ride from Guangzhou (the airport ) and our city Zhongshan so our travels were not quite over. But at least on a bus we were able to see the beautiful country of China! Let me tell you it is GORGEOUS here in Southern China! It is so green and tropically but also has lots of mountains and little lakes/rivers. It is VERY humid though but I guess I am used to it. There really are a lot of apartments here. Like really really really tall ones, and some areas they are sooo crowded together! And some are really old and run down.

But we got lucky here in Zhongshan. It is actually quite nice here. The apartments and buildings look a lot newer (at least on the outside). So once we arrived here, we of course got settled in. Our Native Coordinator brought some food for us (rice with ham and dumplings which was yummy) and bananas and peaches. She talked to us about some things we needed to know and then we finished moving our stuff in, got showered (VERY much needed after traveling for about two days straight- I feel so good now!). And that is where I am now, writing this blog! As far as my apartment goes we have a living area, kitchen, two bathrooms, and 3 bedrooms. Each bedroom has 2 beds for a total of six, but since we only have five people I am the lucky person who gets a room all to herself! It is actually very nice :) I will have to take some pictures since I can't get my video apartment tour to upload.

I think the plan for the rest of the day is some more introductory stuff. Chill and relax. I am thinking I really want to watch Mulan (seems very appropriate no?). I've taken a few video vlogs that I am still trying to figure out how to upload since the internet is a bit slow and hard to upload big files. So for now you will just get pictures but maybe i'll just make one big video at the end of my trip and post it when I get home. Talk to you all later! Love you all 

<3 Kelita