Days 0-5!

Hi everybody and welcome back!
It has been an interesting/exciting/unbelievable experience so far! Have had a few people tell me they have been looking for updates on my blog, well here they finally are! haha This is going to be a long post so I'll try to break it up some with the few pictures I've taken so far!

Day 0- August 2nd, 2016
    This was the day! Finally taking off on my adventure! I cried my eyes out saying good bye to my precious kitty, Holly before leaving the house this morning.

And then I cried even harder saying goodbye to my parents at the security checkpoint. 5am and 2 sets of ugly crying is not a good look on anybody!

     I officially started my journey with a 6:40am flight from Albuquerque to Dallas. When I boarded the plane I realized I lucked out with a window seat next to a very oversized seat companion. Not to be rude, but he should have probably had both seats. I was squished up against the window and tried to sleep. Thanks to Pinterest I learned a trick to put the arm rest up between me and the window. so about halfway through the flight I was able to give myself 4-6inches of more room. Also since the plane was so small we had to gate check (or valet check as they called it) our larger carry on items. Because of this and having to wait to pick it up, my 1hr I had in Dallas was cut down to 35ish minutes.

    Once I landed in Dallas I had Makayla google the location of the Auntie Annie's Pretzel shop in relation to my international gate (because you know a pretzel with cheese is the best thing to eat for breakfast and your last American food--- I wish there would have been a taco bell close 🙁). Thank goodness it was like 10 gates away! I sprinted from my first plane to the train, and then from the train to the pretzel shop. Of course there would be a line, but I waited! I was not leaving America without a pretzel! haha With my pretzel and cheese cup in hand I sprinted off to my gate. I got there just as they were boarding my group! Perfect timing! I believe there were text updates sent to Makayla and my mom that were along the lines of "bag in hand, on move" "Pretzels a go, on move again" 😂

    I boarded the plane, put my duffel and back pack in the overhead bin and prayed that nobody sat next to me. Well I didn't pray hard enough. A teenage girl and her friend came up to me and asked if I could switch seats with one of them so they could sit together, I said no. I realize this sounds rude of me, but I paid for the extra leg room and to only have one person next to me versus 2 people. I wasn't giving up my seat. Needless to say the one girl sat next to me, and the other in the row in front of us (she traded with some other woman I think). Every time I got up (which was a lot) to walk around or go to the bathroom the girl made me climb over her and all her stuff. Pretty sure I elbowed her a few times in the process of climbing over her. I was also confused as to why the girl didn't move up a row by her friend- there was an empty seat and then they could have sat by each other like they wanted. At this point I realized my seat companions were not going well and hoped for better luck on my 3rd and final flight. Little did I know, I was in for a bigger shock than I imagined but more on that later.

 My view from the plane

Over Canada or Alaska someplace

 An overview of the plane route

 Following the tracking on my phone while watching movies

    On the flight we ate 3 times! Lunch/dinner shortly after we took off. A snack about half way through and then dinner 2 hours before landing in Shanghai. Not the greatest food, but it was good enough! Lunch/dinner was chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy with vegetables. The snack was a panini, crackers and the most delicious salted caramel ice cream. And then breakfast was an egg sandwich and fruit. Landing in Shanghai officially put me on Chinese soil with means its technically August 3rd!

This was the Chicken, Mashed potatoes and veggies

Day 1- August 3rd, 2016

    I have officially landed in Shanghai!

    I AM IN CHINA 🇨🇳!!! I'm beyond excited, nervous and super scared! I grabbed my duffel and backpack and left the plane! After leaving the plane I headed to customs with my declaration form (Mom they gave this to me on the plane and it was super simple to fill out- Name, address of where I'm going, what I'm in the country for(i.e Work, travel, etc), and my passport number) and my passport in hand! I waited patiently in line, but it didn't take more than 10min and my passport is stamped, my visa is checked and I'm off to pick up my luggage and have it re-checked in. I grab my 2 HUGE (but under 50lbs each!) suitcases off the carousel and head to the next terminal to check in for my 3rd and final flight. Being the strong independent woman I am, I decided I didn't need one of the little cart things and that I could roll my bags just fine. BIG MISTAKE. It was a looooooonnnnggggggg walk to the domestic terminal. I lucked out and found an empty cart half way there. Lesson to self ALWAYS take the cart (you hear that mom- ALWAYS take the cart!).
    When I finally arrived at the Domestic terminal I tried to read the board and find my flight information, but I couldn't find it. Thinking that maybe I just missed it on the board or didn't understand it, I decided to go find somebody who could speak English and ask.. Well as my luck would have it my flight was CANCELLED! Yup you read that right! My flight from Shanghai to Shenzhen was cancelled. I was told to get in the massive line to see if I could be re-booked on a flight later that night. I started to panic a little, but figured a later flight was better than being stuck there. After waiting in the line, and then waiting for an English speaking airline employee to come help I was re-booked. Buttttttttttt the flight was for 8am the next morning at a different airport! I went and found the only place I could to sit with all my stuff, which happened to be the floorin the far corner. And I cried. I cried for a solid 20 minutes. It wasn't a pretty cry either. I was alone in a foreign country, I don't know the language and because of the time difference my parents were asleep. At this point I reached out to my hiring manager at work to let her know, and asked what I should do about a place to stay for the night. She told me to get back in line and ask the airline to provide a hotel room since they cancelled the flight.
    Not only do I get back in line and have to do the whole waiting thing again, but I am sent from line to line (thank goodness I still had the cart for all my luggage!). Eventually I am told to talk to a supervisor-- at another location with another line. The supervisor basically yells at me, telling me the airline isn't responsible for a hotel room for me. Needless to say I went back to my spot on the floor and cried some more. I reached back out to Mona (my hiring manager) and told her what happened. She said not to worry, she would contact her equivalent in Shanghai and see if I could stay at the hotel with the other teachers arriving in Shanghai that day. Thank goodness for Mona! I had a driver and hotel room arranged for the night! The driver was picking up 3 other teachers so I had to wait a bit for them to arrive, which was fine since I at least had a plan and knew what was happening. The 3 other teachers were all extremely nice when I met them and they couldn't believe what happened with my flight situation. When we finally got to the hotel, they didn't have my name/reservation. Not gonna lie almost ugly cried right there in the lobby full of people. Luckily they found it and I was checked in. I went to my room, showered and went straight to bed. I was exhausted.

Day 2- August 4th, 2016
     I woke up super early to take another shower and get a taxi in time to be at the airport for my flight.

    I arrived at the airport just over 2 hours early, and thank goodness I did! Boy oh boy.
Not sure where to check in I ask a lady and she points to the kiosks. So I try checking in and getting my boarding pass, no such luck. The kiosk said it couldn't retrieve my reservation. I decided to try and figure out which line I needed to be in to check in, and luckily I chose the correct one. Unlucky for me the lady told me my ticket was "locked" and that I needed to call the issuing agency. Almost had a break down right there, but luckily I made it to a seating area before the ugly cry started. Once I composed myself a little bit I called Mona (Sorry for the international calling charges dad🤑). Mona calmed me down and told me to get back in a different line and ask why my ticket was locked if the same airline re-booked it from the day before. So I did. I ended up being sent to about 5 different lines to figure it out and get it all taken care of.
   It turned out that my ticket from the previous flight that had been cancelled had never officially been re-booked, it only showed a seat being held for me. Nobody could seem to figure out how to cancel the old ticket and activate the one for this morning. I ended up having to pay 1440RMB (approx $216USD) to buy a new ticket for the same flight I was supposed to be on. (I am able to be reimbursed from my company for this since it was such a big goof up). Once I had the receipt in my hand I headed BACK over to the 1st line to officially check in. I was able to check in no problem, BUT my bags were over weight 🙄 (this airline had different regulations than American Air did, and since I bought a new ticket I was now on their regulations). Before the clerk would give me my boarding pass I had to take the claim tickets showing the weight back to one of the many lines I had been in and pay the excess baggage fee. Once that was paid I was able to get my boarding pass, check my bags and head to security. As I was leaving the clerk called my attention and said I was needed in the bag check room. Turns out the x-ray looked funny because of my extension cord/power strip and the screw driver my dad had me pack (Gee thanks dad! lol), they just looked at all of it and said okay. I was off to security.

    At security they checked my passport, visa and boarding pass. Then I moved on to the metal detector and x-ray machine. I apparently had too much stuff in my backpack and duffel so they asked me to take stuff out and put everything through a second time-- not a problem Im happy to comply! But if you know me, my packing is like tetris. So it was all messed up after this and I honestly didn't care. I had 5min until they started boarding and 25min until the plane door closed. I practically ran to my gate, made it just in time and was near the end of the boarding line. I got on, placed my duffel in the overhead bin, my back pack at my feet and breathed a sign of relief. After everything that went wrong I made it and would be in Shenzhen soon! Only not as soon as I thought. We were delayed on the plane for 2 hours before it finally took off. Not sure why, all I could understand was something about air traffic control. We eventually made it to Shenzhen, I found baggage claim got my luggage (put it on a cart of course!) and went to look for the driver. I located him super quick, he took my cart and we went to the car. He drove me to the hotel I am staying in with the other teachers for 2 weeks. The drive seemed to take forever, it was raining and I've never seem so much traffic in my life (the pics below don't show any traffic and just a little rain, but TRUST me it was insane. These pics were taken on the outskirts of town by the airport, not downtown where I am staying)!!

    I FINALLY made it safely to the hotel and couldn't be happier to be here. As I was checking in 3 other teachers were getting back to the hotel, I recognized one from the EF teachers site and said hello. The others introduced themselves, and I asked if they had plans the rest of the day. They said no, but there was a McDonald's close if I was hungry, and to text them if I ventured out. At this point I was beyond exhausted, so once I checked in I took a shower, reorganized my stuff and laid down. I fell asleep at 630pm and didn't wake up until 630am the next day.


Day 3- August 5th, 2016
    As I said I slept a good 12 hours and woke up at 630am. I had plenty of time to shower and get ready before meeting the other teachers for breakfast in the hotel restaurant. It was nice to have some time to myself and really let it sink in that I am officially in China and starting my adventure. I gathered my required papers, umbrella, bottled water and my purse and went to breakfast. Breakfast was interesting, lot of different foods, but delicious. After breakfast all 6 of us teachers walked the 15-20min walk to the central office in downtown Shenzhen. It was a crazy experience for me to see so many people, and such tall buildings.

 The view from the elevator lobby on the 11th floor of the hotel

 This is the building the Central EF office is located

    When we arrived at the office I officially met Mona in person. She gave me the biggest hug and told me she was sorry but was so glad that I had made it! Cue the tears yet again, although this time it was just a few tears no ugly crying. We had our on boarding training and learned lots about the do's and don'ts regarding apartments as well as basic dos and donts for living/working in china. At lunch time the Director of Studies from each of the schools we have been placed at came to join us for lunch. We had a traditional Chinese meal for lunch that included lots of variety. Everybody at the table laughed at me for not knowing how to use chopsticks, and said that I "should" learn pretty quick... little do they know lol
    After lunch everybody else went with their DOS (Director of studies) back to their schools and even apartment hunting. But since I missed the previous morning I went back to the office with Mona to complete my paperwork. My contract has officially been signed, my updated resident/work visa photo has been taken, and my bank account has been opened! After completing all that I made my way back to the hotel--- I didn't even get lost once!! I met up with one of the other teachers and we went to McDonald's for dinner. It's pretty similar to an American McDonald's, but also different- slightly different tastes to everything. With the time difference my parents were just waking up as I was getting ready for bed, so we FaceTimed for a little while and I got to see my cute kitty exploring the house. I also FaceTimed Makayla for a little bit before she went to work for the day.

Day 4- August 6th, 2016
    My body woke me up at 630 am again, but this was fine with me. One of my favorite movies was playing on HBO (one of the only English TV channels I get in the hotel) and I wanted to try and watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics online (due to the time difference it started at 730am for me). Unfortunately I couldn't get the live stream of the Olympics to work, so I finished the movie on HBO, showered and grabbed breakfast.

    At 10am my DOS, Elizabeth picked me up at my hotel and we started out for the Metro. We walked about 15min to the metro stopping for cold bottled of water along the way. Once on the Metro we rode it for about an hour to the LongGang district where my center is located. Along the way she showed me various Walmart locations, a Sam's club, the apartments she lived in, as well as apartments other teachers lived in. When we finally got off the metro we had about a 10-15min walk to the center. I was SOOOO hot out that we walked through a mall, and stopped at Starbucks to get some flavored iced teas (I highly recommend the Blackcurrant Raspberry iced tea, so yummy!). We continued on to the center and I was able to meet some of the local staff that was working. I was able to login to a computer, check my email, and set some various passwords. Then it was time to meet our translator Scotty who was going to help me on my apartment hunt! Elizabeth, Scotty and I headed out to start looking!
    We looked at approximately 6 apartments within a 20min walking distance to the school, but didn't really care for any of them (mold, too expensive, no furniture, no AC, etc). We worked our way to the area Elizabeth lives, and we found 3 great apartments! I was having a hard time deciding which one I liked best until 2 of them kinda fell apart (one landlord wanted 6months rent up front which I just don't have, and the other was slightly more expensive than the one I chose). So needless to say I went with the 3rd apartment! It was a very cute 1.5 bedroom apartment! I know your asking yourself what a 1.5 bedroom apartment is, well its basically a 2 bedroom except smaller. My room has a queen bed, and the half room is smaller and has a twin bed. The apartment comes furnished with the beds, a couch, a washer, and 2 wardrobe type things. I believe I am on the 24th floor (I don't exactly remember, so I could be completely wrong). My building is part of a community that has private access to a garden, an outdoor swimming pool and an indoor swimming pool. The contract has been signed, and I get the keys next weekend! Once I get into the apartment I will take some pictures to share with y'all!
    After all the apartment hunting Elizabeth and I met up with her boyfriend, Martin and rode the metro back into downtown. We went to what they called "Obama's BBQ" I have no idea if this is the BBQ restaurant President Obama's half brother owns, but it was GOOOOOOODDDD. I had never been so hungry in my life, and boy did the food taste good. It was an outside open air restaurant where we looked at labeled pictures to decide what we wanted. I let Elizabeth and Martin order since they had been here before. most of the food had been cooked/grilled on skewers and we ate it right off the stick (definitely not my favorite BBQ from back home-- aka Powdrells😍). We had boiled peanuts (obviously not on skewer, and not my fave), spiced beef (probably my favorite that we had), Garlic Oysters (not on skewers either. These were put on the grill in the half shell with garlic and chili added on top. Very good!), Lamb (very tasty!), spicy beef (different spices, and definitely more spicy than the other beef but still delicious), grilled eggplant (this fell right off the skewer, and I'm not an egg plant fan so I didn't try it), grilled potatoes (cut real thing and grilled. so tasty!) and some bread. We also had a pitcher of beer and some cokes. It was delicious, but I was so tired that I didn't really enjoy it as much as I should have. I DEFINITELY want to go back asap!
    After dinner Elizabeth and Martin walked me back to the hotel, so I wouldn't get lost. I took a super quick shower so that I could Facetime my parents (and my kitty!) before my dad left to go see my Grandma in Santa Fe. I was able to tell them about my apartment and everything I learned throughout the day.

    And boy was it hot! During all the apartment hunting Elizabeth and I each drank 6 bottles of water. My phone said that it was 91 degrees but with 100% humidity and the heat index it felt like 117!! My clothes and underwear were drenched with sweat by the time I got back to my hotel room.


Day 5- August 7th, 2016
   Today I woke up to news that has weighed heavy on me all day. One of my good friends from high school had passed away.

    While Erin and I didn't talk everyday I knew she would be there for me if I needed her, and she always encouraged me to go after my dreams! We had talked about her coming to visit me in China and exploring Disneyland Hong Kong together. Now that Erin is in heaven I know she is here with me in China, and will be with me when I go explore Disneyland Hong Kong one day.
 
    To help distract myself from everything I went to breakfast here at the hotel with some of my other teachers. I arranged my apartment papers and my bank papers I just received. And then went to McDonald's for lunch with another teacher. I was also able to FaceTime Makayla so she could show me her new room in the Chi Omego house at UNM. And I was able to FaceTime with Kaylee and just chat about life with her.

    Its taken me just over 6 hours to type this post (with Snapchat breaks, a dinner adventure and rereading/editing), which I expected since its so long. I am super happy my mom convinced me to start this blog, and I am happy that I get to share my experiences with all of you! Hope you enjoy my stories and all the pictures! I'll try to be better at taking pictures from now on too! 🤗

     My dinner tonight. Not sure what it was, it wasn't my favorite but hey I ventured out and tried something new! And this was also the first time I've had rice since I've been here!

A big Thank you to all of my friends and family for always encouraging me and being there for me when I need you. I appreciate it more than you know ❤️.

Adios for now!

Margaret

Ps. Chopstick update: 5 days in and I can still only stab things with them. I'm holding out hope though!!

Pss. When I was in Shanghai, frustrated and experiencing the language barrier I started trying to speak Spanish to one lady thinking she would understand. I guess growing up in New Mexico it is just a natural instinct to try and communicate with somebody. #Hola