First of all, any of you who know me even a little know that I can't resist a pun, even an incredibly bad and cheap one. That will never change.
I write to you from Shanghai now. We left our hotel this morning in Beijing in darkness, and we were taken by a "mega-taxi" (sedan with huge trunk that could accommodate our suitcases) to Peking Int'l Airport. I especially appreciated our taxi driver's "secret ninja driving skills" in order to bypass the immense traffic getting into Terminal 1 this morning. We stood in line to check in, which was fast, and security was even faster. No shoe removal necessary, although security had a small problem with my umbrella. (?) The flight was terrific, and I was aloud to read my Kindle during take-off (though I did have to have the WiFi feature toggled off). We had a great meal on-board too, which, these days in the US, is unheard of on domestic flights. It is about a 2-hour flight from Beijing to Shanghai.
Now, officially after two flights on-board a non-US carrier, I will say this.
United States transportation organizations, you have A LOT to learn. Our baggage was *waiting* for us from the baggage claim when we disembarked! And furthermore, there were guards who made you match your passport to your claim-check tag. There will be no stealing-of-bags here.
The taxi-routine at these airports is also something commendable. You wait in a fast-paced line, and there is a gentleman who funnels the taxis to parking spots. From there, he looks at your personnel (Warning: he does not look at your luggage amount! And we learned this fast.), and then assigns the proper vessel. In our case, he had miscalculated the amount of stuff (I'm fairly laden-down on this trip, I have to say) we had, including an instrument that can't go in the trunk, and luggage for three people, etc.
We eventually commandeered a mini-SUV-taxi and easily checked into our hotel. I headed out ASAP to start exploring, and since our hotel doesn't have WiFi, and I can't read a Chinese map, I am currently at "Você" trying to figure out how to get around this new city! I was able to pantomime "map" (which, I promise sounded like the word for "panda" in the supermarket, but I'm quite sure that I am in the wrong). So, I have a nice map and I will hopefully figure out some things here.
I will keep you posted on our adventures - our work at Shanghai Conservatory begins tomorrow. We are within walking distance of that school, and it promises to be raining here for our entire visit. However, the weather is more pleasant here. Not as chilly ...
Signing off for now ...
Kristin
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