Day 1
So Jennie and I are currently in Chicago on a 4.5 hour layover. We're about to meet up with some of the other teachers from the Midwest, as it seems like departure points for Beijing (PEK International) are Newark, Phoenix, Atlanta, Seattle, and Chicago.
Our flight was speedy (1.75 hours) and I just watched a Jim Jefferies comedy on Netflix as suggested by Tyler W., a family friend and former student. It was pretty damn funny, and I know I interrupted Jennie speaking with the gentleman sitting next to us a few times. Yeah, for once, I wasn't the talker. I think that's why I like Jennie.
Jennie Merrill is the Teacher of Excellence from Maryland on our trip, and she's also the 3rd place finisher for Maryland Teacher of the Year. She's a 4th grade ELA and science teacher who teaches in the midpoint between Annapolis (one of my favorite small cities in the US) and Baltimore. She likes to joke (she married a Josh, also a teacher; and has a son also named Josh - just saying), so we pretty much connected almost instantaneously back in February. That held true because the State Teachers of the Year already knew one another and seemed to have their own group almost automatically. I respect that, and us non-TOYs have all the fun.
First of the fun started at the crack of dawn this morning. We woke up at 3:30a EST, and it didn't go well. You'd think I'd have more training for this with my sleepless nights and my son's sleepless nights, but... NOOOO. I yelled at my phone. Probably the first of many times. And then I forgot my phone charger, so I spent the equivalent of 350 Chinese Yuan ($50) on a new one. Devin, at least it's apple certified!
It's currently 10:15a CST here in Chicago, the Windy City, and it's as pretty as a Cubs World Series victory outside. This airport is IMMENSE, and they probably could use more space to grow. I mean, TSA is like right on top of your bits here.
Speaking of, for those of you who don't know, I used to be flagged by the TSA pretty much every time I'd cross the border. The first time occurred in Jamaica, where, after Roda's wedding, they through me in a back room and played good-cop-bad-cop with me. The last time Devin and I traveled through Canada, they did the same thing and I almost missed our bus home. It seemed that TSA agreed with State Senator Mike Regan in that it was like this teacher was almost part of Al Qaeda. However, I went to TSA one day to bridge this issue, and, now that I've been fingerprinted and labeled only a pain in the rear end and not a terrorist, I'm permitted to travel much more easily.
Our flight, which launches about Noon time here, is a 14-hour test of wills in the wind. This is just a tad shorter than my flight to Turkey 5 years ago, which I don't get because I'll have a 12-hour swing between here and there. When I say test of will, I have plenty of items in my ammunition to pass the time:
- My iPad stocked with some TV shows
- My iPhone stocked with other comedy specials, music, and Jonah pics & videos
- A brand-new pillow that you can sleep on by laying forward on it and putting your hands through it. My description sounds mundane, but it'll make my life that much better. Already used it coming here from Chicago and, in Will Ferrell's words about Blue, "It's GLORIOUS."
- Books on China
- Amazing colleagues that I'm looking forward to learning more about and experience this ancient and yet modernizing land
Several people have wished me "safe travels" on my flight, and I wish you all the same. I think you're 18x more likely to die in a car crash than I am in the air, so... "Safe travels!"
Additionally, several others have asked what I'm looking forward to the most. I'm actually really looking forward to constructing my lesson from my trip, which is part of my scholarship requirement. I'm comparing and contrasting the freedoms that the citizens of China and America experience. We in 'Murica love to beat our chest at the idea that we are the most free country in the world. While we are quite free, there are many, many, many things you can't do, and I'd venture to guess most Americans would be interested in reigning in those freedoms. Let's hope that it never approaches the point of some freedoms lost here in China - like Internet viewing and research is very limited, and, oh yeah, it's run by a single Communist Party. But, I'm prepared to see the Chinese be able to do many things in their nation that we can't in ours, like it's legal to drink in public.
I'm also looking forward to being uncomfortable. I learned no Mandarin because all my time was spent packing boxes and vacuuming with nice baseball-field-like mow lines every other day for possible interested renters. The food will be different - yes, Lippy, in China they call "Chinese food" just "food." Remember folks, there's a scholar in every group of college friends, and this guy is ours.
This almost limitless uncomfort will help challenge me and grow, and then when I come home and see my wife's smiling face and kid's snoring slumber (yes, Devin, I won't be back until around 2a EST on July 3rd), I'll be proud of where I came from (stealing that from the Florida-Georgia Line song I'm listening to right now).
Off to meet some friends and a new country. See you in China.
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