It's All Good

With day two of orientation sessions in the history books, and a fabulous dinner out at a Chinese Restaurant, I’ve snapped, clipped, zipped, and rolled the accouterments of my life for the next month or so out the door and off the runway.  Arlis has left the continent!  I’m a planner, so my strategy for enduring this twelve and a half hour flight was in place; iPod loaded, computer charged, and snacks packed.  A movie or two would break the monotony and sleep, if possible, would come intermittently.

Our flight path was "Somewhere over the North Pole."

This is it.  The North Pole peeking through the clouds.

 Not happening.  I’ve been on board this plane for seven hours so far, and have discovered that my iPod isn’t in my backpack, my snacks are missing, and I can’t sleep.  Watching a movie is doable but there is no sound.  With another five to six hours to go, Necessity has been my mother.  Here are my tips for flying when Plan A is out the door:

1.  Take three deep breaths and chant softly, “It’s all good.”  This may be a California “thang”, but don’t knock it until you try it.

2.  Take inventory using positive talk.  Chanting and positive self-talk should probably be done softly or in your head.  People on airplanes are very sensitive to “unique” manifestations while in flight.  Positive talk sounds like this, “Arlis, you’ve got your laptop, and it’s all charged up.  You have Chapstick, your passport, and a couple of Tootsie Rolls.  There’s a T.V. screen in front of you.  You have an isle seat, and there’s an empty seat between you and “Mary at the Window.”

3.  Formulate Plan B.  Mine went like this:  “No iPod?  Okay, then.  The plane has headsets, and I have my computer.  My computer has my iTunes downloads, so I CAN listen to my audiobooks.   Two Tootsie Rolls are plenty with the meal and snack service.  I WON’T GO HUNGRY.  SLEEP IS OVERRATED.  If I’d been asleep, I’d have missed hanging out at the back of the plane looking out the window as we passed over the true North Pole.”  Yep.  6:12 a.m. Beijing time.  I saw the North Pole.  Through the clouds I could see the ice with fissures where the Arctic Ocean peeks through.  Positive self-talk continues.  “No sound on the movie screen is tricky, though.  Hmm.  Ah, I can start a movie on my screen, and the screen for the middle seat, sync them and watch the 25J screen with 25K sound.”  Am patting myself on the back (in my head) now.  I’ve already watched AND heard the movie, “The Hobbit” and may buckle down to watch another sometime in the next five or six hours. 

4.  Move around.  Getting up, stretching, walking, and standing around is not only good for you physically, it gives you a chance to people watch.

My first glimpse of China

 As I write this I see that our plane is beginning to track over the Russia.  I’m happy and excited, but also the slightest bit nervous and am already missing my family.  Thankfully, my family is cheering me on and supportive of my travel-to-learn passion, so it's all good.

We made it.  We're spending this first week in Beijing.