Arrival in Beijing

Honestly, I never thought I’d say that a 14-hour flight flew by (no pun intended), but let me tell you people—it sure does when you’re in business class. I anticipated horror when the woman next to me sat down, and the first thing out of her mouth was, “I hate flying.” I wanted to respond with something witty, but realized that she was sitting next to me for an extended time and I didn’t want her throwing up on me. I also didn’t think it was possible for a flight crew to feed you for about 7 of those 14 hours. Every time I looked up I was being offered an assortment of lovely beverages and some food offering that we “coach fliers” don’t typically receive. They actually served us a cheese plate and ice cream sundaes post-dinner. It’s a lot different from the pack of pretzels and used chewing gum they offer you on US Scareways and American Scarelines…I don’t know how I will ever slum it in coach after this experience (insert tears).

Rick and I arrived in Beijing and got through customs very easily, which is not what I expected with the month supply of whey protein powder, 30 Quest Bars and trail mix galore that I brought in my suitcase. We exit customs and walked down this long walkway and there were mobs of people crowded around the railings to spot their family and friends. I think this was the closest opportunity that I will ever have to walking a red carpet and I felt like a total celebrity. Though, it was also slightly awkward because everyone is staring at you—I was hoping they were all whispering to each other and saying things like, “Oh look, Jennifer Lawrence is shooting a movie in Beijing!” (HA!)

As we’re walking down the walkway, I spot our driver with my name on a sign in huge capital letters. Thank goodness my last name is long, the sign stuck out like sore thumb in a sea of Chinese letters. We got dropped off at the hotel, checked in, unpacked, then took a stroll around the block to see where our exact location is within Beijing. We know where we are on the map, but we’re still trying to figure out where the heck everything is because this city is absolutely enormous—I have a lot of ground to cover in the next 4 weeks!