I was really lucky last night. When I arrived in Chicago, I found out that almost all of the flights to the east coast had been cancelled. Because the lady in Beijing hadn't rebooked me on another flight, the first flight I could get a ticket on didn't leave Chicago until 7pm Monday night. Sitting in Chicago until 7pm Monday night was the last thing I wanted to do, and with the storm coming there was no guarantee I would even get out then. My other option was to try to go standby on a flight to Newark. I went for it and luckily I was one of the 10 people who got on the flight. There were over 40 people on the standby list! That flight was one of the worst flights I have ever been on - there was major turbulence so people were getting sick and we had an old man with a medical emergency. None of that mattered though when I finally landed in Newark at 9:40 last night.
When I got off the plane I had to go to the bathroom. I sat down on the toilet and just sat there for a few minutes to take it in. I will never complain about a public bathroom again after being in China. By some miracle all of my bags also made it to Newark so once I got them my ride picked me up and we headed home. Because of the storm, it took forever to get home. I walked in my door at 1 am this morning, ate some wings then immediately crashed. It felt SO good to sleep in my own bed. I only slept until 7 this morning, I had to call my office to see if we were open and the plows in my lot were making a ton of noise. Good news was it is officially a snow day so I have the day to spend at home catching up on email (I have 275 emails in my work account!) and wash my smoky, stinky clothes.
I'm really glad to be home but what an amazing trip. I'm really lucky to have had an opportunity like this and I'm hopeful I get the opportunity to do tournaments like this again in the future. As I said in the beginning, when I started reffing never in a million years would I have imagined it would have taken me literally half way around the world. Thanks goes out again to everyone who has helped me along the way and to Stacey, Matt, Tara and Laura - I could not have had better travel partners for this experience. Having people from home there made things so much easier. I posted the last of the pictures on my website - www.picasaweb.google.com/connolly.kate. I still have a few videos to post but will get to that later. Enjoy the snow everyone!
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Trip Home
Written from the plane...
I've now been on the plane for about 5 hours from Beijing to Chicago. The morning started off pretty smooth - we checked out of the hotel and took a shuttle to the Harbin airport. There were 10 of us on the same flight and we were all able to check in and get through security with very few issues which is a miracle in itself. We got on a pretty big Air China flight to head to Beijing and realized that the entire Canadian mens and women's team, US men's team and a bunch of other athletes were on our flight. After the 2 hour flight to Beijing we had to get our bags and recheck them to our final destination. Thank God Matt was with us and has navigated this part of the Beijing airport before because if he hadn't been this process would have been much more painful. When we finally had our bags and got to the airline check in area we all split up.
Laura and I headed to the United counter to check into our flight. Again, thank God we were quick getting there because the entire US men's team was on our flight and it would have taken forever if we had to wait behind them. However, this is where the trouble started. I knew thing were running way to smoothly and something had to go wrong. I went up to the self check in and scanned my passport and the machine told me that my itinerary had been changed. I definitely didn't change it myself so I had to find an english speaking customer service agent - not the easiest thing in the world. I finally found a girl who spoke some english. She told me my flight to Philadelphia had been cancelled. At that point I wanted to cry, I just want to get home and it isn't like I can try to arrange to get on another flight or get a hotel room from Beijing. I asked her why and she said she didn't know. It was originally set up that my flight from Beijing would stop in Chicago for a few hours then I would get on the same plane and it would continue on to Philadelphia. I asked the flight attendents if they knew what was going on and they had no idea, a new crew was supposed to get on in Chicago. So as I sit here and type this I still have no idea if my flight was definitely cancelled and if I can get on another flight tonight or if I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow. To make things even more difficult I know they are calling for snow in Philly tonight. So I'm pretty much expecting to spend the night in Chicago and will be pleasantly surprised if I actually make it home tonight.
I'm already annoyed about my flight situation when this woman drops another bomb on me. When I flew over I had my backpack and my handbag as carry on items. When we got the rollerboards from the welcoming committee I decided to use that as a carry on with all of my souvineers and just put my handbag in my suitcase. Just 3 weeks ago I had this same amount of carry on baggage when I went to Vegas - an even bigger rollerboard and my backpack. I figured on a huge international flight what I had would be no issue...WRONG! The lady told me that my backpack doesn't count as a personal item, it could only be a purse. Both Laura and I were screwed. Our bags had just made weight (we checked at the hotel before we left) and I didn't have much room in either suitcase. I also wasn't about to check my rollerboard because I had some fragile stuff in there. So both of us had to go and stuff a few things in our rollerboards and try to stuff our backpacks in our suitcases. To make things more difficult for me was the fact that I don't know if I'll be able to get my bags in Chicago if my flight is indeed cancelled. I ended up taking the big Louie Vuitton handbag I bought and packed that with clean pair of underwear, socks and a t-shirt, some toiletries and my meds. I then stuffed my laptop, ipod and book in my rollerboard. I was able to shove my backpack and the rest of the stuff in it into my ref bag but of course now was was overweight. I think the woman saw how frustrated and pissed I was at that point because she didn't charge me for my extra weight thank goodness. I think that would have put me over the edge.
After we finally got checked in and went through security, Helen (leaving on Air Canada at the same time as Laura and I) met up with us and we went to try to hunt down Matt. I wanted to see if he had any connections with the Chicago airport hotels so I can get a room if necessary. We were able to find him before he boarded his flight and he gave me a phone number for one of the airport hotels. He also told me to talk with the US men's team trainer, who he is friendly with, if I do get stuck because some of them were in a hotel in Chicago tonight and they would help take care of me. I'm just hoping that it doesn't come down to that, at this point I just want to be home.
I'll write up another post later, either while I'm stuck in Chicago or hopefully from Philly. Back to the movies, only about 8 hours to go!
I've now been on the plane for about 5 hours from Beijing to Chicago. The morning started off pretty smooth - we checked out of the hotel and took a shuttle to the Harbin airport. There were 10 of us on the same flight and we were all able to check in and get through security with very few issues which is a miracle in itself. We got on a pretty big Air China flight to head to Beijing and realized that the entire Canadian mens and women's team, US men's team and a bunch of other athletes were on our flight. After the 2 hour flight to Beijing we had to get our bags and recheck them to our final destination. Thank God Matt was with us and has navigated this part of the Beijing airport before because if he hadn't been this process would have been much more painful. When we finally had our bags and got to the airline check in area we all split up.
Laura and I headed to the United counter to check into our flight. Again, thank God we were quick getting there because the entire US men's team was on our flight and it would have taken forever if we had to wait behind them. However, this is where the trouble started. I knew thing were running way to smoothly and something had to go wrong. I went up to the self check in and scanned my passport and the machine told me that my itinerary had been changed. I definitely didn't change it myself so I had to find an english speaking customer service agent - not the easiest thing in the world. I finally found a girl who spoke some english. She told me my flight to Philadelphia had been cancelled. At that point I wanted to cry, I just want to get home and it isn't like I can try to arrange to get on another flight or get a hotel room from Beijing. I asked her why and she said she didn't know. It was originally set up that my flight from Beijing would stop in Chicago for a few hours then I would get on the same plane and it would continue on to Philadelphia. I asked the flight attendents if they knew what was going on and they had no idea, a new crew was supposed to get on in Chicago. So as I sit here and type this I still have no idea if my flight was definitely cancelled and if I can get on another flight tonight or if I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow. To make things even more difficult I know they are calling for snow in Philly tonight. So I'm pretty much expecting to spend the night in Chicago and will be pleasantly surprised if I actually make it home tonight.
I'm already annoyed about my flight situation when this woman drops another bomb on me. When I flew over I had my backpack and my handbag as carry on items. When we got the rollerboards from the welcoming committee I decided to use that as a carry on with all of my souvineers and just put my handbag in my suitcase. Just 3 weeks ago I had this same amount of carry on baggage when I went to Vegas - an even bigger rollerboard and my backpack. I figured on a huge international flight what I had would be no issue...WRONG! The lady told me that my backpack doesn't count as a personal item, it could only be a purse. Both Laura and I were screwed. Our bags had just made weight (we checked at the hotel before we left) and I didn't have much room in either suitcase. I also wasn't about to check my rollerboard because I had some fragile stuff in there. So both of us had to go and stuff a few things in our rollerboards and try to stuff our backpacks in our suitcases. To make things more difficult for me was the fact that I don't know if I'll be able to get my bags in Chicago if my flight is indeed cancelled. I ended up taking the big Louie Vuitton handbag I bought and packed that with clean pair of underwear, socks and a t-shirt, some toiletries and my meds. I then stuffed my laptop, ipod and book in my rollerboard. I was able to shove my backpack and the rest of the stuff in it into my ref bag but of course now was was overweight. I think the woman saw how frustrated and pissed I was at that point because she didn't charge me for my extra weight thank goodness. I think that would have put me over the edge.
After we finally got checked in and went through security, Helen (leaving on Air Canada at the same time as Laura and I) met up with us and we went to try to hunt down Matt. I wanted to see if he had any connections with the Chicago airport hotels so I can get a room if necessary. We were able to find him before he boarded his flight and he gave me a phone number for one of the airport hotels. He also told me to talk with the US men's team trainer, who he is friendly with, if I do get stuck because some of them were in a hotel in Chicago tonight and they would help take care of me. I'm just hoping that it doesn't come down to that, at this point I just want to be home.
I'll write up another post later, either while I'm stuck in Chicago or hopefully from Philly. Back to the movies, only about 8 hours to go!
Last Day in China
Today was our last full day in Harbin. Now that the games are all finished for the girls we get to just hang out and take in our last full day in China. We all slept in late and missed breakfast. Not that it matters since breakfast in China is by far the most disappointing meal. We went to Wanda plaza once again so a few of the girls could pick up some last minute gifts and snacks for the plane ride home. After shopping we all piled in cabs and headed over to the girls rink where the men's final was being played. They moved the men's medal games to our arena since it seats twice as many people as the new arena they just built. Russia played Canada in a really exciting, physical game. Russia ended up winning 4-2, but the game was tied until the last 5 minutes. After the game we all piled in to the bus to head to the hotel to pack and get ready for dinner. All of the officials were invited to the closing ceremonies, but instead we decided to all go out together for a big night of eating and drinking. A few of the guys had found this Chinese barbeque that they said was awesome so we all decided to give it a try. This brings up one of my frustrations in China - being a woman. They do not treat women the same way Americans do. In China women are supposed to be subservient and listen to the men. The Chinese men would make things difficult when we tried to do things on our own. An example would be the cab rides - if we tried to point the driver down certain streets he would get very angry - there were several instances where we almost got kicked out of cabs for doing this. This cultural difference made it much more difficult for us girls to explore the city on our own and discover places like the barbeque.
Now that I'm done my rant about the cultural difference, back to the barbeque. There were about 30 of us seated at the longest table I have ever seen. As soon as we sat down they brought out several giant milkcrates - all of which were filled with huge (probably about 32 oz) bottles of Harbin beer. They handed one to everyone whether you asked for it or not and throughout dinner continued to bring you a fresh beer as soon as you finished yours. After the beer they started to bring out different food items on skewers. I'm not exactly who ordered everything but I do know I never even saw a menu, the food just started to come out. Some of it was identifiable and quite tasty - there were chicken wings and legs which were very good. Then there were other things that were identifiable and not meant to be eaten (silk worms on a stick, pigs heart) or things that were just plain not identifiable (hot dog looking things). It was interesting to say the least. Stacey had been out to many Chinese "mob dinners" throughout the two weeks so she had warned us that a big thing for the Chinese is to toast and they would do so every five minutes. She was right on the money on that one because every few minutes someone at the table would raise their glass and just say "hhhheeeeeyyyyyy" to which everyone else would raise their glass, repeat and take a drink. Good thing the glasses were tiny or we'd all have been on the floor. Some people were on the floor regardless of that.
The entire dinner, beer, food, service (no tipping in Chinese culture) only cost 1100 yuan, or about $175. I don't even think you could buy McDonalds for 30 people for that amount of money in the US, let alone dinner and drinks. The entire meal was paid for by the tick fund and we still had money to spare. The tick fund is similar to the cancer fundraiser we do at nationals - every time you fall or do something stupid you get a tick - a tick costs you 10 yuan. I only had to put in 40 yuan, which compared to most was pretty good. Some of the guys had 15 ticks!
After dinner a few people made a McDonalds run for those who hadn't eaten much at the restaurant. I had a thing of french fries. I honestly can't believe I ate McDonalds 3 times while in China. I don't think I've been to McDonalds that many times in the last two years. After food we all just hung out in the hotel and drank what was left of our beer stash. Some people had to catch their shuttle to the airport at 4:45am so we stayed up as late as we could for those people so they could crash on the plane. My shuttle was at 8:30 so I at least got a few hours of sleep. It was a great, really fun way to end an awesome trip. I have some new friends and memories that will last a lifetime.
I posted some pictures from dinner on my site (www.picasaweb.google.com). I'll update once from the plane and once I get home. Goodbye from China!
Now that I'm done my rant about the cultural difference, back to the barbeque. There were about 30 of us seated at the longest table I have ever seen. As soon as we sat down they brought out several giant milkcrates - all of which were filled with huge (probably about 32 oz) bottles of Harbin beer. They handed one to everyone whether you asked for it or not and throughout dinner continued to bring you a fresh beer as soon as you finished yours. After the beer they started to bring out different food items on skewers. I'm not exactly who ordered everything but I do know I never even saw a menu, the food just started to come out. Some of it was identifiable and quite tasty - there were chicken wings and legs which were very good. Then there were other things that were identifiable and not meant to be eaten (silk worms on a stick, pigs heart) or things that were just plain not identifiable (hot dog looking things). It was interesting to say the least. Stacey had been out to many Chinese "mob dinners" throughout the two weeks so she had warned us that a big thing for the Chinese is to toast and they would do so every five minutes. She was right on the money on that one because every few minutes someone at the table would raise their glass and just say "hhhheeeeeyyyyyy" to which everyone else would raise their glass, repeat and take a drink. Good thing the glasses were tiny or we'd all have been on the floor. Some people were on the floor regardless of that.
The entire dinner, beer, food, service (no tipping in Chinese culture) only cost 1100 yuan, or about $175. I don't even think you could buy McDonalds for 30 people for that amount of money in the US, let alone dinner and drinks. The entire meal was paid for by the tick fund and we still had money to spare. The tick fund is similar to the cancer fundraiser we do at nationals - every time you fall or do something stupid you get a tick - a tick costs you 10 yuan. I only had to put in 40 yuan, which compared to most was pretty good. Some of the guys had 15 ticks!
After dinner a few people made a McDonalds run for those who hadn't eaten much at the restaurant. I had a thing of french fries. I honestly can't believe I ate McDonalds 3 times while in China. I don't think I've been to McDonalds that many times in the last two years. After food we all just hung out in the hotel and drank what was left of our beer stash. Some people had to catch their shuttle to the airport at 4:45am so we stayed up as late as we could for those people so they could crash on the plane. My shuttle was at 8:30 so I at least got a few hours of sleep. It was a great, really fun way to end an awesome trip. I have some new friends and memories that will last a lifetime.
I posted some pictures from dinner on my site (www.picasaweb.google.com). I'll update once from the plane and once I get home. Goodbye from China!
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