The hope was that I would be writing this post from my bed in Memphis, TN and not the San Francisco airport, but here we are. It’s currently 1:20 AM, and I still found myself stuck in this god forbidden airport, but we’ll get to that in a second.
I woke up at 7:30 this morning, brushed my teeth, and then grabbed my bags to head downstairs. My roommate tried to help carry my stuff, but I didn’t want her to because it seemed so pathetic if I handed her my bag to carry when I could clearly do it by myself.
We all convened in the lobby, and then made the walk to the busses. Korey’s roommate actually ended up taking my suitcase from me and rolling it. I tried to tell him that if it was too heavy, he could just give it back to me, but he insisted. I do feel bad for not resisting more because I literally just told my roommate I could carry my stuff by myself.
With our stuff loaded on the bus, we said our goodbyes and then headed for the airport.
Except Kevin thought he lost his passport.
There were a good five minutes of panic as we stopped the bus so he could search his bags/call his roommate to find that one thing that lets you out of the country. Thankfully, he did have it on him, so we were good to go.
Hannah and I chatted the whole ride over, and it made the time go by so quickly. I remember thinking the bus ride was much longer going from the airport, but that might have been because I wanted to go to sleep.
We were kind of sent on the runaround through the Xi’an airport because we couldn’t figure out which place we were supposed to check our bags into. When we did find the spot, we thought we could use the kiosks, but then it said our plane tickets were invalid, which is the last thing you want to tell a group of 27 adults who are already moody.
Again, that problem was sorted out very quickly, so all we really had to do was have our bags weighted. I predicted mine would be 37 pounds, and I was correct. (To the number in fact.) Fun fact: the weight of my suitcase for this trip was the same as the weight from my NSLIY trip.
We got through security—they didn’t even wand me down—and then went to our gate. Korey, Hannah, and I went to go get food. Ironically enough, my last meal in China was a Texas Burger from Burger King, French fries, and a coke. I go out with a bang.
When we got back everyone was already lining up to board the plane which was annoying because I wanted to eat my burger goddamn it.
I got a pretty good seat because Rachel was sitting next to me, and Jason was right across from me. The confusing part, however, were the seats. I had seat C and Rachel had D, so the assumption was that we would be in the middle seats. Turns out, the Chinese plane just decided to skip the letter B, so the two seats on the left side of the plane were A and C, and then the middle four were D, E, and F. So, I was sitting in Rachel’s seat, Rachel was sitting in some rando’s seat, and then the rando was in my seat.
Jason and I were chatting with each other from across the aisle until the woman who had my seat told me I was being “too loud an annoying.” She then told me she was sick and wanted me to be quiet. I apologized and lowered my voice, but apparently, that was also still too annoying. She ended up turning to Rachel and I and tell her to swap seats with Jason so she could get some rest.
It was very confusing because English wasn’t her first language. We think she might have been Latino, but again, not totally sure.
So, problems for Philly: Washington never booked him a ticket from Xi’an to Beijing, which meant he was stuck there. He thought he could use Mei’s ticket, by just taking her seat, but that clearly doesn’t work considering he’s not Mei. Long story short, some luggage got lost, and as I continue to type this at 2:00 in the morning, he is still in China boarding the flight we took 24 hours ago.
When we landed in Beijing, I did the same thing I did last time and assumed the pollution was the clouds. It’s so bad.
We took the bus back to the “main airport” so we could finally depart the people’s republic of China. Again, for the most part, that all went smooth, the problem was just getting our luggage to and from because of how much and how heavy it was.
I managed to get through security with no problem, and I actually kept up with my departure card, so I didn’t have to worry about filling that out. Also, Korey got offered to upgrade his seat for free, and he almost did it, but then he remembered he was sitting with us so he refused it instead. Now that’s a good friend right there lol. Also, I heard him explain why his passport was so pathetic several times.
There’s never a bad time to make a “let lose our passport” joke at him.
We had to go through more security, and then Hannah and I headed to our gate. We sat and chatted with Logan for a little bit and then boarded the plane for the US!
A bunch of people didn’t know you could change your seat using the United App, so when our classmates were walking by and saw the three of us sitting together they were really shocked Naim actually looked at us and was like “no fucking way.” I told him why we were sitting together, and Korey said I shouldn’t have because he actually thought it was random, and Naim laughed in agreement. So, for the rest of the time, when people continued to talk back, we just let them assume we didn’t plan that.
So, throughout the week, I’ve been making jokes like “if this flight gets delayed in any way, I’m missing my connection since my layover’s only an hour and a half long.” Korey told me that that wouldn’t happen because we’d be flying with the wind, so our flight was bound to be shorter than last time.
Yeah, Korey would have been right if we left on time. Our flight was supposed to be 10 hours and 50ish minutes, which meant I could have made it to costumes and gotten to my gate in time, but that didn’t happen.
Instead, we sat on the runway for three hours because the pollution was so bad and it was raining, so there wasn’t enough visibility for the plane to take off. Literally, Hannah watched all of Isle of Dogs before we even started moving from the gate.
While Hannah was watching her movie, Korey and I were playing Mario Kart. I made her solve some professor Layton puzzles, and I actually managed to find two that stumped him for a good while. I was very pleased with myself.
Hannah and Korey watched Blockers while I watched Love Simon. I’m so glad the movies on the plane updated to have both Isle of Dogs and Love Simon. The later wasn’t bad; it had a very good message, but to me, it was still your classic coming of age movie. I’d give it a solid 7/10. It read very “John Green” like.
Of course, you already know I love Isle of Dogs, but I actually ended up just falling asleep and listening to it.
Korey and I watched American Pie and This is 40 together. American Pie was a good movie; I actually really appreciated the humor in it. It was funny though because it’s “low key porn,” so, during the section where the foreign exchange student is feeling herself, Korey slowly closed his laptop and dimmed the screen so other people couldn’t see what we were watching.
The other thing we had to remember is that now that we’re in America, we can’t just scream whatever the hell we want because people will actually understand what we’re saying. It’s rough.
This is 40 was just a long movie, and I kind of felt like the plot was going anywhere. It was basically just this couple that was always angry at each other. It had some good moments, but it wasn’t anything that I was just hanging onto. I’d give it a 6/10.
Other than movies, we all just chatted and I watched Hannah and Korey play some phone games. Hannah played my copy of Fire Emblem Revelations, and I wish I was sitting in the middle so I could have watched/played with her.
I think I “fell asleep” for an hour or so, but honestly, I was mostly conscious. At some point, all three of us fell asleep, and since we had been traveling for so long, we weren’t all 100% there. One of the flight attendants woke Korey up from his nap and asked if he wanted noodles or eggs from breakfast, and without thinking, he just responds in the most dazed voice “都可以.” Like, that’s when you know you’ve been in a country for too long. I’d later have a similar experience when a worker would ask me a question. I didn’t hear her properly, so I immediately when “什么—I mean sorry, what?”
Near the end of the flight, Hannah and I just ended up laying down on Korey. I wish I had done that sooner because it felt good to actually lay down instead of sitting at a 90-degree angle.
As predicted, I missed my connection and Hannah did too. Korey thought he might miss his, so he wasn’t really rushing to get through costumes or anything. Holden, on the other hand, was spiriting because he wanted to GTFO.
Hannah and I got new tickets when we arrived, and I was so mad because now my flight wasn’t supposed to leave until 11:50 tonight. I was going to be traveling to Chicago and then Memphis. I wasn’t supposed to get home until 10:00.
We went through security, and the guy was telling everyone to take any electronics that were bigger than a cell phone out of our bag. The only thing I had that was larger than my phone was my laptop, so that’s the only thing I took out. When the guy asked if I had anything else, I just said my 3DS, but it was the same size as my phone. He asked me to take it out so he could see, and when he saw it, he just goes: “Yeah…you’re right…can you just put it in any way.” Poor guy.
I got my stuff without hassle though, so that was good. What I didn’t see was the stack of treys next to me, so I ended up putting my bin down on the floor. I then got yelled at to “move out of the way and sort my stuff later,” so I did, in fact, move out of the way. What I didn’t expect was for the guy who yelled at me to turn back to me and said: “young lady, did you just put those bins down when there’s a stack right in front of you?”
I looked at him and apologized and then joked “haha I don’t have my glasses on right now, so I can’t see.” He didn’t find my humor funny.
So, earlier, since Hannah and I missed our connections, we had to go in a separate line from Korey, and he gave us just a quick goodbye way. We were worried that that might be our final goodbye with him since he was crunched for time, but we actually found him and other CLSers wait just outside security.
Hannah and I walked with him to his gate and hung out for a little before he had to board. We kept making jokes about him missing his flight despite him being right there.
Danni actually found us, and we gather the 300 class and we took one final photo before saying goodbye.
With Korey’s boarding ending soon, we gave each other hugs and final goodbyes before we saw Korey off. That asshole gets home around 7:00 and Hannah and I are stuck here.
I ended up texting Kevin since I knew he also had a long layover, and the three of us hung out. We got dinner together and just chatted about our first impressions of everyone. Hannah asked Kevin whose personality in the group chat was the most different from how they are in real life, and he said, Korey. He said he thought he was going to be some douchy guy because of how he talked about his Chinese skills. Something along the lines of “oh I don’t know how I got in; I’m not that great,” basically what he does in real life. Kevin just thought he’d be the annoying kind of “I’m not smart” type of person.
After dinner, Hannah got a message that said the flight home had been canceled, so we went with her to the service desk to see what was up. While we were walking over, I joked with Kevin that I would probably cry if I was in that situation. I then checked my flight and realized “Oh shit no I’m in that situation.” I almost started cry-laughing, but honestly, I was in so much shock that I really didn’t even know what to do at that point.
We waited in the service line for what felt like 2 hours. While we were waiting, I got an update that said I’d have a new flight that would take me from San Fran to Phoenix to Chicago, to Memphis. I wouldn’t get home until 11:00 Sunday night. I wanted to kill myself. Like absolutely the fuck not.
I called Washington and my parents, and we tried to get everything sorted out. We talked to one worker who just seemed so done with everything, so I brightened their day by being nice. They said they wished more people would be mature about the situation instead of yelling at the workers like most people.
When we got up to the front of the desk, we explained our situation and asked if they could give us a hotel since we’d be stranded in San Francisco for a while, but apparently, that’s not going to happen because “all the hotel rooms have been booked.” Basically, the computers are down, so a lot of the calculations have to be done by hand and a bunch of flights is being delayed and canceled—it’s a whole thing.
I asked if there were any flights to Memphis, but because our airport is so small and shitty, there are none. Hannah managed to get herself a flight to Boston and then New Jersey. What they wanted me to do was spend the night in the airport until 12:00 tomorrow, fly to Texas, then fly to Memphis, and make it home at 11:00 at night.
I said no to that. So we came up with a new plan, which was have me fly the same route as Hannah, spend the night in Jersey, and then catch a flight home Monday afternoon. It was a mess, but it sounded better than being in the airport by myself for another 12+ hours. So, I made plans to go to Jersey.
It’s also worth mentioning that I have nothing on my toiletry wise, so I’ve been roughing it. At least I have my computer/valuables. Literally, I have no idea where the hell my luggage is going to end up. Apparently, my luggage made it to Chicago (where I was originally supposed to go), but I did not. My suitcase is going to beat me to Memphis, and that’s not cool.
I called my mom, told her the plan, and then Hannah and I went to board our flight to Boston. Finally, we thought we were getting out of this godforsaken airport.
I pretty much passed out immediately once we were on the plan. I think I dozed off for an hour, and when I woke up, we were still on the runway. The pilot then made an announcement saying that we would not be able to fly to Boston anymore because we did not get clearance. Something about the plane sitting on the runway for too long and losing our take-off slot.
Everyone was pissed because we had to now exit the plane. I did feel bad for these people because they were supposed to leave for Boston at 1:10, but here we are 10-11:00 at night, and no progress.
Also, I managed to massively piss off some guy. I don’t remember what I did, but he told me to “watch myself?” or something stupid. I looked at him and said sorry, and he kept making snarky remarks at me and I turned to him and said: “Look, we’re all stressed, and you have no reason to take your anger out on me.”
When I was getting my carry-on out of the overhead compartment, I accidentally bumped him, and he said: “wow you really have no control over yourself do you.” Oh if Korey or someone strong/intimidating was with me, I would have called him the fuck out.
He then continued to shove me anytime I would graze against him, and he shoved me out of the way to exit the plane. This dumb bitch.
Honestly, I started looking up flights to Washington hoping there was one tonight so Hannah and I could just bum with Korey until we could fricking go somewhere, but that wasn’t happening. Since it’s literally the dead ass of night, all the eastern bound flights have left, and there are no flights leaving San Fran.
Korey kept joking for us to come to Washington and he’d pick us put, but going would have been counterintuitive to us actually getting home, so I guess we’ll just have to wait until Christmas. Also, everyone kept sending in their updates like “made it home!” and I was so mad because that should have been me. I should have been the asshole that was home.
This sucks ass.
So, our phones were dying, so I went to go charge our phones while Hannah waited in line to figure out what the hell we were going to do. We called Washington again, but they didn’t answer. We ended up being moved to a different desk to get new flights.
Hannah actually got lucky and got the last ticket on a direct flight home, which is leaving at 6:00. I, on the other hand, still have a layover. The woman at the desk found me a flight to Texas and then Memphis, but it’s not through United. Like they literally fluffed up so bad, that I’m now flying through American Airlines instead.
And you wanna know what I got for my troubles?
Three $10 meal vouchers.
Hopefully, this is the last flight change, or I think I might actually lose my mind. Can I go home on an aeroplane?
It is now three in the morning, and I’ve finally finished typing out the adventure thus far. I guess this is to be continued at a later time.
Fact: I’m typing this part on August 21 if that’s any indication of how busy I’ve been.
So, picking up from where I left off, I ended up crashing on the floor for 30 minutes, and when 4:00 finally hit, I hauled my ass off the floor, said goodbye to Hannah, and made my way to a different terminal so I could board an American Airlines flight.
Honestly, the rest of the adventure isn’t that exciting considering that American Airlines didn’t screw me over. The only major “drama” I experienced was a full flight, so they were offering to check people’s carry-ons for free. I thought “might as well; I don’t want to haul this backpack around with me.”
But then I got the ticket for my bag and realized something: They don’t know my carry on needs to go to Memphis, which means I’m going to have to exit the airport, go to baggage claim, and re-enter through security.
I’m such a dumbass.
Turns out, it didn’t matter because I had to go to take a bus to a different terminal so I would have had to go through security anyway.
I waited around the Dallas airport for a while, texted Hannah and Korey, and then got on my final flight home. Thankfully, this one was only an hour and a half. I didn’t even bother waiting until we landed to turn off airplane mood; I just wanted to get off these fricking airplanes.
Finally, after 45 hours of travel, I was reunited with my parents.
And the best part of all? I got to spend a whole 36 hours in Memphis before driving to college.
The end.