Local time: Wed February 7, 10:51

With great relief, joy, and excitement I have checked in to my room at the Kingdo Hotel (金都酒店) in Zhuhai, China. Though it smells heavily of smoke it is such a relieving feeling to have a bed and shower after traveling for 30 some hours!

I took off from the Eugene airport at 5:00am Monday morning headed for Seattle, Washington. My mom and dad walked me inside to say good bye and wish me well. It was sad to leave home but I kept my head up and thought about celebrating Chinese New Year and studying in China ~ two very rare and significant experiences for me. My flight from Eugene-Seattle was quick and easy, as expected. I had about a 4 hour layover in Seattle before the 11 hour flight to Seoul, Korea on an airbus. I had access to wifi for texting, a meal 26 minutes in, and decently comfortable seats.

Big long wait in Seoul for the final flight to Hong Kong, but the Seoul airport is huge and beautiful! The last flight to Hong Kong was very nice! It was pretty much empty, I was the second row from the front of economy, they served a delicious meal (and overall service was amazing), and flying was smooth! We landed in Hong Kong at 00:07 local time on Wed February 7, breezed through customs, and attempted to find a place to sleep ~ I finally got some rest at about 3-something.

I purchased a “bus” ticket from Hong Kong to Zhuhai port entirely in Chinese! I got in a van with 3 other people and were transported to Zhuhai port at 6:30 (arrived around 7/7:10). I had to go through customs one more time. I again used my Chinese! It was challenging and sort of scary but I made it through with no worries.

Finally, I got a taxi and arrived at Kingdo Hotel at 8:04, 6 hours before check-in time. However, the desk lady was very kind and said she would open the room for right then if I’d like ~ of course! Aside from just trying to find good places to pass time and rest, this whole process has been pretty smooth!

It’s been quite the journey planning and preparing for this trip. It’s such a relief that I can see the many moving parts starting to come together and turn this into a great semester!! Couldn’t have done it without all of the support and love from everyone. Now, I just need to stay up for the next 10-12 hours or so to get adjusted…

Love and miss everyone!