Will I Ever See the Moon Again?

 Where were we? Right, running through the crazy psychedelic tunnel  with blinking strobe lights in

the Detroit airport with terrifyingly epic music pounding in our ears as we try and find gate 36 in terminal C. We were still in B.

Somehow we made it and I still had time to spare to buy one of those donut pillows for the neck before boarding. My butt and tailbone were thankful.
Then came the 12-hour flight from Detroit to Tokyo. Once we were in air, an announcement came on explaining our flight path. We’d be flying over friggin’ Alaska. Because of this, I was too nervous to sleep because of my fear that I’d miss seeing the Yukon and Alaska. (the photos of this are on my phone and I haven't figured out my phone situation yet)

We didn’t see nighttime for a full 24 hours because of the many time zones that we passed through so the flight attendants had all the window screens shut so that everyone could sleep should they choose to.

(Not Alaska, obviously)

I did fall asleep and then woke up in a panic, worried that I had missed Alaska. The plane was dark but I lifted my screen and was met with a stunning view. It was Alaska. I checked the moving map (courtesy of Delta’s sweet technology) and saw that we were flying over the Alaska range. The snow-capped peaks were so breathtaking; and as tired as I was, I just could not stop staring.

I sprained my ankle a week and a half before we were set to fly so this long flight was pretty uncomfortable at times. But with a little medication, I was finally able to sleep and woke up close to Tokyo.

Finally, after 26 hours of travelling we were flying over China and we were seeing night for the first time. However, we could hardly see below through the pollution and smog. We couldn’t help but wonder why we had come to the most polluted city in the world. My feeling of relief at finally arriving with very few flying obstacles was much stronger than any other emotion at this point.

Five airports later. After about 31 hours of travel. With many nerves. We were in Beijing.

We were greeted by two things at the airport. 1. A quiet Chinese man from CISB who spoke no English. 2. A wall of humid, smelly, stale air.

Keep checking, I’ll be updating you on our past couple days really soon. Please forgive our gross state in that last picture, this is at midnight in our sad little rooms at CISB. That is a whole other kettle of worms for the next post.