到了 I made it!!!! Yayyy!

Greetings loved ones =)  So right now I am safe in room where I will stay for three days until I find my permanent residence.  The campus hotel is called "南京大学状元西苑宾馆" -Let me tell ya' it has been quite the trek!  Pretty smooth I have to say "So far so good =)"  Although this is my 4rth time in China, I am always a little anxious before I go! (I never know what to expect!)  This morning my mom took me to the airport. I had to pay $100 for a luggage that was 30lbs overweight (80 altogether - like carrying a small child, with all of my belongings) Brittany, my lovely cousin met with us, and then my father and his fiance Linnae joined as well.  We met for, oh -about 20 minutes at Starbucks where I inhaled a coffee (nerves I guess?) but then I got too antsy and just had to split! lol  As I went through security I also teared up a little... but no one saw ;P

The last thing that I purchased in the U.S. was a Dasani water for $1.75. 11:00 I departed.. arrived in San Fran 12:20 having not too much time to spare but just enough time to connect to my next flight leaving 1：20  Arizona time.  The flight to Beijing was very comfortable.  My seat was near the door, and I love that because I'm first on and off the plane.  I sat next to a girl named Pam who had never been to China before. She was 30 and very sweet,  I felt bad because she didn't even know how to say 谢谢 (thank you)！ So I ended up donating an old eliminated study guide to her.  When I heard that she only ate fish, I just said "good luck!" lol Avoiding meat in China is probably one of the most difficult things to accomplish.  Besides that, the flight attendant was funny.  He found out I spoke Chinese and when it was dinner time, he was all smiley and said coyly  "美女 Pretty girl, fish or beef?" LOL I just thought oh my goodness, drank my 红酒 red wine, ate my airplane meal of noodles and fell fast asleep!  Out like a light!  So tired from not sleeping at all last night that I slept the entire way to Beijing!  Beautiful!

北京欢迎你  =）Beijing airport is so big!  I felt like I had to run to get my luggage.  I bolted through four moving sidewalks just to get to customs, having said that my advice is that right after picking up luggage, students or travelers should exchange money in big airports like Beijing. The first thing I purchased in China was life water for 16.5 yuan. My flight left 8:50 pm Beijing time, and I thought to myself, "oh I'll just exchange in Nanjing..." but comparatively Nanjing airport isn't that big, and the exchange counter was closed when I got there 10:00 pm so I had to just use an ATM.  没问题 it wasn't a problem, but I should know better!

Anyways I got a window seat from Beijing to Nanjing, and I guess it didn't really matter because it was so foggy.  Even though the ticket counter attendant said there were only two seats left to choose from I had the whole row to myself, and I couldn't help wondering, is that because I'm the only 外国人 (foreigner) on this plane?  Passing down the aisle after flossing and brushing my teeth, I said to the attendant “你先走”(first you)  and then the he said surprised..." no, no after you!" in Chinese,  therafter this guy would always pass by me all smiley =D  Ha, I was like "what is with these flight attendants?" lol  I do have to say I love having dark hair.  I might have eyes following me, the foreigner, but they do not burn as much as when I had blond hair! 

My heart raced the most as our plane touched down.  It'd to know Chinese when someone in the crowd says "I heard that our luggage from Beijing is actually on the luggage belt from Harbin!"  Great!  Later, when I walked up to the cab counter I felt like I was met with faces that said "oh great, a foreigner! What are we going to do with this one?"  Instead they were oh-so-excited/relieved to see I was able to communicate with them.  My taxi driver was nice, I asked him about Nanjing, and things to do here.  Taxi driver speech is harder for me to understand sometimes, it sounds like they have something in their mouth when they are talking, but he was cordial, didn't exactly know where my hotel was, and I couldn't blame him because on the university it seems kind of hidden in a little alley on the border of the University grounds. Good thing I brought directions!  There were foreign students around in the front eating 烤肉 grilled meat on skewers.  A student from Ghana named Adam helped me with my luggage up to the counter.  I had to wake the desk clerk because it was quite late. Now that I mention it, It is quite late!! I could write more detail.. but it is 1:11 here and I have been up for two days (it seems), and tomorrow is another big day!  The only thing unfortunate about my trip that my U.S. iphone is not working/charging/anything, so I will simply contact home via skype, cancel my U.S. contract with AT&T, and purchase a Chinese cell. 

Despite the fact I cannot access my Blogger admin page thru google on the internet here, I receive all of your wonderful comments in my email, my dad helping me manage the blog. 

Until tomorrow  =)  明天见