China Trip Post #1

Greetings from China!!! We arrive in Beijing at about 3:15 local time on Tuesday afternoon. Safe and sound!

Couple of really cool things happened along the way ... when we boarded the plane in Des Moines; I mentioned that it was Susan's very first flight. Before take off the flight attendant came and took Susan to the cockpit and the pilots greeted her with great enthusiasm! After we were in flight the Flight Attendant came and told Susan she got to see where the pilot s worked if she wanted she could come see where and what the attendant’s job was all about! Susan had a first flight that she will never forget!

Arriving in Chicago we had about a 2 hour layover so we got some breakfast and relaxed in O’Hare. After a Visa approval we loaded our plane. A Boing 777 the seat configuration was 2-5-2, just a bit larger than the one out of Des Moines which was a 1-2 configuration.

After takeoff we just sat back and readied ourselves for a 13 1/2 hour flight. All of the flight was very smooth until we began our approach into Beijing. The turbulence was the worst I'd ever experienced. We had one drop so severe that Susan's Coke flew out of her glass, hit the roof and was dropping on both of us! Needless to say there were a number of folks grabbing the air sick bag but not Susan or I. I'm not going to lie ... I thought about it and made sure I could get to it in a hurry but held out and made it off the plane without being sick.

Once in Beijing everything went well until baggage claim....... No bag for me! After checking with United they confirmed that the bag was never loaded in Chicago! I filled out the paperwork and we left for the Shepherds Village. After arriving there we settled in and got a meal at a restaurant within walking distance; feed 7 people all they could possible eat and the bill was about $17.50 in American dollars!

More to come...

Pastor Steve