Adventures By Design

We made it. After more than twelve hours in the air, we touched down in Shanghai. Our flight wasn’t particularly noteworthy; we sat and watched five or six movies. The more exciting part was convincing Air Canada to allow Inca and her kennel to fly. Weeks before our departure, we had called AC and asked them for the guidelines for Inca’s kennel. They told us a few things, but in general, weren’t all that knowledgeable or precise. Still, we had asked the most open-ended of all questions (“Is there anything else that we need to know?”) So this morning when we arrived at 8:00am, we were shocked when the official took one look at the kennel and said it was doubtful that Inca could fly. Not only was it deemed too small, but it needed to be bolted and zip-tied together, plus have the door secured with more zip-ties. None of these stipulations were explained to us when we called, despite the official’s clairvoyant assertion that “I guarantee you were told all of this when you called.” We did our best to smile calmly and tell him that we hadn’t been informed of any of this, and that Inca had flown in this exact same kennel across the Pacific three times previously. Eventually, with the wonderful help of some warehouse workers, we got the kennel to meet Air Canada’s stipulations (although they still thought it was a bit too small) and after a redwood worth of paperwork got Inca onto the flight.

After all that, getting ourselves onto the plane was simple. We had checked in and paid for an extra bag on the internet the night before, so we didn’t have to wait in any lines. Our bags all came in under the weight limit (just barely, we spent several hours packing, weighing, and repacking the night before). We cleared security with no trouble and had time for breakfast before we boarded the plane.

After our movie marathon, getting through the airport in Shanghai was just as easy. Immigration was friendly and took no time at all. Our bags were coming out just as we got to the baggage pickup. After a quick x-ray at customs, we were through into the meeting area where a whole contingent of folks from the school was waiting for us with a lovely hand-made sign. We had to wait for a bunch of other people to arrive, many of whom had been on the same flight as us, then we got on one of the school’s buses and left for the drive to Suzhou.

Rumor has it that the drive from Shanghai to Suzhou can take as little as an hour and a half. This was not the case tonight. Traffic was pretty bad but at least our bus full of foreigners entertained our fellow motorists as they all stared at us from their car windows. A few of the kids were brave enough to wave, but most just stared.

Once we got into town we started dropping people off at various apartment complexes. We got a bit of a tour around town, since our complex was one of the last stops. Suzhou’s apartments are a lot like the ones in Seoul, where you have 10-20 identical high-rise buildings all together. Finally we made it to our complex, which is surrounded by a moat and trees that were all lit up for the evening with bright green lights. We hauled all our stuff a little way down the street until we found our building and went in.

The school had hired apartment agents for everyone, so a lovely young lady showed us around the place, showed us how to use the appliances and hot water and went through a checklist of the furniture and supplies we’ve been given. Once she finally left we had some toast for dinner, tried to clean a few things, and finally passed out from sheer exhaustion after a very long day!!